SEATAC, Wash. and TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new state credit union league partnership could provide better HR solutions for CUs everywhere, and it's all because one league staffer wanted to relocate.
Jason Niefield, a longtime employee of the League of Southeastern CUs and its affiliate LEVERAGE, is taking LSCU's HRx solutions service to the Pacific Northwest. According to LSCU president and CEO Patrick La Pine, Niefield was looking to relocate to the region and "it got me thinking about if there was a way I could create a win-win situation where we could retain his expertise but allow him to pursue where he wanted to go from a personal standpoint."
That led to a partnership between LSCU and the Northwest CU Association, which will see Niefield working for both leagues as an HR consultant and recruiting specialist.
According to Denise Gabel, chief operating officer at NWCUA, Niefield will split his duties between working for LSCU and NWCUA — which will split the cost of his services 60/40, though he remains an LSCU employe — working on developing consulting services such as strategic planning, project management and financial analysis. He'll also assist with talent searches at all levels.
"There aren't a lot of agencies or organizations that help recruit for your head lending officer or an MSR or loan officer," said Gabel. "There are plenty of people looking for CEOs... but not a lot out there that look for the rest of the positions and grow talent in the credit union."
'Sweet Spot'
La Pine noted that Niefield's efforts will primarily be centered on small- and middle-market credit unions rather than billion-dollar shops.
"Maybe they can't afford to pay for the large search firms out there that do a lot of the credit union searches," he said. "But we can provide them with a high-quality search at a fraction of the cost. We're really focusing on the ones that are more in our sweet spot rather than trying to go after and compete with the very large ones. That wouldn't be a very good business proposition for us."
Gabel noted that having a credit union insider also has its benefits.
"Culture is very important when you're searching for talent," she said. "If we're able to go out right here in our region, we understand the organization, the culture, the candidates [and so] we'll be much more successful in helping them find the right talent."
La Pine said that LSCU is new to this sort of collaboration, but Gabel noted that this is just one of many collaborations for the Pacific Northwest league.
"You'll see us continue to build partnerships with other leagues and credit unions and other organizations, because we firmly believe that it's collaborative action that can help drive some efficiencies and help the credit unions at the end of the day," she said.
Niefield's services are being rolled out to credit unions through in-person events, newsletters, CU roundtables and more, and Gabel said that he is in discussion with more than a dozen credit unions already. Both Gabel and La Pine said there is a possibility that his services may expand beyond both leagues' traditional service areas.
Distance Not A Problem
Despite a few thousand miles between the two leagues, neither LSCU or NWCUA are concerned about distance being a problem.
La Pine pointed out that LSCU has had employees scattered throughout the country for some time, and Niefield already had a proven track record with the organization.
"It's one thing dealing with an employee you know versus someone you don't know," he said.
For Gabel and NWCUA, this is hopefully the start of something bigger.
"Whoever wrote 'The World is Flat' [New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman], I think we're just starting to see it more actively implemented," said Gabel. "Sure, there might be some things where geography really matters, but I think in a lot of ways it doesn't. I dream of the day that we put out an FRP across the nation and Canada and ask 'Who's got an excellent program in this area? Who's doing this well?' We'd be interested in taking that and collaborating and importing that into the Northwest. That's what we want to do — we want to look at who can do this better, and we can partner."
