The Link Between Credit Union Employee and Member Loyalty

by Joyce Campbell

“I love the services my credit union provides, but I really dislike dealing with Susan. She doesn’t seem to care at all about my accounts, or her job for that matter. I’ve even considered moving my accounts because it makes me think this may not be a good place to do business if she is so unhappy working here!”

Have you ever heard feedback similar to this from a member, or perhaps you’ve said something comparable when you receive poor service from a business? I think most would agree that loyalty to a business is greatly influenced by the level of service received from employees of that business. Although most managers understand that engaged employees lead to a better customer experience, only 15% report significantly helping in that area according to a survey by Temkin Group.¹

Engaged employees exhibit qualities of loyal employees, similar to those of loyal credit union members. These qualities include:

• Powers of “connection” – Employees want to feel connected to their employer, which includes intellectual, emotional, and personal connections. When these types of connections exist, loyalty to the credit union is strengthened along with the desire to perform at or above expected levels. Employee and member loyalty is strengthened when they have this power of connection with their credit unions.
   
• Satisfaction of benefits – Just as our members want (and expect) competitive products from the credit union, satisfaction with benefits influence employee feelings of credit union loyalty. These benefits don’t have to be costly. In fact, voluntary perks such as non-medical benefits have been found to drive employee loyalty to an organization.²

• Two-way traffic – The expectation of loyalty is that it will be reciprocal. Recent studies indicate that a “loyalty gap” – the perception of loyalty between the employee and employer – has increased in the past three years representing a widening disconnect. This disconnect, if not narrowed, could create disengagement and loss of productivity within an organization. Loyalty can be increased by having career conversations with employees through mutual discussions of meaningful reasons to stay with the credit union. Similarly, conversations with our members regarding their future needs and how we can assist with those will increase their loyalty to your credit union as well.

Loyalty, on the surface, may seem to be simple to achieve. That’s true, as long as you keep the above qualities in check for both the employees of your credit union and the members you serve.

¹Temkin Group, a market research and consulting firm
² 10th Annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefit Trends

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