How Safe are Your Passwords?

Nowadays, being “on the grid” refers to much more than our culture’s reliance on public utilities and municipalities. With the dawn of the digital age, all of your personal and private information is interconnected through an intricate web of virtual databases. Phone numbers, addresses, photos, affiliations, memberships and accounts are all accessible with a few clicks … spooky stuff.

It’s important for you and your credit union’s employees, both personally and professionally, to keep personal information protected. While in theory most people will agree, in practice we can display some pretty bad habits.

SplashData compiles an annual list of millions of stolen passwords made public throughout the year. In case you haven’t seen it, here are the most recent top 25 passwords in order of popularity:

1) 123456	14) abc123
2) password	15) 111111
3) 12345	16) mustang
4) 12345678	17) access
5) qwerty	18) shadow
6) 123456789	19) master
7) 1234	20) michael
8) baseball	21) superman
9) dragon	22) 696969
10) football	23) 123123
11) 1234567	24) batman
12) monkey	25) trustno1
13) letmein

Protect your information

Here are a few simple tips for creating a stronger password:

• Make sure it’s at least eight characters long
• Include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols
• Love pizza? Have a favorite pet? Born in January? Nice to know, keep it out of your password! Don’t include details that people know about you or is publicly attainable
• Use multiple passwords – if one gets cracked, at least the others didn’t
• If you write it down or keep it in a document, make sure to keep it hidden
• Don’t give it out to anyone else

Take the time to come up with a good password and protect it. It's an investment that only takes a few minutes, and is well worth it!

Looking for guidance with online security or in need of reliable hosting? CU Solutions Group can help! Contact us today.

Five Tips to Tighten Up Your Writing

Writing can be a funny thing. For all the stipulations, rules and wisdom that we picked up in grammar school, sometimes the situation calls for everything to be thrown out the window. Other times, we want our writing to be as clean and concise as possible, following the letter of the law. For whatever the situation calls, here are a few things that are always good to keep in mind…

• Know your audience – In my experience, this one is probably the most important element. It will dictate the level of detail and type of language that you use. It will determine how technical your speech, and how thoroughly you need to explain.
• Know your project – This is where adhering to the rules, or throwing them out the window, comes into play. Especially when writing for advertising purposes, writers will often start sentences with “and” and “but,” omit punctuation or use fragments. Rules are ignored so long as the copy is catchy and succinct - but it’s certainly something to avoid in an official memo or press release. Formality will vary greatly from piece to piece.
• Know the content – We’ve all been there at some point … You’re tasked with a writing assignment, and don’t even know where to start. Don’t know what you’re writing about? Sounds like step one isn’t writing, it’s reading!
• Active vs passive – Past the basic and into the technical. Juxtaposition of words will govern the strength of your statement. The active statement: “John threw the ball,” is much stronger than the passive: “The ball was thrown by John.”
• Reducing unnecessary words – Active writing is a good first step towards tightening, and reducing unnecessary words, especially prepositional phrases, is another solid step. Consider that, “It would be best if John threw the ball,” is saying the same thing as, “It would be the best case scenario this time if John threw the ball,” only using less words.

These tips all assume that the writer has a good foundational mastery of grammar, comma usage, spelling, etc. Some are better than others with these basic building blocks, and we all have our strengths and weaknesses, but keep these few simple tips in mind and keep moving in the right direction.


Need a little help developing copy? Whether you need text for your website, marketing collateral, press releases or social media, CU Solutions Group is here to help. Contact us today and we’ll develop strong and concise copy for any project!

Your Good Work. Your Videos. $ for Your Charities.

Credit unions are all about giving back to their communities. Now they can prove it through a new video campaign that invites credit unions across the country to showcase their good works for a chance to earn tens of thousands of dollars for a chosen charity.

The contest is called Share the Love. The goal is to exponentially increase random acts of kindness across the country through encouraging credit unions to create and share videos that tell the story of the impact of small acts of human compassion while supporting charities in a big way.

