COVID Leaves Lasting Impact on Credit Union Executive Recruitment

Strange. Unimaginably slow. Delayed. Surprising.

That’s how some recruiters described COVID’s impact on the current and future state of credit union executive recruitment.

“It is strange,” David Hilton, president of D. Hilton Associates in The Woodlands, Texas, chuckled, “We have over 50 searches going on right now which is probably 10 more than we normally have. The problem is that we can only do a search to a certain point and then we have to stop because the client wants to meet the candidates. They can’t meet the candidates in this kind of situation. No one is comfortable in meeting and greeting and taking their masks off and sitting in a board room or a conference room in a hotel.”

Nick Hayes, founder of Smith & Wilkinson in Scarborough, Maine, said he sees the executive landscape as good news and bad news.

“The good news is everything we’ve been working on has been going through and there’s been a very quick adoption of remote capabilities to conduct interviews. Now everyone wants to Zoom with us,” Hayes said. “But the bad news is that things are moving unimaginably slow. I can’t even think of better words to describe it. Everything that used to be done in a week now takes three to five weeks. I think there are a lot of ‘deer in the headlights’ feelings right now.”

Shawn Cole, president and founding partner for Cowen Partners in Portland, Ore., has found executives are interested in other positions but are staying put for now.

“Our business has not slowed down, but it has been delayed,” Cole said. “I’ve seen a lot of what I’m calling ‘old fashioned loyalty,’ which is nice, actually. Candidates are saying, ‘Hey, this sounds like a great opportunity, but I can’t leave my employer right now. We got to get through this together. I’m not going to leave, certainly not now and I don’t know when I can leave.’ That’s the delay factor that we’re facing.”

The Hartford, Conn.-based Jill Nowacki, president/CEO of Humanidei + O’Rourke, said she has seen a surprising development.

“I feel like it went from organizations clamoring for talent to candidates reaching out who are seeking new opportunities,” Nowacki said. “I think employees who are working in organizations said they didn’t like the way their employer initially responded to COVID, or that they didn’t feel physically or psychologically comfortable. It caused them to say, I’m going to look and see what else is out there.”

In addition, some candidates are also looking for organizations that are still hiring because they may have a greater financial viability going forward in a down economy.

Nowacki said her clients are hiring new executives after holding a slew of video interviews. In addition to video interviews, some of her clients are also personally meeting with candidates while practicing social distancing and wearing masks.

More details about credit union executive recruitment will appear in the July 22 print edition of CU Times.