THE LEARNING AND DOING PROCESS

It is most important for customers and potential ones to understand this process and feel comfortable with it from the beginning.

1. For a new (start-up) credit union and an existing one, good number of people should attend the workshops to find out about the learning and doing process.
2. The reasons are:

1. Individuals don’t know if they wish to perform or are suited to a job unless they are exposed to it.
2. Others observing them can determine skills and attributes that they might have, but which they didn’t think they had!
3. Individuals learning and knowing about a subject together are able to put it into operation with others - building management strengths, encouraging versatility.
4. Giving all attendees an opportunity to engage in team building activities, not through sterile exercises but learning and (more importantly) doing together in real live situations. Online learning doesn’t do this!

1. An existing credit union should adopt the same approach but with learning being more advanced and the doing directed towards devising practical solutions to operational difficulties met; for example, this can include “How to manage, monitor and control growth” – a “good” difficulty or “How to avoid and then control bad debts” – a “bad” difficulty.
2. The key for creating and maintaining ongoing credit union success is the formation, retention and continuing service by a group of individuals (including employees) with compatible and complementary skills, covering all levels of involvement in the affairs of the credit union; who are educated to task (and as many others as possible, so if called upon, can perform these alternative tasks when required).

The creation or continuation of a compatible team focuses on the key objective - the ability to address and deal with real time situations with confidence - and the “learning and doing” process is designed to deliver this.

Regardless of the availability of other resources, such as money, buildings, equipment, paid employees, etc., if there are not enough people to inspire, operate and have legal responsibility and commitment for the care and custody of the credit union at various levels, then it will not succeed in its main purpose - to serve the needs of its owner-members, either in the community or workplace.

Every situation is different, but here are some suggested questions you may wish to raise:-

1. This is who I am/we are. (Please let me know about any organisations helping you.)
2. This is/these are the subjects that we would like to discuss with you.
3. What is the maximum/minimum number that can attend each module?
4. What is the best method for delivery time for modules?
5. What is the preferred length of a working or learning day?
6. What type of venue is best?
7. “Do you work Saturdays and Sundays?”

Depending on your organisation’s needs, the Consultancy can also tailor-make individual workshops to address the challenges you face, such as:-

Pro-active Workshops for Credit Union Leaders

Great emphasis is placed by others on credit union “Training”. (This word is best applied to developing children and animals!) rather than “Development and Education” of existing or aspiring leaders.

Also, little emphasis is placed on “Learning and Doing” as a combined discipline; the programme of “Pro-active Workshops for Credit Union Leaders” has been devised to satisfy this void.

A “Workshop” is a place where things are made by individual workers - although led by a mentor, each Workshop will be driven by the needs of the individual “workers” attending.  This crucial interaction and team building can never be delivered in a distance learning programme.   Hopefully all will leave with enhanced skills to be applied to their credit union business and the betterment of the community they serve.

To ensure each “worker” receives as much individual attention as possible, numbers attending are limited to 12. The Workshops take around 7-8 hours.

Subjects to be covered by each Workshop are commissioned by the convening credit union, league or association and can be based on any subject matter (within reason!) appertaining to a credit union business.

Workshops recently commissioned included “Credit Union Sales Solutions” and “Credit Union Business and Enterprise Opportunities” - details below:

What will yours be? – some examples

• Credit Union Sales Solutions Workshop

All businesses without exceptions must make profitable sales to survive and prosper and this includes credit unions.

There is no harder business in which to make “sales” than the financial services industry, because the objects being sold are intangible, not bought automatically as a matter of course. By attending this Workshop, you and others will learn to realise:

1. Can you sell?
2. Are you scared of selling and why?

The mentor will only steer the Workshop – the attendees will drive it, as it is vitally important that all leave with new knowledge, skills, confidence and above all a “made to measure” sales strategy.

• Credit Union Business and Enterprise Opportunities Workshop

Credit unions lending to owner-members operating their own business enterprises led the economic recovery in the USA in the 1980’s and are doing so again in the 2010’s.

Some of the most dynamic credit unions in this country are solely dependent upon owner-members who have saved and borrowed from them for consumer credit needs and not business ones.

A credit union loan to an individual can be given (subject to individual underwriting – not point scoring!) to an owner-member for “any prudent and provident” purpose.

There are credit unions who specialise in business lending to their specialist owner-membership fields (Common Bonds) and more community based credit union are following this trend. Why?

Clearing banks are loath to lend to start up, small and medium businesses, particularly where no security for the loan at all is available. They also use “point scoring” underwriting distant from the applicant and lack the complete trading skills to assess risk!

This is a tremendous opportunity for credit unions to build customer loyalty by using “relationship lending”, giving customer (owner-member) satisfaction, leading to profitable business for them.

Do you want to know more? To discuss your specific needs, contact