INDIANAPOLIS — A leadership-development program at Financial Center First CU here has gone through some tweaks and is being expanded as a result of the success the CU has seen in the program's first dew years.
Known as "G2," short for "second generation," the program was originally launched in 2013 as a way to develop leadership talent at the credit union with an eye toward advancing participants' careers both at FCFCU and throughout the credit union movement at large.
"It was originally made for back-office folks who don't have the same training and leadership development opportunities that would be in a traditional credit union career environment," explained Mark Moulton, administrative director at the 54,000 member, $502 million credit union.
Now in its third year, G2 has added succession planning to the mix while expanding the program to include more than just back-office staffers. The reason is simple, he said. Not only is there demand for it at the credit union, but Financial Center stands to benefit as a result. After all, the retired Air Force officer noted, when the Air Force needs new top talent, they build from within — they don't go to the Marine Corps to get it. The same theory should apply to credit unions.
"Credit unions are better suited to build their bench strength from within," explained Moulton. "Obviously there are times when you have to go outside the organization, but if you have that discipline within, if you have somebody that is showing a development and specific tendencies, we want to take that and develop that and grow that person from within and give them the confidence to progress."
When G2 kicked off, it was originally intended to be a two-year program built around four different training modules and participants making presentations to staff and the board. The two-year model "just didn't work," said Moulton, but with a new class starting each year, participants still use the modular concept while also working in clusters. G2's second year, explained HR director Gina Johnson, is designed to be more focused on independent work and innovations, including working with the "ignite" model from the Indiana league's i3 program.
Despite a few changes, what has been most successful, said Moulton, is that "Gina and I have a genuine desire to see other people besides ourselves gain the confidences and the skills, and they have the wherewithal within themselves that can be drawn out. Those disciplines can be drawn and developed. It gives them the confidence to know they can advance and that they do have what it takes to attain to a certain level.
"There's a CEO within each of these people here and we want to draw that out — it may not be here or at another credit union or with another employer, but they have that CEO within them."
Beating Down the Doors
Widening the field of potential participants has been the greatest change to the program, said Moulton and Johnson.
"The original focus was supposed to be on support staff and back office staff, because they are the staff on the job for 20 years and they blend into the wallpaper," said Johnson. "They're dependable, they get the job done and they go home. And the frontline staff are the ones that make a splash."
For as much as G2 organizers wanted to continue offering these opportunities to back office personnel, when it came time for applicants to sign up for the second year, "people on the front lines were beating down the doors for the opportunity to apply."
G2's current crop is its largest and most diverse, said Johnson, with eight participants winnowed down from 11 applicants who made it to the interview stage. The first year saw eight applicants and 5 participants, while the second year had five applicants and three participants.
Some of the requirements have also changed, and Moulton emphasized that they were not light-weight requirements to begin with. There is after-hours homework, volunteering within the community, working with mentors, public speaking and more.
Organizers are also still working on developing a tracking system to measure how well the program is working, particularly because it could be several years until G2 participants advance to the executive level, and even then it might not be at the same organization.
No Cost Savings... Yet
Moulton told CU Journal in 2013 that G2 might also hold a cost-saving element for Financial Center FCU, by reducing training costs and increasing the number of employees being promoted to higher positions from inside the organization than bringing in outsiders.
"That would be a nice bonus, but I think what's happened is that we've generated more excitement and we want to keep doing more," said Johnson. "I wouldn't say we've increased our expenditures, but we have not done a good job of tracking ways to spend money based on 'Do we promote somebody or do we bring in somebody form outside?' We haven't been efficient in tracking that. But I would say long-term I see it happening."
The pair said that there isn't a particular asset size sweet spot for success with mentoring programs; rather, success is found by being sure the institution has the commitment and personnel resources to administer it.
"The sweet spot... is that it's got to be an organization that's truly invested in the growth and development of their employees," said Johnson.
