South Carolina Federal Credit Union (SCFCU) is one of the100 largest credit unions in the United States , with over $915 million in assets and more than 130,000 members. The credit union has experienced phenomenal growth from its beginnings in 1936, when 14 Charleston Navy Yard employees contributed five dollars each to form the credit organization. Today, SCFCU has a total of 363 employees staffing its headquarters and 15 branches in Charleston , Columbia and Georgetown , SC.
The Challenge:
Though SCFCU is an industry leader, with name recognition throughout the region, it’s not relying on size alone to remain successful. With strong competition from other credit unions, banks and financial services companies, SCFCU needed to increase the general public and members’ awareness of its comprehensive range of products and services in order to drive increased sales. With this goal in mind, the organization needed to shift from a transaction-based culture to a proactive sales culture while maintaining its “employer of choice” status with the current staff and potential employees.
The Process:
SCFCU’s sales strategy required a focus on redefining positions, team building and recruitment. The organization needed branch sales representatives who could successfully cross-sell SCFCU’s products while continuing to provide excellent member service. SCFCU decided to make the Predictive Index® the foundation of its new initiatives.
Managers first used the PI to develop “behavioral profiles” (PROs) of ideal candidates for branch service representative positions. Then, they began requiring candidates to complete the PI, matching their results against the PROs as part of the evaluation process. In addition, management asked all existing Sales and Service employees to complete their own PIs—helping them understand how they could leverage their “behavioral assets” to improve their own sales performance.
The Results:
The focus on cross-selling coupled with the PI-guided culture shift is paying off. For instance, over the past year SCFCU’s loan volume has increased $100 million to a total of $716 million. The percentages of transactions per delivery, as well as services per household channel are steadily rising. In addition, according to a recent SCFCU survey, member satisfaction is at an all time high of 95.3%—a superior level within any industry.
And even though change can often be challenging, employees are responding positively. In a recent survey, employees rated the organization in such areas as the work environment, communication, policies and leadership. Since using the Predictive Index, SCFCU’s “Employer of Choice” rating has increased by almost 8.5%!
“As a behavioral survey, the Predictive Index is right on,” says Dawn Rumney, Senior VP of HR. “The PI helps us get the right people in the right positions, and this has led to many positive changes.”
The board of directors is currently being educated on PI. Dawn hopes it will provide the board with a tool to foster better communication among themselves, the CEO and the senior management team. In the future, she would like to see the board utilize this tool to recruit future board members to ensure a diversity of behavioral assets at the board level. |
