We live in a time of rapid technological change. Artificial intelligence, automation, and digital solutions are transforming how members engage with credit unions’ products and services. However, personalized service remains a hallmark for credit unions.

Yet, processes established centuries ago and legacy technology are fueling workplace fatigue and making it increasingly challenging to retain even the most committed employees.

Automation, such as for a skip-a-pay program, can free up employees to focus on more meaningful and high-value work, thereby enhancing the employee experience.

Inefficiencies cause employee frustration, member delays

Credit unions face mounting pressure to streamline operations and deliver top-notch service to their members digitally, by phone, and in the branch. Employees are trained to be member-centric, empathetic, and community-focused.

Nevertheless, nearly 40% of employees across all industries feel burned out. Ineffective processes and systems, along with organizations taking too long to resolve them, emerged as the top driver of employee burnout in 2023.

When employees are stretched to their limits, mistakes happen and member satisfaction suffers.

Automation augments employee potential

Most credit unions use some form of workflow automation today. A prime example is automated loan decisioning.

However, there are many good use cases throughout the credit union for automation. Processes that are mission-critical, recurring, require manual data entry or validation, or have multiple touchpoints are excellent candidates for automation.

If employees rely on multiple spreadsheets and systems, engage in heavy keyboard work (scanning, typing, reading, copying, and pasting), and communicate member requests through multiple emails and calls, automation can likely help.

Routine tasks that consume valuable time and frustrate employees include:

• Fulfilling repetitive loan servicing requests such as payoff quotes, due date changes, or payment skips.
• Filling out multiple spreadsheets.
• Communicating approval or denial decisions to members manually by email, phone, or regular mail.
• Maintaining important member data, contracts, and other documents.
• Following up on member requests.

The benefits of automation and digital solutions extend beyond efficiency gains. By eliminating mind-numbing tasks and empowering employees to take on more strategic and creative roles, these technologies can help combat burnout and foster a more engaged and motivated workforce.

Automation removes the worst part of employees’ daily work so they can focus on more meaningful, rewarding, and growth-oriented tasks.

A real-life example: Skip-a-pay

A credit union with 120,000 loans conducts its annual holiday skip-a-pay program through regular mail. During November and December, several employees are reassigned from their regular work duties to prepare mailings and email campaigns, process the high volume of requests from opening mail, reviewing agreements for eligibility and signatures, index agreements, and process the skip in the core.

Does this sound fun?

With a digital banking add-on, annual payment skips can easily be moved to mobile. With eligibility criteria controlling which members can skip a payment, and real-time, automated processing in the core, reassigning multiple employees to do this repetitive work is eliminated.

Credit unions can then offer the program throughout the year so members can access it when they need it, increasing member satisfaction and fee revenue.

The human mind is wasted on mundane and repetitive tasks. Employees can’t feel fulfilled by opening mail or email, and manually entering data off documents.

Workflow automation frees employees to interact where they can provide the most value: human interactions, judgment calls, creativity, and problem-solving. Their work becomes more meaningful and valuable.

Happy employees provide better member service

Employee engagement and satisfaction decrease during tasks that require speed, repetition, and precision. Burnout and a sense of failure result even when they’re doing a great job.

Replacing those tasks with automation allows you to engage the most human of all work skills such as creativity, innovation, empathy, and adaptation.

Workflow automation and member self-service offer many benefits, from increased profitability and improved efficiency to better member service.

Perhaps the greatest benefit is improving employee morale, job satisfaction, and engagement. You’ll attract and retain the best talent and improve the culture of your credit union.

CATHERINE YORK POWERS is CEO at Constant, a CSS alliance provider. This article is placed in partnership with Constant and CSS, and does not represent the views of or an endorsement by America’s Credit Unions.