GONZALES, La.—The oldest member of Shell Geismar FCU’s management team is 34, and the CEO is one of the youngest in the group.
The $30-million credit union hopes that young leadership will help it reshape itself, appealing more to Millennials and transforming the retail experience to that of an Apple Store.
Shell Geismar FCU has even incorporated aspects of a spa into its two lobbies.
Ronaldo Hardy, who just turned 31, took the helm here when he was 27. COO Hayley Badeaux is 29, CFO LaShundra Franklin is 33, and the CLO Joshua Pole is 34.
Young Leadership Team
“Our team is young, but I am not sure that was the specific intention when we hired them,” said Hardy, who added that the credit u noin recognizes that young leaders may be more in tune with the needs of Millennials than older executives. “But we hired based on the skill sets we needed, and what we can afford. And it sort of just happened—we have a young executive team.”
Hardy came to SGFCU after wearing several hats in his nearly eight years at the $460-million LA Capitol FCU in Baton Rouge, La.
“I began at LA Capitol in the call center and then became supervisor there,” said Hardy, who chairs CUNA’s Young Professionals Committee. “I was a loan underwriter. I have supervised member services, electronic services. I was a branch manager, a business development officer, and my final role was sales manager.”
Hardy said that when he learned of the Shell Geismar opening he thought he’d simply “give it a shot. At least at the beginning I did not think they would hire a 27-year-old as CEO. And I think they we’re pretty much shocked when I applied.”
But Hardy’s experience, he said, proved he had skills beyond what his age might indicate, and the credit union’s board realized that.
“For example, the branch I managed at LA Capitol had lost money each of the four years before I took over, and was supposed to lose $300,000 my first year managing it. But it broke even my first year running it,” Hardy said.
Good Mix
Hardy said most of the promotions he accepted at LA Capitol were in areas that needed improving or turning around. “I was never afraid to deal with any problem situations. I became accustomed to cleaning up bad situations and, as a result, my professional development moved at a fast pace.”
Hardy said the young leadership team and a board that is multigenerational has been a good mix.
“We have the younger perspective and the board has the wisdom. It has been a good pairing,” Hardy said.
Needing to be more nimble with technology and leverage more applications, SGFCU switched to Fiserv’s CUnify core system in May. The move allowed the credit union to bring in a new, faster and more efficient online lending system and add remote account opening. Plans call for introducing mobile, RDC, and bill pay this year.
“We have added Popmoney, too, which our members love,” said Hardy. Shell Geismar serves employees of two local petro-chemical plants.
Steve Shaw, VP of strategic marketing, digital banking for Fiserv, Brookfield, Wis., said a focus of Fiserv is to provide core systems that allow CUs to be nimble.
In choosing a new core system, Shell Geismar’s leadership insisted that the new platform offer the capability of being run via a tablet.
“This gives us the opportunity to take a branch wherever we go,” said Hardy. “So if we want to go to a Starbucks to speak with members, or visit a member at work if they can’t make it to the office, we have that flexibility.”
The capability also fits with the CU’s desire to someday look more like an Apple Store. Hardy said the credit union plans to remove “barriers” to staff/member interaction, such as teller counters, and have employees work one-to-one with members.
“Apple Stores create the opportunity to do business anywhere in the store, and we hope to do the same thing,” Hardy said.
The changes the new core system have allowed Shell Geismar FCU to implement are paying off, said Hardy—69% of new members are Millennials and lending is up 6%.
“Lending has been basically flat for the past few years,” said Hardy. “But we know how important fast decisions are to people now, and with our new online lending system our speed is much improved. Our goal was to reach $1 million in new loans per month, and in July we hit $1.4 million.”
Hardy encourages “out-of-the-box” thinking from his executives and from the rest of the staff. He said he asks the leadership team to dedicate time each week to innovative thinking.
Inovation Center
The CU also has an “innovation center,” a room with a huge white board where employees “think out loud” and put their ideas on the board.
“We hold innovation tournaments where we invite everyone to bring their best ideas,” said Hardy. “Winners get cash and the credit union gets great ideas. We are not afraid to push boundaries.”
That includes incorporating aspects of a spa into the lobbies of the CU’s two locations.
“We wanted to create a space where members don’t want to leave, and we can just talk to them,” said Hardy.
Each CU has four full-body massage chairs in its lobby, serves “mocktails,” and offers a “treat” bar.
“Our members really like it and tell a lot of people about it,” said Hardy.