According to Patty Neff, chief human resources officer at Battle Creek, Mich.-based OMNI Community Credit Union, it’s not at all uncommon for the CU’s new hires to say “I’m going to retire here.”
And that’s an amazing feeling, said Neff.
“It is such a great confirmation that our practices reinforce culture, engagement and retention,” she explained. “We take great care of our team members, so that they will be able to give the best service to our members, and that success that come from that allows us to positively impact the communities that we serve.”
OMNI Community Credit Union was ranked No. 20 overall in the Best Credit Unions to Work For 2018 and ranked No. 3 among CUs with assets ranging from $200 million to $500 million.
The CU’s 130 employees are encouraged to provide management with feedback and have various means to do so. New hires, on their first day, meet with OMNI upper management who explain in-person the credit union’s history, strategy and focus, noted Neff.
“At about 90 days of employment, employees are invited to ‘Orientation 2,’ where they get to have fun quick one-on-one meeting with upper management — it’s kind of like speed dating,” she said. “These meetings are meant to foster relationships and keep communication open. OMNI’s CEO, Ted Parson, conducts semi-annual meetings with each branch and each department. Lots of ideas and input are generated from all of these communication strategies.”
Last year, OMNI Community CU developed a leadership program. Neff explained that the goal was to provide opportunities to team members who weren’t currently in leadership positions in order to prepare them for future leadership roles.
“We had seven team members graduate from our ‘Developing Leaders Class’ of 2017 and two have since been promoted to management positions,” she said.
Founded in 1951, Omni Community Credit Union supports 12 branches and more than 39,000 members with $412 billion in assets.
