CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Employee engagement is the one competitive advantage that turns average credit unions into great ones, according to Pioneer West Virginia Federal Credit Union CEO Dan McGowan.
"We give our people real autonomy, and celebrate their achievements by identifying star contributors, highlighting brand ambassadors in our internal newsletters and hosting parties for individual employees," said McGowan. "I've worked places where the only time the employer was interested in what anyone thought was during the employment exit interview, and at places that didn't even care then either. That was the sort of mindset our employees had been conditioned to until our new management team came on board four years ago."
Engaging Employees
Gallup's 2013 report on employee engagement reported that seven out of 10 workers in America are either actively disengaged or not engaged in their work and McGowan knew from experience that effective leaders produce engaged employees.
What began as an informal management practice of casually engaging employees in conversations was discussed during the credit union's 2013-14 board strategic planning session, where a decision was made to conduct the credit union's first-ever employee "opinion" survey.
The review was aimed at getting some quantified sense of how employees felt about the quality of work life provided by the $180 million credit union (employee satisfaction), and how employees perceived their own level of engagement on the job.
"I've always felt that a hallmark of good management and leadership was the willingness and ability to tap into the minds and talents of employees at all levels, McGowan said. "Our employees were understandably hesitant to share their thoughts at first, but once they became comfortable that nothing bad was going to happen to them for speaking their minds, participation rates improved along with the quality of information gathered."
Advance Notice
The project was announced to employees several months in advance of the survey and the staff reached out by asking employees for input into what questions should be asked.
By employee consensus, management agreed to allow the survey participants to remain anonymous unless they specifically wanted to identify themselves. Participation was voluntary, but highly encouraged. In the interest of full disclosure, management also agreed to share results of the survey with all employees so that everyone could see the good, the bad, and the ugly. Nothing was to be held back except free-form comments which had the potential to identify and/or embarrass specific employees.
Questions regarding compensation, fellow employees and job training were asked and answered honestly and the results, much to the satisfaction of the employees and management, were mostly positive.
"The magnitude of satisfaction from the highest-rated statement regarding employee pride in working at PWV cannot be overstated," McGowan said. "In late 2010 when the new management team came on board, some employees actually confided that they had been embarrassed to be seen in public wearing PWV logo wear. Four years later, that sentiment changed 180 degrees to the positive."
