By Frank J. Diekmann
Step aside J.D. Power; CUNA and the state leagues are about to give a demonstration in how you really go about measuring satisfaction.
The reversal by the CUNA board on its earlier vote that its affiliated member CUs should not be given a “choice” of belonging to a league or CUNA and that the 80-year-old status quo model of belonging to both is what credit unions really want is a clear indication that same board has checked its YELP rating—and the comment section couldn’t be read aloud in front of the Kids Club.
As I trust you know last week the 24 members of the CUNA board called a do-over and have now proposed bylaws changes that are the most fundamental the trade group has ever considered since Estes Park in 1934. The credit union version of the “pro-choice” crowd has been heard.
That part you know. What you may not know is this whole thing could become a lot more complicated than just a yes/no vote on whether CUs should have the option of belonging only to their state league, belonging only to CUNA, or having membership in the traditional league/CUNA model. Much is still to be worked out in terms of what “membership optionality” will mean, and it could mean different things to credit unions in different states.
CUNA’s staff and its Corporate Governance Committee have their work cut out for them in formalizing all the whereas’s and ex parte’s of the proposal that will go back to the CUNA board in the next month or two for another vote, and then it will go to CUs themselves to sort out. And that’s just part of the challenge. From Westbrook, Maine, to Honolulu, the various state leagues/associations are also going to need to decide on making changes to their own bylaws, and that’s before we get to the whole discussion of dues.
If the leagues and CUNA aren’t careful the dues piece could become more incomprehensible than a cellphone plan. How many megabytes of membership do I have left? What do you mean our board chair revisited the buffet at the league annual and now we have an overage?
One Big Mess. Just Like It Should Be
Does it all sound like a mess? Here’s the good news—it’s supposed to be. Remember what it should say somewhere (and it should trumpeted loudly!) on your website and other materials about being “democratically” run. This is the democratic part. As was said by Tom Dorety, the CEO of Suncoast Credit Union who chaired the CUNA System Structure and Government Task Force whose report originally recommended CUNA adopt choice, “I think in the end the process worked very well. It was little bit messy. It’s a messy system, we have lot of different opinions, personalities and people within the credit union system.” You can read Mr. Dorety’s full comments here.
You can bet this will be a chief subject of discussion by CUNA CEO Jim Nussle and others when the association hosts its annual GAC in February in Washington, a town that knows a thing or two about messy democracy.
In the late 1960s James David Power began to pioneer consumer satisfaction ratings with the automobile industry. Today, J.D. Power & Associates ranks consumer satisfaction with various products using “power circles.” For CUNA and the leagues, a much more powerful indicator than any circle is going to be how affiliated CUs act after doing their own “dues-diligence.”
My guess is the majority will opt to continue the dual membership, and that what most really want is simply to have a choice rather than be dictated to.
It’s ironic any of this would even need to be pointed out, since most CUs offer different product choices to their own members for a reason. For credit unions, the real power circle is the reminder of why it’s always good for those in power to circle back and remember where they started.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator-in-Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info and followed at @FrankCUToday.