When employees check out

Every year, financial institutions across the globe spend millions of dollars to bolster employee engagement. Nonetheless, according to Gallup, a mere 15 percent of employees worldwide and 33 percent of U.S. employees are actually engaged in their workplace.

Clearly, money alone cannot inspire the motivation and enthusiasm needed in credit union employees. So, how exactly can credit union leaders foster increased employee engagement?

First, credit union leaders must collaborate with employees to delineate clear, achievable institutional goals and strategies. When employees are included in the goal-making process, they garner a sense of engagement into the overall direction of the credit union. Additionally, employees are more likely to buy into the established goals and strategies if they have substantively contributed.

Secondly, recognizing good work is key. Over the past decade, employees have increasingly felt that they receive less and less recognition for their work.

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In a survey conducted by Gallup, only three in 10 employees “strongly agree that in the last seven days they have received recognition or praise for doing good work.” However, if organizations shifted that ratio to six in 10 employees, they would see a significant increase in work quality and decrease in absenteeism.

Furthermore, employee recognition fosters reduced employee attrition rates. In fact, other Gallup research on performance found that employees who feel recognized at work are half as likely to say they will quit their jobs in the next year as employees who do not feel recognized. Credit unions must instill recognition processes that highlight the significant accomplishments their employees achieve on a daily basis.

Committing to your employees’ professional development is also a must. Credit union employees — especially millennials — are increasingly showing a desire to have professional development as an essential benefit of their job.

A survey conducted by Bridge found that millennials are more loyal to their jobs when they are offered career development opportunities. As millennials continue to permeate the financial industry, it will become even more important for credit unions to invest the necessary time and resources in professional development initiatives. Not only will these learning opportunities help boost employees’ skills and performance, they will also prepare your credit union to better adapt to members’ perpetually changing technological needs.

Finally, to ensure sustainable, long-term growth, credit unions have to continuously gauge the effectiveness of their employee engagement efforts. There are a wide range of measurement tools and assessments that solely exist to quantify and break down the factors effecting employee engagement at you credit union.

However, if such instruments are financially unfeasible to your credit union, a well-crafted survey can unveil the necessary employee engagement themes that signal if your efforts are making a true impact. Do not overwhelm your employees with a taxing survey. Rather, keep your survey concise and to the point so that your employees are more likely to provide accurate, thorough responses.

The above employee engagement strategies can be the first steps in preventing burnout, employee attrition and unwanted work behaviors. Furthermore, these strategies can spur your employees to truly enjoy their daily work experience while simultaneously contributing to the success of your credit union.