Past Meeting Information

Notes from – March 2, 2005

Suggestions for Future Meetings

• Meet once a quarter.  The next meeting was earmarked for a Thursday in June as other days of the week had regular conflicts.   
• Submit notes of discussion topics for those who can not make it.  Idea of assigning someone to take minutes/detailed notes was expressed.
• Hold meetings in different locations throughout state so as to be a true “Georgia” HR Council.
• Three hours is enough time to allow one hour for lunch/networking and two hours for the discussion/meeting.  Request was made to leave enough time to get to location without fighting traffic, anytime after 10:00 am and leaving around 2:00 pm.  (3-4 hour meetings)
• The idea of not having a formal meeting format was preferred, and the ability to get together and discuss ideas/share what works and what does not was agreeable.  Set speakers will not be arranged for each meeting, but will be arranged on occasion when issues arise such as legal/regulation changes.  The possibility of inviting a labor attorney to the meetings was given as an idea . . . not as a speaker but as a sounding board.
• We all seemed to appreciate that we are not alone in the problems/issues we have, and that we all have specific problems geared more to credit unions.
• In regards to future financing of the meetings (but not for this year), yearly or monthly dues were not the preferred way to go -- the idea of paying a fee if attending a meeting seemed to be a possibility when needed. 
• The idea of letting the council develop as it grows has been embraced and will work well for our group.

Hot topics/Concerns/Suggestions

Benefits

• Insurance was discussed at length . . .the rising costs, handling the impact (transitioning some of the added cost to the employees. 
• Benefits, premiums are becoming increasingly too high and the discussion of how others handle this problem revealed that some credit unions are not covering the cost of family members anymore, but some credit unions are still covering the entire cost of the employee themselves. 
• How can our credit unions continue to offer good health insurance at an affordable cost? 
• What about HSA’s?
• HSAs are tax free to employees
• Some CUs are using dual program – HMO/PPO – can cost less as most employees choose HMO
• Cost reduction ideas:  employees pay higher deductible or employees pay for own catastrophic care insurance.  Could reduce cost by having a combined policy amongst credit unions with a larger group as association (such as part of a league) – insurance cooperative.
• Look into a collective bargaining for Health Insurance with BCBS; maybe all go under the League.
• Want annual contract as the possibility of mid year increases has and can happen.
• Dealing with high claims-heath/wellness programs?
• Offer cash incentives to employees if choose not to take insurance (payout $500+ per year if do not take insurance – less than paying for insurance cost for employee for entire year.
• PTO (paid time off) -- who is using this and what are the benefits?  How did you make the transition and sell it to your employees and how was existing time handled? 
• One CU rolled vacation time into the PTO plan and kept sick leave in a transitional balance column, another paid out the time to the employees 
• Selling points:  attendance improved; paying for it (time off) anyway; recruiting tool (1st year - 4 wks PTO); empowers employees to manage time off and helps the credit union plan better
• Still retains option of STD and/or LTD 
• CU can reduce time off by offering incentive program such as cash out for leave not taken (.80 per $1.00 salary, 40 hours cap, etc.)
• What type of disability policy do credit unions have?  Some offer short term and others offer long term.  All offer one or the other and the waiting period differs for each credit union.

Technology

• Online benefit processing – ADP – ipay, e time, easylabor.com, Etime, Intuit, NOVAtime (ITR sells), Turbo Tax (Intuit makes).  Benefits enjoyed:  is a cost reduction, time entry/clock-in on PC at desktop, audit trails, schedules, reports are available.
• Technology/Automation – what are some of the HR systems being use?

There was discussion on how to decrease the paper that is involved in our positions. Obviously there are certain musts with FMLA and ADA, but electronic timekeeping systems were discussed as well as different payroll systems.  ADP is utilized by many, but NOVAtime & Intuit was utilized by a credit union as an alternative to ADP. 

• How do other credit unions handle these claims when they arise and what are the best practices? 
• Panels and Workers Comp centers/clinics were discussed.  Having multiple locations can be challenging when drafting a panel that includes all the legal requirements of the types of doctors that must be posted.   

Employee Issues

• Motivation/Incentives/Recognition
• Use incentives/employee recognition – back office staff – how do you measure/award them?
• Back office – managers’ involvement – one credit union sets goals on attendance, process improvements, and project completions that factor into incentive awards for back office employees.
• Going extra mile – employees can earn mile marker points and receive awards based upon the number of points have in a given time period
• Conduct employee surveys
• Pride in working with CU – ask what does it mean to you (employee)?
• Recognition, what are ways other credit union create excitement and recognition for a job well done? 
• Send employees questionnaire asking them how they want to be recognized
• Recognition toolkit for what gives them motivation/incentive – can set up for managers with anniversary cards, coupons, gift certificates, etc.
• One CU uses mirrors at stations to remind employees how they come across to customers and to smile.
• One credit union discussed how just one upbeat individual had a positive effect on the rest of the group.
• One credit union singles employees out on special days (birthdays, etc.) through personal vocal renditions - but declined not to share it with the rest of the group (vocal rendition)!
• What training/mentoring programs do others utilize?
• The need for ideas on moving employees to a sales environment was discussed as well. 

Hiring/Terminations

• Employee criminal/background checks.  Companies others use:  HireCheck, ADP, NationScan
• Knowing questions to ask in interviewing process (specific to job)
• Credit Checks – some credit unions recheck credit if employee is to receive a promotion – go through interview process again
• One credit union has a loan officer to review credit history and ask is there anything in the report that would keep you from loaning to this person?  If so, they are more wary of hiring.
• Bankruptcy – some CUs will consider if bankruptcy has been discharged
• If denied due to credit – send adverse action letter.  Be aware and follow the– Fair Reporting Act
• Bondability (can be revoked)
• Exit interviews:  Do we all do them?  Do we do for all employees - involuntary and voluntary terminations?
• Do you verify that applicants possess high school diplomas?  The challenge of home-schooled applicants not having a verifiable diploma was presented by two of the participants. 
• Turnover
• Succession planning information was discussed, as well as how tracking turnover (which credit unions do it, what they review) and what can we do better so that employees do not loose positions within the first 6 months of hire. 
• Learning through exit interviews
• Turnover higher with younger generation – need ideas on how to keep them working and motivated.
• Dependent on economy.
• Salary
• Compease and Performance Pro are used by some.  The plusses are job descriptions, salary ranges, evaluation, performance appraisals, accountability, and management buy in is a must for it to work.
• Salary surveys – Credit Union National Survey is used.

Job Descriptions

• Job descriptions and employee reviews, several credit unions use Compease and Performease
• Some prefer to create job descriptions in house/work with managers