Page 24 - Perspectives Vol.15 Issue 2

ENCOURAGE
THEM TO BE
TRUST
THEM TO BE
THE BEST
VERSION OF
THEMSELVES
It’s easy to say we trust our employees to accomplish daily tasks from start to finish, but do we trust them when it comes to more significant matters? Allowing your staff to make a group decision on how to accomplish a big problem, without second guessing
or nitpicking their decision ... that is trust. Allowing them to organize their work in ways that suit their personal strengths as well as that of the entire team ... that is trust. It’s trust that demands your flexibility and compassion. Likewise,
trusting them to find balance in their lives, inside and outside
of work, can build loyalty that is unsurpassed.
DON’T
BE
AFRAID
OF
FAILURE
When our daily practices, policies, and procedures send a message of “Don’t do
that, we may fail,” it stifles creativity and innovation. Rather, rethinking
and retooling each of those processes
to ensure they are sending a defined or even unspoken message of appropriate risk tolerance, can encourage employees to take consistent, calculated risks that are not only critical to the growth of their own mindsets, but critical to the growth of your credit union.
It’s time for leaders to throw out
the old programs that no longer fit. We must open to the possibilities of not just the size of the shoe, but the heart of the shoe wearer. Our cultural messages must be that we recognize our teams as not just collectors of paychecks, but as talent we can influence positively. When we do that, even we will wear shoes that fit.
INSPIRED
There’s nothing better than seeing transformation before your eyes, like
a teller who might have taken the job just to get her through her college career in music, but who then falls in love with a project team where she can use her gift of written communication. Seeing her coming to life rather than just coming to work, can be life changing for the employee, but also for other employees (and members) with whom she shares her comments about career satisfaction.
LET THEM FALL IN LOVE
Creating a talent development program to work with employees who have never once thought of their job as
a career can inspire them to fall in
love with your credit union. Helping them discover new interests, new skills they’re great at, and what motivates them can often allow them to reframe what they tell themselves. They can switch from the self-talk: “I’m leaving; I don’t like being a teller anymore,” to “I can use my purpose and talents in
a way that not only inspires me, but inspires those around me as well.”
22 Vol. 15, Issue 2