Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

A few weeks ago, I asked you all about challenges. Challenges that your credit union will face. That you will face. And that your teammates will face. 

Many thanks for the hundreds of responses. Here are the results. 

2015 Credit Union Challenges

The question was a simple one: What will be your credit union's biggest three challenges in 2015? Here's what you said, visually.

Here's the actual list of responses, with the weighted average:

1. Loan growth: 24.7%
2. Regulatory burden: 24%
3. Membership issues: 12.7%
4. Technology: 7.1 %
5. Growth: 3%
6. Competition: 2.6%
7. Net margin: 2.6%
8. Security: 2.3%
9. Culture 2.3%
10. Costs, capital, leadership, talent interest risk management and time management round out the rest. 

The second question was a bit more personal.  I asked folks what their biggest personal challenges would be in 2015?  What would affect them in a negative way. You may want to sit down. It isn't pretty.

2015 Personal Challenges for Credit Union Managers 

Here are the answers, again with the weighted average:

1. Time management: 15.3%
2. Lack of resources: 10.3%
3. Regulatory burden: 9.1%
4. Leadership/management (or lack thereof): 8.7%
5. Culture: 6.6%
6. Communication: 5.8%
7. Morale: 5.8%
8. Training (or lack thereof): 4.6%
9. Burn out: 4.6%
10. Change management: 2.9%
11. Accountability: 2.9%
12. Rounding out the rest? Vendor management, prioritization, board of directors, strategy, collaboration, security, patience and the economy. 

Finally, I asked folks what they thought their staff would  struggle with in 2015. You might expect a similar list as above. You'd be wrong. 

2015 Staff Challenges, as Seen by Managers

Here are the answers:

1. Lack of training: 14.2%
2. Regulatory burden: 12.1%
3. Adjusting to a new sales culture: 9.6%
4. Embracing change: 7.5%
5. Management/leadership: 6.3%
6. Loan growth: 5%
7. Need for efficiency: 5%
8. Workload: 5%
9. Cost of living: 4.6%
10. Competence: 4.6%
11. Membership: 4.2%
12. Culture: 4.2%
13. And rounding out the rest of the list: Communication, competition, technology, lack of resources, morale, succession planning, and work/life balance. 

There's more than enough to chew on here.  Next week, I'll dive into the data and share some thoughts. Until then, what thoughts have ye?  (And shoot me an email if you want me to share a larger image of each graphic.)