CUNA HR/TD Council: CU Staff Morale Holding Up in Tough Economy

LAS VEGAS – One good thing about a tough economy: it's not hard to keep up morale among employees who are just happy to be among the employed.As HR managers from around the country gathered to attend the CUNA Human Resources/Training & Development Council conference here, they told CU Journal that so far, the economic problems haven't hurt employee morale.“People are happy to work at our credit union as we have a steady environment,” said Niki Yarrington, HR manager for Westconsin CU, Menomonie, Wis. Indeed, being assured of continuing employment is helping to defray the hit to morale that usually occurs when merit raises are cut, as they recently were at VyStar CU, according to SVP-HR Bob Davis, who noted that the key was letting people know we are still okay. We did not do bonuses, but we educated employees to let them know it meant maintaining staff and being productive in servicing members.”DORT FCU in Flint, Mich., is a rarity in this time of job losses: Deana Turcott, director of HR, said her credit union is adding positions. For that reason and others, DORT is an island of hope in a manufacturing community that is experiencing devastating unemployment. “A lot of our employees have spouses who have lost their jobs,” she said. “We are trying to help them get through by offering workout loans and other hardship loans, including, unfortunately, loans on their pensions.”DeAnna Kann, vice president of HR for Financial Plus FCU, also in Flint, Mich., said it is important to keep employees’ attention on the potential of picking up market share from distressed competitors. “It is hard to keep focused on the positive when everything in the news is negative, but we can seize opportunities in this market. One area in particular is credit cards, as banks are increasing rates or are pulling cards altogether.”