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Article
Putting Members 1st Means Being Prepared By: Thomas J. Kristofco, Senior Consultant, Paradigm Solutions International
Sometimes one needs look no further than the name of an organization to find out what drives the company to be successful. That is the case with Members 1st Federal Credit Union of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where for almost six decades the focus has been kept on what really matters; putting the success of its members first. Members 1st Federal Credit Union is a rapidly growing, full service financial institution located in South Central Pennsylvania. Founded in 1950 with a desk and a small counter outside the personnel office at the Naval Supply Depot in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, the organization has become the third largest credit union in Pennsylvania, and one of the seventy-five largest in the United States. The credit union operates 30 full-service branches in service to over 130,000 members. It requires a dedication to service of the credit union membership to grow from such humble beginnings to an institution which boasts over 1.3 billion dollars in assets. The focus on member service is apparent when reading the 2006 annual report of the company. The first accomplishment listed is that of the credit union’s 2006 Membership Satisfaction Rating of 98.4%. The organization conducts this process regularly and has been able to maintain satisfaction ratings in the 98th percentile over an extended period of time and again for 2007. This remarkable statistic is followed by the description of a number of accolades won by the credit union team for exemplary member service, as well as a long list of community service programs, charitable giving campaigns, and new and improved member service offerings. To be successful in service to the community and to meet the growing needs of its members, the credit union has continued to think and stay ahead of their competition. Members 1st has undertaken an aggressive business continuity preparedness program featuring the OpsPlanner™ solution, and implemented measures to protect member information and to enhance fraud detection and prevention. The credit union has invested substantially in financial education/literacy programs to assist members and the community. It has also combined the latest technology with a commitment to member service to provide members with an average 10-minute turn around time on consumer loan decisions.
This commitment to member service and staying ahead of the curve also extends to the business continuity preparedness measures employed by the credit union. The credit union understands its service role in the community, and has dedicated the resources of the organization to put its members first by being prepared. Scott Strohecker, AVP of Project Management, is the person responsible for the preparedness efforts of the credit union. He describes the commitment of the credit union to preparedness by stating, “Our credit union has been providing members, and the community, with financial services for over fifty years. Our members trust us and look to us for dependability. We take seriously our reputation for service, and our ability to be appropriately prepared in the event of a disaster is an extension of our mission to serve our members and continue to earn their trust in us. We have, and will continue to make, strategic investments to assure the preparedness of the organization to provide uninterrupted member services.”
The senior executive management of the credit union has always considered business continuity preparedness a key objective to be fulfilled. In the seven years Strohecker has been a member of the credit union team, that commitment has been strengthened by viewing the broad effects of such disasters as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and more recently, the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Those events have prompted the organization to adopt a proactive approach to organizational preparedness and to make it a part of every day business decision making.
A key decision made by Strohecker and his team was to partner with Paradigm Solutions International (PSI) for professional services and the implementation of PSI’s OpsPlanner™ business continuity planning, crisis management, and emergency notification solution. “Our team selected PSI because they brought us the right combination of industry expertise and a leading edge software solution. We entered into a long-term agreement with PSI for the OpsPlanner™ solution and for consulting support in program development, testing and ongoing maintenance. Their team and their toolset have become an integral part of our preparedness efforts”.
Working closely together, PSI’s team of Certified Business Continuity Professionals (CBCP) and the credit union business continuity program team, reviewed the existing business continuity program, reviewed credit union operations, conducted a business impact analysis, and identified and prioritized exposures to be addressed. Armed with that foundation information, PSI and the credit union team built a comprehensive business continuity program and plan encompassing all of the functional departments of the credit union. A strategy to periodically test and maintain the program has also been developed and implemented. “What I like best about our relationship with PSI’s consulting team is that I know our team is dealing with experienced business continuity and financial industry professionals. I didn’t have to teach them the language for them to be successful. Right from the start they showed their experience with many environments; they knew what works and what to avoid. They also showed a real passion for making our program a success and improving our preparedness with their recommendations for improvement”.
