MANCHESTER, N.H.-Despite monthly meetings and chalkboard talks, Granite State CU staff still weren't all using the same playbook, so the credit union decided it needed to create a better scoreboard to make sure all the players could quickly see where their team stood.
The problem: no one had a clear picture of how the credit union waas performing overall, how their particular branch was doing and what they could do to improve lending and new account generation.
"When you're taking numbers like that and communicating it to entry level or even supervisory level, there is a challenge of them not being able to understand what you are trying to communicate," said Marketing and Sales Solutions Manager Dennis Hebert.
To combat this problem, the $217-million credit union enlisted the help of Passageways to create a series of dashboard gauges that Hebert is able to update on a weekly basis.
"They wanted a way to display this information because everybody in the organization contributes to those numbers," said Passageways Consulting Services Manager Manan Relia.
The gauges give every employee an easy-to-understand visual representation of the credit union's lending, deposits and everything in between both on an enterprise-wide level and on an individual branch level. Though the gauges appear on a dashboard-style portal and can take the shape of thermometers, fuel tanks and other figures, Hebert sees the system as more of a "scoreboard" that tells employees "what we need to do in order to win this year."
"Staff and employees can use this and understand this very quickly, rather than giving them a financial report," he added. "The gauges, the pictures are pretty powerful."
Granite State was already a customer for Passageways' portal before the dashboard was put in place, and the credit union actually helped the tech solutions firm develop the software for more widespread use. Though it was originally a custom solution for Granite State, Passageways now distributes the dashboard to more than 30 other credit union customers.
"And the number is growing and growing. People just love it. Our goal was to make it simple, easy to understand and still look elegant," added Relia who noted that his firm's software beats the price point of most other dashboards as the module is sold for $7,500-a bargain compared to others that run as high as $100,000. The only catch is that a financial institution must use Passageways' portal system to implement the dashboard.
Though the software is fairly basic, Hebert sees it as mission critical to Granite State because he believes the more every employee remains in the loop, the more they are apt to pour their best efforts into improving the credit union in the areas that need it the most.
"It's recognition as well as motivational," he said. "They can see what they are succeeding in and they are motivated about where they need to go. Staff knows what they need to do in order for the branch to be successful."
The gauges also allow credit union higher-ups to get a better snapshot of branch performance and are better able to hold branch managers accountable for any shortcomings.
As a number of Granite State's branches find themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace, Hebert said that employees, are really starting to get a "sense of ownership" based on the performance of their respective branches. The dashboard, Hebert argued, helps to reinforce that feeling; employees would not buy into the concept if they were not constantly apprised of their status as it pertains to their overall goals.
"Years ago the management team knew what needed to be done but that wasn't always communicated to the staff level. I don't think a lot of institutions communicate this down to the staff level," Hebert added.
BEST PRACTICES
Granite State CU, Manchester, N.H.
Category: Branch Improvements
Provider: Passageways
