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Credit Union Times

DECEMBER 7, 2016 | VOL. 27 | NO. 42 | CUTIMES.COM

HUMAN RESOURCES

Open Enrollment Tech

Technology alone can’t provide a magic solution to one of the major challenges facing Human Resources experts and employees during open enrollment — but it certainly helps.

“Our biggest challenge is communication,” said Linda Garcia, vice president of human resources for Rooms to Go, a furniture retailer based just outside Tampa, Fla. Her company has 7,500 employees working at 160 retail outlets and seven distribution centers across the Southeast and Texas.

“We simply don’t have the re-
sources to send an HR person to
every store,” Garcia said. “We are
taking advantage of technology,
and we are combining the best of
old- and new-school tactics. All
employees receive printed ma-
terials, we hold as many in-per-
son meetings as we can and we
broadcast those meetings to our
distribution centers. Technology
really has helped us reach our
employees with a more consis-
tent message.”
This high-tech, high-touch
strategy also resonates with
Kathy O’Brien, vice president of
voluntary benefits and national
client group services for Unum
in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Technology continues to grow and be a big part of enrollment — much more than in the past,” she said. “We probably get more questions about technology from employers than any other topic. Y14

Increasing
Loan
Revenue
Generation
ROY URRICO
rurrico@cutimes.com

sing technology to increase revenue is vital to many credit unions’ “Some of our most successful credit union clients in terms of lending have really nailed a niche. It could be indirect lending, small business merchant lending, correspondent mortgage lending, etc., but they have become very profitable and efficient in their area of focus with excellent performance metrics.” Daryl Jones, director at the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Cornerstone Advisors, noted.

“The primary lifeblood of every credit union is lending,” Barry Kirby II, vice president for the Island-ia, N.Y.-based loan origination provider Teledata Communications Inc.,

said. Nevertheless, Kirby pointed out, these are challenging times for credit unions. Borrowers view all financial institutions as commodities. “The market is TECHNOLOGY

Y16

Must Reads

hen CU Grow CEO James Robert Lay in Houston asked a client about the role of the financial institution’s website, he said the site should be treated and viewed like a branch, like the No. 1 sales channel.

“However, if our website were a
branch, the weeds would be grow-
ing outside and
the paint would
be peeling off the
walls,” the client
said.
Chances are pro-
spective members
are going to see
your website be-
fore they see your branches. And
expectations, particularly among
young consumers, have changed
when it comes to a website expe-
rience. Those consumer expecta-
tions mean credit unions need to
modernize their site to keep and
attract members.

But when a credit union decides its time for a total website makeover, what is the process like? Where do you begin? What are the latest trends? And what are the must-have site features that can help the credit union effectively market products and services?

Those are questions that De-rik Krauss, co-founder of

BRANDING

Time for a Website Makeover

PETER STROZNIAK pstrozniak@cutimes.com

Y15

FOCUSREPORT: CHARITABLE

GIVING & COMMUNITY RELATIONS

With many Americans still struggling financially due to the lasting effects of the Great Recession, credit unions are returning to their roots of serving the underserved. Learn how several are reaching out to low-and moderate-income members in this Focus Report.Y6