Originally published by CU Daily.
Written by Frank Diekmann & Originally published on thecudaily.com
PORTLAND, Ore.–Building a culture inside credit unions that creates forward-looking leadership in the long term really comes down to developing midlevel talent to be the “champions and protagonists of strategic change,” credit union leaders here were told.
Deedee Myers, CEO of DDJ Myers, in remarks themed “Strategic Thinking at Every Level: Building a Culture of Forward Looking Leadership,” walked a full-house audience at the GoWest Credit Union Association’s MAXX Conference through research and exercises all related to building succession plans not just for others in an organization, but for the participants themselves.
Current Reality of the Workforce
When it comes to succession, Myers said it’s not always siloed and it’s not always vertical—often, succession skills can be built by moving horizontally in an organization.
That’s especially critical given what research has shown about how ill-prepared many people are to enter the workforce.
As the chart shows, Myers noted that one-third of U.S. adults score below the baseline proficiency level in adaptive problem-solving.
And what is that proficiency level? Fifth and sixth grade, Myers said.
“That’s who we are hiring, it’s our potential workforce,” she said. “And we’re actually growing more in that bottom third of those scores. It’s a little sobering.”
On the flip side, Myers noted that adults who score at the highest levels of the proficiency scale were significantly more likely to report higher levels of life satisfaction and to be happier. […]
