Deborah Donnelly, senior program manager of talent and performance at BECU in Tukwila, Washington, is championing the credit union movement by helping young professionals find their niche.
Since Donnelly stepped into her current role with the $30 billion-asset credit union in May 2021, she's been challenged to help the development of current staffers while also sourcing future generations of professionals. The biggest obstacle she faces in her daily responsibilities "is ensuring we have the right talent with the right skills to achieve future outcomes and goals," Donnelly said.
She addressed this dynamic by spearheading the launch of BECU's young professional employee resource group while also designing inaugural organization-wide programs for coaching and drafting talent management plans — all of which saw employee engagement improve.
"Effective mentoring occurs when there is a mutually beneficial relationship between the mentee and the mentor … built on trust, respect and a willingness to lean into difficult topics, reflection and stretching one's comfort zone," Donnelly said.
Donnelly is spending this year furthering the build-out of these programs, establishing forums for internal conversations about addressing gaps and supporting career goals, restructuring employee performance metrics and supporting educational initiatives for talent.
In 2022, she oversaw the campaign to modernize and clearly define the credit union's list of key knowledge and skills needed for each position across the company. In just three months, she finalized these organizational competencies, which are tailored to define each position's responsibilities and outline what concepts relate to daily tasks.
With just a team of three staffers — herself included — Donnelly accomplished what external firms were unable to do over the last five years.
"Deborah's work continues to focus on our employees who can then focus on our members and support BECU in achieving our purpose. … I am a lucky leader because she teaches me just as much as I hope I teach her," said Ann Marie Summerhill, vice president of organizational effectiveness at BECU.
Throughout all of Donnelly's efforts since her start with the credit union in 2010, as a contact center consultant,
DEI involves everything from "building out new hire training and new hire mentor training in previous roles to enterprise-wide talent programs for feedback, coaching and talent planning in my current role," she said.
She hopes to continue her upward trajectory and one day hold the title of chief people & culture officer. Outside of work, Donnelly is a board member of the King County's Chapter of Credit Unions and volunteers her time mentoring college students through the Global Mentorship Initiative.
