Tune in as Lynne is joined by Consumers’ Human Resources Manager Jennifer Smith to discus the Great Resignation and how Consumers is working to keep employees happy and engaged at work.

 

[music]

0:00:06.9 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m home, welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we have it all for you, and today, we are really zoning in on something that a lot of people are talking about, it is that retention. Everybody’s calling it “The Great Resignation.” Hey, Jennifer Smith is our human resources manager at Consumers Credit Union. Jen, I’ve known you so long and you are so talented at what you do, I’m so excited to hear a little bit about what’s going on in your life, it’s got to be crazy right now.

0:00:35.8 Jennifer Smith: Yes, it is an interesting time to be working in the world of HR.

0:00:40.4 LJJ: Tell me a little bit about your career path and how you got to where you are, and honestly, then we’re going to get into, did you ever even expect what happened in the last couple of years, who would?

0:00:50.9 JS: Right, yeah, so I have been with the credit union for almost 12 1/2 years. It has been a fun ride, it’s crazy to say 12 1/2 years out loud. I actually started off as a teller and worked on the front lines for a couple of years before actually moving into marketing, so working for Lynne…

0:01:07.7 LJJ: Woop! Woop! Woop!

0:01:08.7 JS: Yes, yes. And then eventually I spent about 4 1/2 years with our marketing team before transitioning to HR, primarily recruiting, before taking on more of HR, and really a lot of my marketing background has come in super handy for a lot of those pieces.

0:01:26.0 LJJ: What I think you show perfectly well for anyone that is listening is progression, and one of the things that we really focus on at Consumers is helping any one of our team members learn what seat they fit in best and what’s their passions and where they go to. I mentioned at the beginning, this Great Resignation, there are so many people that are leaving the workforce as they know it, like the traditional. What have you been seeing Jen? Can you give some examples of some ways that we are helping people succeed in the seats that they are in, or maybe want to go to?

0:02:02.8 JS: Yeah, so like I said, an interesting time in the world of HR right now. We’re seeing some existing challenges with baby boomers leaving the workforce at an accelerated rate than what we originally anticipated because of this pandemic and the state that we’re in. And then we’re seeing less workers entering the workforce, so that has posed a whole new set of challenges for us, especially in the world of recruiting and even retention when it comes to keeping our employees and keeping them engaged and happy. And so really, I feel like one of the biggest game-changers is just coming down to being intentional. So, when we look at creating a workspace that’s welcoming and inclusive, we definitely believe at Consumers, it’s built into our culture that if we have happy and engaged employees, we will have happy and engaged members. So for us as an HR team, we really look to continue to offer best-in-class benefits, we make sure we have comparable pay.

0:03:04.2 JS: We are looking at all those added benefits, so we’re revamping our wellness program because wellness looks totally different than it did a couple of years ago. And then historically, we’ve had very high employee engagement scores in the past, and so how do we as a team continue to strive to move that needle and continue forward as well, so we currently right now, the HR team has divided and conquered, and we’re going out to all of our offices, meeting with all of our different departments, trying to meet with everybody in the credit union to really just get a pulse check, see how people are doing, generate ideas for how we can continue to think outside the box when it comes to engagement. And so that’s been super interesting, and I think key to… Again, just going back to that being intentional.

0:03:50.9 LJJ: Jen, it sounds like it’s personal attention, it’s just not across the board, cookie-cutter, let’s try this at our organization. It’s very personal to each individual.

0:04:01.4 JS: Yes. These conversations that we’re having, it’s very interesting to… There’s definitely a lot of trends, there’s a lot of people saying a lot of the same things that they’re really looking for and asking for, and then there’s some out of the box things that we’re like, “Oh!” had never thought of that, so really good conversations with just getting right down to it with each employee.

0:04:20.7 LJJ: I think one of the things that we do very well, which I hope you’ll touch on right now, and that is what we call Professional Development Day, and it’s something that, again, is intentional. We bring everybody together on the same day. We will be in-person, we’ll be masked this year, I can’t wait to see everybody’s smiling faces though at some juncture, Jen. [chuckle]

0:04:42.2 JS: Yeah. So yes, Professional Development Day, it’s a day of learning and networking and celebration for us, and as we continue to grow as an organization, we just strive to really keep that connection with our employees and with one another. And so we try to have several opportunities for employees to kind of connect and come together face-to-face, last year, we were completely virtual, so we’re excited to be back in-person. The event is completely optional because we’re in-person, but we’re taking as many precautions as we can to make sure everybody’s safe throughout the day, but it is an amazing lineup of keynote speakers this year, as always.

0:05:20.7 LJJ: Oh my god, I saw Mitch Albom and I almost fell off my chair. He’s such a gentleman and just a great inspirational speaker.

0:05:27.9 JS: Yes, we’re so excited. We’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback already from some employees that are super excited to be there and listen to Mitch, so… Yes, super excited for the lineup, super excited, again, just to be back in person and see everybody.

0:05:41.3 LJJ: And Jen, on a personal note, I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to dig a little bit with you just because you are a new mom and you have a beautiful son. I can’t believe how big he’s gotten, and all of a sudden everything that has been happening in the world of work, which you are helping head… All of a sudden it’s coming to light for you, right? It’s the childcare, the “What do we do about vaccines?” How are you doing as a mom?

0:06:08.1 JS: Yeah, it’s… Yeah, so in addition to being an interesting time in HR, it’s an interesting time to be a mom and especially a new mom. I feel like we have been super… My husband and I have been super fortunate to not have a ton of disruptions when it comes to the childcare thing, but we’re having a lot of our employees have with littles that are having multiple shutdowns for quarantines, and I’m not talking just once or twice, we’ve had employees five, six, times, seven times at this point that have shut down for seven… Or 10 days at a time, and…

0:06:40.5 LJJ: And it’s not like you can just find another childcare.

0:06:43.5 JS: Exactly, exactly. So, we actually are looking into some ways as an organization that we can kind of tap into some backup services for our employees, so hopefully more to come on that. There’s actually a lot more things like that kind of happening in the background that we’re, again, trying to tap into. But, yeah, at this point, we’re really just trying to be super flexible with everybody with flexible work hours, working remote, things like that to keep everybody from having to take time off and just being… Just that work-life balance has always been huge for Consumers, and so really, that’s what it comes down to, is how can we continue to know that this is their priority, but then how do we keep them working, not having to take that time off and just not having to stress about their backup plans?

0:07:30.9 LJJ: I love that. The keyword there is stress, and how can you relieve stress, not only in your organization, the people that you work with day-to-day, it’s so important. Jen, thank you for your tips and for sharing us great information today.

0:07:44.4 JS: Thank you.

0:07:45.6 LJJ: Well, thank you for listening. Hey Jake, I hope you were listening. You’re going to be a new dad this year. [chuckle] He’s our producer, thank you Jake for all your editing skills. And I’d like to thank you for listening. If you’d do me a favor and you have a topic you’d like to share, just send it our away. We love to listen to other leaders in our community share their tips and tricks to help us all succeed. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union, Money, I’m home.