RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-CUs should place as much emphasis on the selection of a good meeting facilitator as they do on discussion topics for upcoming strategic planning sessions.
That is the advice of Stan Hollen, president of CO-OP Financial Services, who says credit unions that use facilitators for planning sessions, and generally not the smaller shops, must take time to carefully make their choices. "Facilitators can make or break a planning session. They have to be able to carry the conversation, relate to the board and management, help get the issues out and guide the group to some conclusion."
Hollen said to check references, but rely more on the credit union network. "Word of mouth is important. There are some people who do planning sessions that are just not good. They lose control of group, they can impose their own will or their view of what the institution should do. Sometimes, too, a facilitator simply does not have any personality."
Contentious Situations
In addition to the credit union's size and whether or not it has a skilled facilitator on staff, what also signals the need for an outside facilitator is the relationship between the board and management, said Hollen.
"Occasionally you will find contentious situations- either within the board or between the board and management-that requires the use of a facilitator. In these instances the facilitator can help drive constructive dialog and stay away from destructive dialog. One or two bad people in a group can sour a planning session."
Hollen outlined other key focus areas or upcoming planning sessions:
* Rising rates: "Rates will be rising a little, but how much is hard to predict. Rising rates will place a little more pressure on margins."
* Savings and lending: "I think we will continue to see a strong inflow of savings, and as always, lending will be key. Credit unions need to find ways to keep loan-to-share ratios above 75%."
* Regulatory pressures: "How do you plan for more regulation? That is difficult. But I fear more regulation is coming-with the CFPB cranking up and NCUA likely to mirror much of what that agency does."
* Succession planning: "A lot of CEOs are approaching retirement age. Plus, what if the CIO or CLO go somewhere else? Outside of the CEO, there are a couple positions in the credit union that are difficult to replace."
* Collaboration: "Credit unions need to work together more. They need to form more CUSOs or align with one."
* Duration for strategic plans: "It used to be you could look three years out. Today I'd say 12 to 18 months tops. The credit union needs to be built to be flexible and adaptable to change."
* Payments: "EMV is coming, and I think many credit unions will be issuing EMV cards sometime in 2014. Next year I think we will see more CUs enter into P2P and digital wallets, as well. There will also be continuing pressure on interchange.
