Regardless of your job title, you’re a member service representative (MSR), says Jeff Rendel, principal of Rising Above Enterprises.

That’s because members’ success is the end goal, and all credit union positions support that goal in some way.

Creating engaged employees who can deliver on this promise requires two steps, says Rendel, who addressed the 2019 CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference Saturday in Las Vegas:

1. Get strategy out of the board room and into the whole credit union.

“Every job has great strategic value,” Rendel says, “and every job affects members’ and the credit union’s success. It’s up to us to discuss, lead, and show this to staff.”

Rendel is a proponent of employees taking ownership: treating their jobs as their own business and thinking like entrepreneurs.

“The goal is always BTTY: Better today than yesterday,” he says. “Employees are the experts—the ‘owners.’ Ask them what works best. Get uncomfortable when there isn’t change.”

2. Capture the collective wisdom of the next generation.

Find and invest in your high-potential employees, Rendel advises. Create professional development opportunities and two-way mentorships, and give these employees longer-term, cross-functional projects.

Doing so will provide experience and growth opportunities.

“Consider building a department of innovation to harness staff’s ideas address real business issues,” he says. “Leaders can’t wait for ideas to come to their desks.”

► Visit CUNA News for more conference coverage, and get live updates on Twitter via @CUNA_News, @cumagazine, @CUNACouncils, and by using the #MBDCouncil hashtag. Learn more about the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council, a member-led professional society for credit union executives, at cunacouncils.org.