Together PSI and the internal credit union team outlined a number of recommendations for improvements to be made by the credit union to better their preparedness efforts. Members 1st has enhanced their system redundancy capabilities at the remote redundant datacenter, established a remote command center and core team relocation center facility, and made provision for redundant item processing capabilities. “We have made great strides as an organization in our preparedness by committing resources where the team felt they were needed”, Strohecker added. “In addition, our team now considers the implications of new technology installations on our business continuity program when the solutions are being selected. Recently we upgraded phone systems and Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), and the team members were proactive in modifying the program to manage the changes and make the program better through the new technologies employed”.
One of the major improvements Members 1st has made to its program has been the selection and implementation of the OpsPlanner™ business continuity planning, crisis management, and emergency notification system. The selection committee formed within the credit union to choose a replacement for the existing software utilized by Members 1st wanted to acquire a solution which provided enhanced functionality and ease of use to the internal team members. In OpsPlanner, Members 1st found just the solution the team was looking for. “We selected OpsPlanner because it was very user-friendly, we liked the web accessibility from anywhere, the document management and repository functions have improved our internal control over the process, and the crisis management and fully integrated notification features give us the ability to connect with our team should we have a disaster declaration and need to get the team working together”. “It has been great to see our team members find ways to maximize the utilization of the system to better our preparedness. Our staff members have loaded key store and forward policy and procedure to be followed in the event of core system down time into the system for ease of access in the event of that type of disruption. We continue to work with the system to find ways to get the most from the system’s features and functionality to better our member service and be better prepared. OpsPlanner™ was a major upgrade from the credit union system we had been using”.
A recent test of the Members 1st business continuity program utilizing OpsPlanner™ was undertaken by incorporating the automated notification features to communicate with key credit union administrative and executive staff. “Our executive team was impressed by OpsPlanner™’s two way communication and conference bridging capability. Our ability to pose questions through the system and obtain meaningful responses helped the team to realize just how powerful this tool could be for us should we have a disaster declaration and the need to reach out to team members and other credit union stakeholders”.
The credit union is also very much aware of the need to maintain a workable Pandemic preparedness plan. The internal business continuity program team is working together with the consulting resources from Paradigm Solutions International to review this exposure, the planning to date, and update the strategies to be employed by the organization. According to Strohecker, the credit union is about to take part in the US Financial Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC) Pandemic flu outbreak exercise for financial institutions throughout the United States. He is hopeful to validate the action steps taken to date by the credit union, and to learn of new techniques and ideas for keeping preparedness efforts of the organization ahead of this threat.
Members 1st Federal Credit Union is a growing, vibrant, sophisticated financial services organization. Its team members understand the threats that exist in our modern society associated with natural disasters, weather emergencies, terrorist attacks, cyber attacks, civil unrest, Pandemic flu, utility outages, and the like. The leaders of this organization have made the commitment to be prepared, have decided to make the appropriate investments in redundancies and technology to support the operations of the credit union. The culture of the company has evolved to one of being proactive, and to consider the business continuity implications of the business decisions made and technologies employed by the organization every day. The company has partnered with Paradigm Solutions International, its team of professionals and its OpsPlanner™ solution for business continuity planning, crisis management, and emergency notification.
The interaction between these partners has been beneficial for the credit union. Strohecker commented that “our team feels good about the trusted advisor relationship we have with Paradigm Solutions International, and are confident that OpsPlanner ™ is the best solution available to meet our needs. The team recognizes that business continuity preparedness is a process, not a project. It is an ongoing commitment that never ends, and the challenge to provide member service, through disruptions large and small, requires that an investment of the time, talent, technology, and resources to doing this well over the long haul. It is good to have a partner we can count on in our efforts to be prepared and stay ahead”.
It all makes sense. Members 1st has as its mission to put its members first in the way it conducts business on a daily basis. The decisions made every day are intended to fulfill that goal of service to the members and the community. Being prepared for the unexpected is a conscious decision which has been made by the management team of the credit union. The team is committed to think and stay ahead of their members’ needs. The credit union realizes the trust placed in them by the members, and is dedicated to the expectation of dependability that 50 plus years of uninterrupted member service brings along with it. It is plain to see, the team of professionals of Members 1st Federal Credit Union are true to their word and true to their name, for they have placed the interests of their members first.
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