“The challenge we face in a market like ours is large employers can pay top dollar for compliance expertise.” Gary Fillman, director of risk advisory services for $615 million Omaha, Neb.-based Centris Federal Credit Union, said in the whitepaper. “When you're looking for someone who can hit the ground running, you have to be prepared to compensate that person at a competitive rate to keep him or her for the long term.”

Also sourced for the paper is human resources expert Lindsay Biggins, a CareerBuilder major account executive. Biggins shared hard-numbers evidence that skilled compliance professionals may soon become even harder to find and retain.

Godwin and Harpenau wrote about the Silver Tsunami, the mass exodus of Baby Boomers from a the list professionals sure to have an impact on the credit union industry's network of compliance specialists, and they cited CareerBuilder data that indicates well over half of the individuals who hold a compliance officer position is over 45. Nearly 28% of them are over 55.

Some credit unions are filling the talent gap with outsourced skills. Paul Emanuels, vice president of lending and collections for the $583 million Valley First Credit Union in Modesto, Calif., explained in the paper how the combination of in-house and outsourced expertise has been invaluable to the evolution of his cooperative's strategic compliance effort. Valley First retains a relationship with PolicyWorks to manage day-to-day compliance questions and the credit union also relies on an Iowa firm for routine loan audits.

“PolicyWorks has the technical expertise and knowledge that makes us comfortable. We look at it as a true team effort. The credit union directs the offense, dictating how best to deploy resources, and the firm plays defense, stopping any blindsides that might be coming down the field,” said Emanuels.