Hi, My name is Leigh Anne Terry, and I have the pleasure of working with Scott at Callahan & Associates. He’s asked me to share some space here at nextcu.com to try my hand at exploring some of the next steps in personnel and operations in the credit union community.

I’m running a little fast and loose with my goals on this. Still, my hope is to start sharing some ideas and thoughts about a key asset: credit union employees.

My background is in human resources and project management, and I spent eight years working in a non-profit highway safety campaign. And while the basics are still the same – hiring, training, workplace issues, etc. – the environment is entirely different. Even within the credit union community, there are several variations on a theme when it comes to staffing needs.

One such variation centers on staffing and managing a credit union within an already established retail environment.

When you’re opening a credit union inside a supermarket or department store, it’s almost as if you’re another department within it – deli meats, electronics, cleaning supplies, and cooperative financial services. There’s a blending of identities and customer base – and some of this is what the credit union is trying to capture. If everyone’s shopping here, why not see if we can help them with the checking and savings needs, too?