The economy remains as challenging as ever—perhaps even more challenging—for those seeking to save money for their future. Michigan State University Federal Credit Union’s (MSUFCU) mission is to provide superior service while assisting members and employees to achieve financial security, their goals, and, ultimately, their dreams.
In 2024, MSUFCU’s Learning professionals excelled in delivering standout training programs, equipping team members with the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill the organization’s promises. Among other accomplishments, effective training programs delivered to MSUFCU’s workforce included specialized safety/soundness training, unified onboarding for member service areas, and the implementation of the CliftonStrengths assessment for all employees. The result is a workforce that is prepared to offer members a place where they can attain financial stability, reach their objectives, and fulfill their financial aspirations.
ENHANCING COMPLIANCE TRAINING
MSUFCU’s Learning & Development (L&D) team partners with the Compliance, Bank Secrecy Act, and Information Security teams each year to review compliance requirements for the entire credit union and individual departments.
Learning and Development designs and develops training based on these requirements, which the Compliance leaders and Internal Audit team review. These teams collaborate to ensure every employee has completed their required training by November of each calendar year. The training is housed within individualized curricula in MSUFCU’s learning management system (LMS), making it simple to report on compliance progress throughout the year and follow up with managers to ensure employee completion. In 2023, there were 15 different curricula, with further modifications to each based on an employee’s status as manager, executive, intern, contractor, or new employee.
“This personalized method guarantees that each employee understands their responsibilities and completes the necessary compliance training for their position, thereby saving time for both employees and their managers,” says Learning & Development Assistant Vice President Amy Greene. “Annual compliance training is conducted online to best serve our fully onsite, hybrid, and remote employees. By transitioning most compliance learning to an asynchronous eLearning format, every employee receives consistent foundational training and experience, reducing training variance and, consequently, our risk exposure.”
MSUFCU relies on an outside vendor for topics affected by changes in compliance law, but the internal L&D team designs and develops eLearning for all other topics in-house. “This allows us to tailor training to our internal culture and design to higher standards,” Greene explains.
Additionally, in-house training often features gamification, video, extended reality (XR), and humor to keep employees engaged. Within CU Start, new hires receive additional training in synchronous instructor-led sessions, as many of them are also new to work in financial institutions. “We revisit key topics annually in a series of compliance eLearning courses, as well as a three-part series on information security topics developed internally,” Greene says.
As economic and environmental factors change, new training is incorporated, such as AI Governance training in 2024. “Internally, our goal is 100 percent employee completion, accounting for extenuating circumstances such as extended leave,” Greene points out.
The NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) requires credit unions to provide training for appropriate personnel, particularly in areas such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). Some 98.2 percent of annual employees completed their compliance training by the end of 2023. The remaining 1.8 percent either attended a personal presentation on compliance or were considered a qualified exemption from training. “Ultimately,” says Greene, “by meeting the compliance completion expectations as set forth by the NCUA, MSUFCU was able to ensure all employees are skilled and knowledgeable to perform their job-specific responsibilities while serving and protecting our members and continue to maintain an exceptional standard of safety and soundness.”
UNIFIED L&D
#4 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
Throughout 2023 and 2024, the MSUFCU Learning & Development function underwent a unification process. Member-facing department trainers who previously reported to the Call Center, eServices, Branches, and Video Services were unified under the Learning & Development department. One of the first projects as part of this unification was CU Core—the approximately three-week unified member service training aimed at coalescing and strengthening member service skills and behaviors across all service delivery channels at MSUFCU.
“Through this process, the team was able to work across the organization with stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs) to clearly define performance processes and expectations that were previously unclear, undocumented, and/or varied across areas,” Greene explains.
This program centralizes content that is personalized based on the specific business need for specific areas. It incorporates synchronous and asynchronous learning, use of MSUFCU’s internally and externally facing artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, and interaction and shadows with employees and leaders across the service areas. It is fully scalable. “This program was instrumental in recent organizational changes—namely, expanding our branch network into the state of Illinois—as facilitators are equipped to deliver it thoughtfully and with adequate engagement both in-person and virtually,” Greene notes.
STRENGTHS ASSESSMENT
In 2023, MSUFCU undertook a transformative initiative by offering the CliftonStrengths assessment to all employees. This initiative marked a transition from a conventional approach to development to a strengths-based approach, symbolizing a pivotal shift in how the organization supports and empowers its employees in its developmental programs.
To date, 95 percent of employees have completed the assessment, granting leaders and internal coaches access to valuable knowledge on how to support and engage employees. “The integration of CliftonStrengths into our organizational training and development framework enabled all employees and their leaders to know their full set of strengths,” says Greene.
The rollout began with a structured communication strategy, including internally created learning resources, along with access to Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Learning Center, ensuring widespread participation and engagement in this development. “To ensure sustainability and promote future success, we integrated CliftonStrengths into our onboarding process for new hires, as well as our quarterly conversation guides for leaders/employees,” Greene says.
Managers received training on interpreting assessment results and aligning responsibilities with employees’ strengths. Prior to the rollout, all managers attended a three-hour CliftonStrengths training with two internal CliftonStrengths coaches at the annual Manager Summit, which included words from the chief operations officer, resources to implement strengths coaching, and exercises to utilize with their teams. Additionally, all credit union leaders attended the two-day Boss to Coach training program offered through Gallup.
CliftonStrengths coaching has been strategically embedded into all four of MSUFCU’s Leadership Development Programs, its annual sales training, and a variety of other training programs. This includes one-on-one and group coaching, tools to implement with teams, and pre- and post-work assignments to ensure accountability and application.
“Gallup research shows that individuals who focus on their strengths regularly are three times as likely to report high well-being, six times as likely to be engaged in their work, and more productive,” Greene says. “The implementation of CliftonStrengths in 2023 has been a transformative initiative for our organization, with the specific focus on enhancing employee growth, well-being, and engagement.”
NEXT-LEVEL LEADERSHIP
Over the last two years, MSUFCU’s Learning and Development and Organizational Development teams have collaborated with a variety of organizational partners to launch four new leadership development programs specifically focused on building the competency and effectiveness of the organization’s leaders:
- The Discovering Leadership Program is intended for individual contributors to learn skills of leading self.
- The Aspiring Leader Program is aimed at building a highly capable bench of future leaders.
- The New Leader Program focuses on orienting internally promoted and externally hired new leaders to leadership systems, expectations, culture, and skills.
- The Annual Leadership Learning Journey helps leaders continually build and refine their leadership skills to lead themselves, others, and outcomes.
These programs are cohort-based, include mixed-modality learning, leverage peer learning groups and accountability partners, incorporate reinforcement sessions with leaders of leaders, and are designed to MSUFCU’s nine leadership competencies, while considering most present organizational needs and challenges.
One goal for this program was to increase engagement for the leaders of the organization. The target was to achieve a mean engagement of 4.36 and to see an increase specifically in manager engagement. The 2023 mean engagement was 4.25, shy of goal; however there was an increase in manager engagement from the year prior. Notably, there was a 0.33 increase on the specific item, “In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress,” which was a focal area of managers getting more coaching and support from their senior leaders.
“The Discovering Leadership Program supports retention by providing long-term development for employees from a variety of levels of industry experience,” Greene says. “Of the program participants, there was an overall 92 percent organization retention rate.”
Going forward, the Learning and Development and Organizational Development teams are “incorporating open forums in our 2025 Leadership Learning Journey,” Greene says, “wherein internal knowledge experts share in panel or open Q&A format on topics such as change management, leveraging AI at work, and using our internal strategy realization processes.”
