MADISON, Wis. - Credit unions with plans for being around for the future are going to need one critical ingredient, according to a new study: engaged employees.
That was among the findings at a recent Filene Research Institute colloquium at Loyola University in Chicago that examined the roles that compensation, human resource management, and organizational development play in a credit union’s ability to create a culture of excellence that succeeds in exceeding members’ expectations.
Findings from colloquium are included in a new report, Building a Culture of Credit Union Excellence, and includes presentations by noted human resources theorists, including Paul Davis, president of the Scanlon Leadership Network and the first to describe the Scanlon Plan. The Scanlon Plan aims to “cut the worker in on the adventure, the decisions and the profits of increased production, and help management tap the ingenuity of employees as a means of improving production.”
Dow Scott, professor of human resources at Loyola and president of Performance Development International Inc., argued that based on Scanlon methodology, an organization must meet the needs of three primary stakeholder groups. In the report, Scott also describes the relationship between a culture of excellence and a culture of innovation.
Watermark CU As Case Study
The report provides a case study from Watermark Credit Union in Seattle, which has initiated the Scanlon process and is building on W. Edwards Deming’s principles to drive growth and profitability. Chuck Cockburn, Watermark’s CEO, described the changes the credit union made by eliminating standard incentives such as employee-of-the-month awards and individual sales incentives. In the report, Cockburn describes his “gain-sharing” formula, which uses a ratio of operating expense to gross income to measure increases in productivity. Baselines are developed over three-year periods, pools of monies are created, and percentages are attached for payouts.
The report also examines the experience of Landscape Forms Inc., a Scanlon Plan user for many years. Landscape Forms describes its “Scanlonization” and “Scanlonness” process as being part of the natural fabric of the company. The company has made many modifications to the original Scanlon concept to meet its particular needs, according to Filene.
“Among the management fads of the past century, the Scanlon Plan is the one truly big idea that stands out,” says Denise Gabel, Filene chief research officer. “Employee participation, management/labor cooperation, collaborative problem-solving, teamwork and trust are all part of the elusive formula to overall organizational success. This colloquium brings together the theoretical masters and practical experience needed to put a transforming idea into play.”
For More Info
* For info on the Scanlon Leadership Network, www.scanlonleader.org.
* For Copies of Building a Culture of Credit Union Excellence, they are available free to Institute members; $125 to non-members. For info: www.filene.org(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
