Today’s leaders need to have their fingers on the pulse of their credit union, their department, and their branch. We need to have our eyes and ears focused on how we are engaging, how we are serving our members and how we are supporting each other. You may feel like you do have keen insight into each of these areas, but here’s where I challenge you – Who’s voice are you listening to?
Often, the voices we hear loudest are the complainers, those pessimists who seek to find something wrong with everything. But you see, to really be able to answer these questions you must be initiative-taking and go to those closest to the situation – your staff. These individuals are in the middle of engaging with your members, working with other departments, and navigating credit union procedures and policies. Gathering the voice of your team is critical to making sound decisions and unfortunately, this valuable resource is often overlooked.
Collecting and analyzing signals from your team – sensing and interpreting what they are seeing, hearing and experiencing on a day-to-day basis is where the real decision-making power comes from.
Observing your team in action and listening to their conversations allows you to gain insight into what they need more of to be successful and what roadblocks might need to be removed.
Set your mind and objectives to focus on the experience; the experience your staff have with your credit union’s values, procedures, policies and the experience they are creating for your members. This allows you to pinpoint areas that can quickly be addressed and improved. By acting quickly to what you’ve seen and heard promotes a positive environment that will impact your people and overall culture.
Here are five simple Action Steps you can start doing today:
- Put time on your calendar to observe your team in action.
- Make note of the impact conversations are having on the people they engage with.
- During team meetings…
- Spotlight the positives you saw and heard – and ask your team to share their thoughts.
- Bring up challenges you saw and heard. Not what people did wrong (that is a private conversation); processes or procedures that were cumbersome or taxing.
- Talk to other leaders about what they are seeing and hearing – gain insight from others and seek solutions together.
- Take Action and keep your team up to date along the way.
Listening to your team, acting, and improving your culture will gain trust among your team and increase positive engagement.