My Story… ABECU Through and Through!
I have been a member of our credit union since I was a little girl. My grandpa Lenny worked for Anheuser-Busch for many years, and I grew up learning about the credit union and the personal benefits of membership. I can remember hearing my dad and step-mom telling us about how being a credit union member meant that we earn more on our savings accounts and pay less interest on our loans than we would at big banks. They would tell me that as a member, I would be treated like more than just a number—I would be a valued partner and treated well regardless of the balance of my account. I grew up hearing about the many ways ABECU supports the community, and it all sounded great to me!
Images source: NPGallery
Obviously that message was delivered time and time again with age-appropriate levels of information, but the realization of these truths in my own life have been huge. So year after year, getting money for my birthday or the holidays meant that I would deposit a big chunk of it. Whether it was two dollars or two hundred dollars, you can bet I wanted to earn the most on it! Fast forward a few decades and you’ll find me, having a background in the financial industry and it seemed as though my future here at ABECU was meant to be.
Grandpa Lenny and Grandma Doris at a family party in 2010
I’m a grown up, now what?
I started my career at Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union in 2012 as a Service Representative—a fancy title for “teller”. The branch where I started (our South County branch) was wonderful! It is the second location that we opened (out of 29) and because of that there is so much history there. Most of the SoCo Team at the time held years of experience, and they were a wealth of knowledge and happy to share it. That role taught me so much about how we help members here and really provided an ideal foundation for my experience to continue to grow. It was a very welcoming environment and really made it a great work “home”.
My current talent management team members
Creating the “warm welcome” Standard
We hope that all new employees receive the same warm welcome into their new branches and departments that we try to create for NEO (New Employee Orientation). Because of that, one of the changes we implemented was a creating a small budget for purchasing decorations and treats to welcome new team members when they transition from new employee orientation into their branch or department role. We’ve also included a checklist to make sure they receive crucial department specific content (such as where to park, eat lunch, order supplies, etc.) early on. These may not seem like a big deal, but think back to your first day on a new job…these are pieces of information that could make their initial experience in their new day-to-day a positive one. Having these tools can help them be successful and independent a little quicker, and it’s our way of showing employees that we are happy they are a part of our team.
You don’t know what you don’t know
So how did we determine what to share with our new employees? Over the years, I’ve been blessed with having several roles in our Operations Division, increasing not only my previous knowledge of the role, but also allowing me to understand some of the intricacies of our varying departments and how they all come together. One of those positions was in the Member Contact Center (previously titled the Call Center). That position provided information in just about every area of the credit union and my experience just completely expanded. What a fun group of employees! We worked hard so that we could play hard, and we were able to celebrate many successes as a team.
Halloween in the Member Contact Center—we all dressed as Jake from State Farm!