How it works:

Credit unions across the nation create videos demonstrating how they care for their communities. Credit unions upload those videos to LoveMyCreditUnion.org/CUSharetheLove. The public will be invited to vote on their favorite videos in each asset category - small, medium and large. The credit unions that submit the videos which garner the most votes will each choose a charity to receive a $10,000 donation. By the campaign’s end, up to $105,000 will be awarded.

In addition, members of the public who vote throughout the campaign will have an opportunity to win $15,000 in prizes.

2015 Timeline:

• August 1st –  credit unions begin uploading videos 
• October 1st – public voting begins
• October 1st – December 24th – Each month $10,000 is awarded to the chosen charity in the name of the  winner in every asset category
• The video with the most votes at end of campaign – regardless of asset size – receives another $15,000 for the chosen charity

Starting thinking about all the great ways that your credit union gives back to the community, and how you would best capture it in a video. Complete submission guidelines and Share the Love campaign details can be found at: LoveMyCreditUnion.org/CUSharethelove.

Journey to Pluto with CU Wallet!

If you haven’t already seen, NASA just released new images of Pluto taken from the spacecraft New Horizons. The images are quite amazing, and are the clearest, highest-definition photos of Pluto to date.

Go ahead and do a quick image search, we’ll wait…

Pretty neat, huh? While some might consider it a bit of a stretch, these cutting-edge images have quite a few parallels to CU Solutions Group’s new mobile wallet application, CU Wallet. These ventures are all about diving into the new and unexplored for the sake of progress - charting the path to new possibilities.

On the Forefront

Pushing the envelope of technology and setting the stage for the future of things to come, CU Wallet allows your members to pay for goods and services the same way they would with a debit card – only using a mobile device. It’s a venture into new and undiscovered prospects for your credit union, and positions you on the forefront of mobile and digital finance.

To compete in today’s ever-changing digital market, having a mobile wallet solution for your members is an increasing necessity for financial institutions. It’s more than just “nice to have,” and if you wait for your members to ask for it, it might be too late.

A Great Collaboration

CU Solutions Groups has partnered with technology developer CU Wallet on this endeavor, and all moves have been made with sights set on the needs of credit unions and their members. This product can expand your horizons by maximizing interchange revenue, generating new revenue, attracting new members and capitalizing on mobile. If your credit union is ready to take the lead in digital and mobile finance, this is a great place to start.

Contact CU Solutions today for more information on growing your credit union with CU Wallet!

Who’s Really Using Mobile Banking?

The Federal Reserve recently published their Consumers and Mobile Financial Services Report for 2015, and the results give us a glimpse into who is actually using mobile banking services. In case you thought it was just the kids, by the numbers, here’s why your credit union should think again…

• 87% of the U.S. adult population has a mobile phone
• 71% of mobile phones are smart phones (internet enabled)
• 39% of mobile phone owners with a bank account have used mobile banking in the past 12 months (up from 33%)

If they’re using mobile banking, here’s a breakdown of which services they’ve used in the past 12 months:

• 94% check account balances and/or recent transactions
• 61% transfer money between accounts
• 57% receive text, email or push notifications
• 51% have deposited a check using their mobile phone (up from 38%)

It’s often said that, “it’s not always about where you are, but where you’re going.” While these numbers are certainly telling, what’s more is that they’re rising – and quickly.

When we consider mobile banking, we often gauge its infusion by the amount of younger members that are gradually streaming in the doors of our credit union. What we don’t always take into account, and what this report in particular highlights, it how our adult members are adopting mobile banking as well.

The candle is burning at both ends – don’t get caught in the middle without a solution for your members! You can view more of the findings and the report from the Federal Reserve here. If your credit union is ready to dive into mobile banking, or if your current approach just needs a little developmental fine tuning, contact CU Solutions Group here!

Independence Day: A True Credit Union Holiday

by Amy Neale, Content Marketing Manager
(in her last CU Solutions Group blog)

As our country is about to celebrate 239 years of independence this Saturday, I wanted to reflect on how credit unions celebrate independence on a daily basis. 166 years ago, German citizens declared their financial independence with the first credit union. This “people’s bank” was created to provide credit to urban entrepreneurs. The United States followed suit 60 years later. 

