Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

I hesitated using the headline "war for talent." It seems overly-dramatic. But time and time again, credit union executives tell me that finding the right people is becoming more and more difficult.

The U.S. unemployment rate is 3.9%.  Weekly unemployment claims are the lowest since 1969. 

Whether you want to call it a war or not, finding the right people is hard.

Here's an idea that worked for us. Focus on your job ad. 

• Does it describe your culture? 
• Does it describe the person you want? 

We are not experts, but we spent time working on our job ads, and the results have been wonderful.  Here's one example:

Who we are:

NAFCU is the leading trade association for America’s federally-insured credit unions.  Our mission is to strengthen credit unions by providing our members and the credit union industry the absolute best in federal advocacy, education, and compliance assistance. Extreme member service and responsiveness is our hallmark.

Our team members are passionate about growth, innovation, and collaboration. We constantly are striving to improve and better ourselves so that we can better support our members.  If you have a growth mindset and enjoy challenging work, you probably are a great fit for our team!

Who you are:

You are a self-starter with strong writing, editing, and organizational skills and enjoy communicating in various media and various forms.  You have an eye and ear for creative ways to communicate content to various audiences – i.e., you know how to make a headline stand out.  You also have an understanding of business functions and an interest in credit unions and consumer financial services. You have the ability to prioritize a varied workload, balance multiple tasks, and projects without missing deadlines, and work efficiently while generating high-quality work product. You thrive in a collaborative, team-oriented environment and take pride in helping others, but you are able to work independently...

If you push yourself and your colleagues to be better and are committed to helping to make NAFCU the best trade association in Washington, D.C., we would love to hear from you. 

It may seem simple, but I would argue otherwise. This is the first interaction that a potential employee has with your brand.  After this, they'll move on to your website to gather more information. 

So, a simple test today. Take a look at your job ads. Take a look at the job ads of your competitors. Which one sparkles more?

If you're reading this newsletter for the first time, sign up here to get regular updates.

                                                                                          ***

Speaking of sparkle, NAFCU's Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee Conference will be in Savannah, Georgia from May 20-23. This conference has sold out the past two years, so reserve a seat today!

                                                                                                  Savannah at night. I love this city!