Can Agility Survive Post-COVID?

In 2020, COVID-19 presented a significant challenge to delivering essential financial services to people in a wide variety of, and often volatile, economic positions. Credit unions across the United States answered that call, and by relying on their strengths, they were able to keep their focus on the member. Demonstrating a remarkable ability to stay flexible and nimble, credit unions put their communication skills, policies and disaster plans to the test. Being agile and making on-the-fly changes to core operating principles and processes allowed credit unions to succeed, and even grow, during times when the large national banks struggled to serve the most in-need members and communities.

The ability to keep doors open both figuratively, and at times literally, is a testament to the responsiveness and sound decision making of agile leaders in the credit union space. Leaders who made a habit of embracing innovation, data-driven decision making and digital transformation have paved clear pathways to success for others to follow. By embracing more efficient decision-making ­protocols and testing new technologies, credit union leaders have become pioneers – pioneers who have been able to brush off dusty reputations of conservatism, reluctance and late-to-market strategies when it came to modernization, digitalization, democratization of information and federated decision making. As the hope for more reliable operating conditions is brightened by the arrival of a vaccine, the next question becomes: Can this new agile mentality survive the return to normal?

Credit unions are uniquely positioned to be at the top of their members’ wallets and long-term financial plans in 2021 and beyond. To make the move to top-of-mind for the average card holder and continue to take wallet share away from their competition (the big national banks), credit unions must take one step past the ability to deliver on their promises of better service. They must leverage technology and data to minimize friction and effortlessly deliver the right services at the right time. Credit unions quietly made up ground in most deposit as well as some lending categories during the first half of 2020 thanks to urgent calls to action by credit union leaders during the pandemic. To continue this growth and trajectory once the U.S. economic outlook stabilizes, credit union leaders should seek to permanently adopt the agile-centric strategies and renew their commitment to technology and innovation post-COVID.

The commitment to being agile, however, does not come without notable challenges. The five key challenges a credit union leader will face in the march toward agility and modernization are regulation, technology, data, talent and execution.

Regulation, and existing policies, present the first series of challenges for leaders looking to stay agile in 2021 and beyond. The biggest hurdle to staying agile amid regulation is ensuring systems and data management policies are compliant with all changes. Upgrading systems in response to regulatory obligations can be even more intensive than implementing new internal policies in response to the same shifts in regulation. Comprehensive data governance and master data management strategies, while resource-intensive, are the most effective tools for mitigating risk from regulation changes as it pertains to managing technology in an agile organization.

Technology “must-haves” and priorities may also look very different than the status quo for any institution embracing agility and modernization. A diverse offering of cloud-based solutions that prioritize efficiency, data quality, security and integration capabilities tend to win out for more agile organizations versus more dedicated, single-use or specialized on-premise solutions. System integration can be especially difficult within outdated systems, where data formatting and delivery methods can be extremely rigid. Data, and most importantly widespread access to clean data, is one of the most vital components of ­remaining agile and keeping risk exposure low. Often referred to as a “single source of truth,” clean data is much easier to manage. Clean data breaks down silos, improves communication and ultimately results in an increased capacity to service a member’s needs on first contact.

Talent, from both a skillset and culture point-of-view, is also a point of consideration for credit union leaders who have begun to craft visions of a more agile and member-focused organization. Credit unions that often tend to staff lean do not have to be at a disadvantage when it comes to finding the right talent to run an agile and technology-driven organization. They should focus on opting for technology platforms with the most intuitive user interfaces, and data governance and management practices that can support fewer systems. This approach will allow a credit union to hire staff who excel in member service instead of narrow or more specific technology disciplines. A focus on people with people skills and a passion for service will help the credit union overcome the next major challenge, which is execution.

Execution, which looks like a continual improvement of member service, can only be done with the right people and technology in place. The barriers to being agile are the same barriers to exceptional member service: Process friction and disjointed systems, communication efficacy, and alignment of strategy and resources across the institution. Prioritizing people who prioritize the member will result in the ability to carry forward all the lessons learned in 2020 into 2021. A successful organization is not agile for agile’s sake – a credit union must strive to be agile for the express purpose of serving the member.

COVID taught credit unions many important lessons in 2020. The institutions that will be successful post-pandemic will be the ones that carry forward the commitment to serving their members through innovation, clean data, agility and a continual push for progress.

Timothy “Buck” Strasser Founder Clear Core Tucson, Ariz.