While it may seem a bit of a stretch to compare the independence of our country to that of our not-for-profit organizations, I truly don’t think so. Taking a financial institution’s control out of the hands of shareholders and into members’ hands is no small feat. Cooperative in nature from day one, credit unions soon became known as offering an alternative to traditional loans to help the working class in 1800s Germany. This ideal spread to Canada in 1901 when Alphonse Desjardins learned of a resident that was paying $5,000 in interest on a $150 loan. 

When Edward Filene helped credit unions spread to the U.S., he founded them from an employer-based bond of association. Future paychecks were used as collateral, putting financial control even more in the hands of credit union members. 

No matter what country, credit unions worldwide are based on a single principle: that people could pool their money together to make loans to each other. How’s that for independence?

After looking on the NCUA website, I discovered that there are three credit unions with the word “independence” in them, one with “democracy” and a dozen with “free” in their names. I can’t think of too many banks with those words in their names, can you? It’s no coincidence that the most independent financial institutions in the world often have names to reflect their mission.

So, as this year’s Independence Day rolls around, remember that credit unions have a lot to celebrate as well. Hope you all have a fun and safe 4th of July.

The Difference Between PR and Marketing for Credit Unions

Gallup recently studied perceived ethics with United States citizens and found that 72% of Americans believe moral values are getting worse in this country rather than better. Credit unions have long been held in high regard by their members and communities for their charitable and altruistic deeds, and perhaps this is a good time to sound off!

Before embarking on a campaign, one of the first things your credit union needs to do is address the differences and similarities between public relations and marketing efforts. Ultimately, many of their focuses are intertwined, and depending on the size and resources of your credit union, these roles may very well be enacted by the same individuals.

How they’re alike…

• The Narrative – At their core, both PR and marketing look to tell a story, and look to frame it in a very specific way.
• Creative Development – Not only do they both seek to establish a narrative, they both rely on talented content developers to plan and execute. This often requires a capable and clever writer.
• Media Channel – More and more, social media is becoming a fundamental component of both marketing and PR for credit unions. There are other channels of course, but whether radio, TV, print or digital, the public consumes this info in increasingly similar ways and through similar channels.
• Bottom Line – Driving traffic, increasing awareness and bringing more members into the fold. The bottom line will often the same in this aspect.

How they’re different…

• Message – One of the more obvious aspects. Marketing typically promotes a product or service, whereas PR spreads information to gain exposure.
• Direction of Interaction – Marketing promotes the transfer of a product or service from the credit union to the member, and PR promotes a bond between the organization and member.
• Measurement – Marketing tends to be more quantitative in nature, and is measured in dollars and cents by return on investment. PR is more qualitative, and bases success on expressed public opinion and support.
• By Way of… – In the end, they often serve the same purpose of fortifying and strengthening your credit union, but they achieve this in different ways. Marketing’s goal is financial strength by way of profit, and PR’s goal is enhanced connection with members by way of positive perception.

Depending on your credit union’s needs, public relations and marketing can be approached as two distinctly different ventures, or combined and synthesized into a single effort. With either approach, it’s important to understand and draw distinctions so that you can set the right expectations and get the most out of your labor.

If your credit union needs help promoting all of the great things that you do in your community, or are just looking to help drive the bottom line, CU Solutions Group can help! Contact us today to learn more.

Stop Dangling That Carrot: Other Ways to Motivate Credit Union Employees

In last week’s blog post, we took a look at employee engagement, and how management’s approach to engagement can effect job performance. In a perfect world, all of your credit union’s employees would be firing on all cylinders, all the time. But how realistic is that? Some people will be consistent top-performers, while others show up just for the paycheck. The trick is to take the paycheck people, and inspire them; inspire them on their own terms. This isn’t done by setting an all or nothing standard of excellence, but by individual goal-setting and creating a method of achievement.

Here are some key elements of goal-setting, and creating a means of success in any situation:

• Motivation – The work that a person performs is a direct reflection of who they are as an individual – this is the psychological component of achievement. Motivation can be the hardest, or the easiest part, but is certainly the most foundational. Communicating a person’s role, why it is important and how it contributes to the larger picture can instill a sense of ownership over a process or procedure. If the situation allows, consider getting your credit union’s employees involved in the decision-making process or, at the very least, allow them to voice their input.


• SMART Goals – This was first developed by George Duran in the early ‘80s, and focuses on setting the right goals. According to the acronym, goals should be Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related. While the motivation component focuses primarily on the employee, this component is more driven by management. It’s important to allow the employee to contribute to the definition of achievement, but credit union management has to make certain that the end product leads to a healthy bottom line.


• Consistency – Anything worth doing, is worth doing right; and consistently! Upkeep is the duty of all parties involved and encompasses nearly all facets at your credit union. Motivation is a spark that needs to be maintained and fanned until it becomes a fire, and then fanned some more. Situations and projects need to be reassessed and readdressed to make sure that they are consistently on track. None of these things matter if they are introduced and executed only once. Engagement is an ongoing and dynamic process that needs to be sustained in order for it to translate into performance.


• Leading – It’s not always about where you are, but where you are going. Trajectory and momentum are crucial to the process, especially when goals are near completion. We should always keep an eye on the obstacles ahead so that when our goals are met, we’re ready to meet the next challenge.

It all boils down to the classic negative versus positive reinforcement argument. Negative reinforcement leads to avoidance – employees will typically do as much as necessary to avoid reproach, and stop right there. When your credit union’s employees are driven by achievement, they are much more likely to go above and beyond. While simple recognition of good work can certainly help, the effects are often fleeting. For lasting performance and production, a true driving force, we need to engage and tap into something more constant. A structured means of achievement can be just that.

CU Solutions Group and HR Performance Solutions are dedicated to providing human resource solutions that help credit unions thrive. Click here to learn more about our performance driven products and services.

Employee Engagement – How Do You Measure Up?

Okay, I have three numbers for you – or percentages I should say – 30, 13 and 70. According to a recent study conducted by Gallup, 30 percent of U.S. employees are actively engaged in their job. Mull that over for a moment. That means seven out of ten folks around you will probably do enough to earn their paycheck, and nothing more. Sure, they’ll get the job done, but are by no means driven to go above and beyond in their work.

Sounds pretty bad, right? Well that’s actually quite better than employee engagement worldwide, which sits at a dismal 13 percent. Thirty is starting to sound good … Don’t fret though, there’s still one more number: 70. Management is shown to account for 70 percent of variance in employee engagement.

The tone set by leadership is shown to systematically carry throughout the company and directly influences engagement. If you can manage to get the right person in the role, that 30 percent engagement can be driven considerably higher. Management is the key.

Focus and approach

I’ve witnessed the effect that management has on engagement firsthand. In a former life (or so it feels), I was a sales manager for a big box electronics retailer. The biggest driver of profitability, by and large, was television sales. The TV by itself has a high profit margin, but when you add accessories, cables, surge protectors, Blu-ray players and audio, profits can soar. These stores live and die by the success of their TV department.

As you can probably guess, sales managers place a great deal of focus and investment on their salespeople – developing their talents, honing their skills and teaching them how to educate and connect with customers. While the underlying focus is often the same from manager to manager, approach can vary wildly.

Inaction in action

I recall one manager in particular and his method of “talent development.” Employees would regularly approach him after a sale, proud of their accomplishment, and looking for a little approval and encouragement. His response was typically a back-handed compliment: “Nice, I see that you sold an HDMI cable, you should have sold the surge protector too,” or, “Great, they purchased home theater surround-sound with the TV, why didn’t you sell professional installation?” No praise went without criticism; no good deed went unpunished.

In his mind, he was placing the bar higher and higher – helping his salespeople strive to be the best and reach a standard of excellence. It worked in a few cases. More often than not however, employees disengaged, confident that they could never do enough to satisfy. They could never reach their goals, because they were always reestablished right before they were met.

It’s all relative

I always did my best to encourage performance through individual achievement rather than a single standard of excellence. The biggest difference between these two methods is the approach towards goal setting. The first method establishes a measure for greatness, and produces an all or nothing mentality. In the words of Jedi Master Yoda, “Do, or do not. There is no try.” Maybe this works in the Marine Corps boot camp, professional sports and the Jedi Academy, but it’s not a prudent approach for an every-day Middle America workforce.

The other method takes a little longer, but is much more productive. We have to first take stock of an employee’s skill set and potential, and then work with them to establish a “next level.” Something that they can own; something on their terms. If we view performance as falling somewhere on a continuum, focus moves to direction and momentum. Not just good or bad, but getting better or getting worse. As long as we can keep consistently ticking along upwards, slow and steady will often win the race.

In part two of this post, we’ll look at some tangible methods of engaging employees. In the meantime, if your credit union would benefit from more streamlined and simplified performance management, click here to learn more about Performance Pro!

Inspiring a Civil Workplace at Your Credit Union

by Joyce Marsh, SPHR, Sr. HR Consultant

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone said and did the right thing all the time and no one’s feelings ever got hurt? That would be a perfect world – which, of course, we know we don’t live in. But we can wish, can’t we?!

Ensuring that employees practice civility at your credit union is a progressive activity. Civility being courteous and polite. It doesn’t sound that difficult to be nice, but because of various negative factors, we sometimes digress. Following are some tips for resisting bad manners and encouraging civility at your credit union. Remember, it starts with you:

• Personality conflicts – Empathetically putting oneself in the other person’s “shoes” can help you see the conflict in a completely different light.
• Holding your tongue – Think before speaking. Look for the good in others and focus on their strengths.
• Lead by example – Random acts of kindness and sincere compliments of a “job well done” are always encouraging. And they’re much better than speeches that tear someone down.

The Cost of Incivility

Incivility is degrading to all who are affected by it, regardless of whether it is directed at them or if they’re a witness to its hurtfulness. When incivility reigns, it can quickly turn into a claim of harassment or a hostile work environment.

Train your employees to be respectful of others, and to look for positive qualities in them too.
Someday, they themselves, could be the victim, and what a lonely place that would be! Teaching employees to be aware of, and think about, the effects of what they say or do can help them be more thoughtful and considerate workmates. Civility leads to less turnover, better productivity and a happier staff.

5 Ways to Grow Your Credit Union This Summer

Most organizations seem to face a summer slowdown each year, even credit unions. Thanks to summer vacations, both staff and members become sparse. Even though on some of these slow, summer day it’s nice to relax and enjoy the calm. But there are several, and more productive, ways to spend these upcoming summer months.

1. Play Online
   No, we’re not talking about Candy Crush Saga or Minecraft … But on a slow business day take a look at all of those new social media platforms you’ve heard about but never tried. Set up a business profile and test it out. Come fall, if you don’t think it’s worth it – just remove your profile. You won’t know unless you try!
   
2. Update Your Site
   We’re sure you’ve been meaning to update your website’s content or layout all year long. But the day-to-day tasks can force you to put it on the backburner. Summer is the time to go through your site to ensure everything is current. It’s also the perfect opportunity to review it and see if it’s time to get a new look to better mesh with your credit union’s brand, or update it to be responsive. Don’t wait until fall when your workload picks back up.
   
3. Get Out There
   With all of the summer festivals and community events, now is when you want to get out and about and mingle with your community. Sponsor a charity run or host a booth at the art fair. You’ll not only get your credit union’s name and brand out there, you might get the chance to network some new partnerships and enrich the ones you already have. Plus, who wants to sit at a desk when it’s so nice outside!
   
4. Snap Some Pics
   While you’re out and about this summer, don’t forget to take plenty of photos! Thanks to the prevalence on cameras on phones, you have no excuse to get some pics when your credit union is at these community events. Once you take them, just don’t forget to post them on your Facebook page or website for all to see. Nothing boosts traffic as much as a great photo.
   
5. Tend to Your Staff
   Staff development can also be something that gets put on a backburner when those deadlines keep looming. Work one-on-one with staff to ensure they’re keeping up with their goals and that any issues are being properly addressed. No use waiting until the end of the year reviews to improve the performance of not only your staff, but your credit union as well.

The good news is that no matter what season, the CU Solutions Group team is always ready, willing and able to support your credit union. Our marketing, technologyand HR divisions can help you with any and all of the tips above. Just let us know what we can do to make your credit union’s summer be the best yet!