Top 15 post: Kristin Flores

The Amazing Race Update

What do rubber duckies, Wisconsin and pit stops have in common?

You may be curious as to how these three things are connected. As the director of marketing for Prospera Credit Union, I've developed a program that not only helped employees reach their goals but sparked fun along the way. Here's why PCU's 'Amazing Race' program works:

Fun way to challenge employees to reach their individual goals, which is competition at its best
All employees of PCU, not just front line tellers, participate in the challenge, creating a team building experience
Helps to continually educate employees on PCU's products and services, providing guidance and confidence to help boost membership relationships
Keeps employees motivated by rewarding them with incentives such as monthly prizes, souvenirs (that's where the duckies come in!) and an additional half day of vacation - who wouldn't want that?

Here's a bit more information on the program that's taken our credit union by storm:

The Amazing Race is an internal sales and marketing program that challenges employees to reach different goals while also making their way to different “pit stops.” Similar to the television program, branches/departments race towards a new goal (such as membership, debit cards, e-statements, etc) and a pit stop (Wisconsin city) each month. This program helps ALL employees of the credit union, from frontline to back office staff, embrace and take ownership of the goals that help make us a stronger organization. Plus, they get to have some fun and win prizes along the way.

This program has truly helped us focus on our core business – providing financial guidance and educating members about our products and services. As a credit union, if we do not meet these basic goals, we will not thrive and succeed. Doing well in the core areas of our business allows us to do more and have a larger impact in other areas, such as community involvement and charitable contributions.

Amazing Race challenges have included everything from membership, checking and loan volume to debit cards, credit cards and online services.

In our first three months of the Amazing Race challenge we not only exceeded our monthly Amazing Race goal but also our three core goals – membership, checking and loan volume. Exceeding all goals for three subsequent months was a new feeling for our staff and they were rewarded well for their hard work. In addition to their monthly prize and souvenir, our CEO provided EACH employee with a bonus half day of vacation in celebration of a spectacular start to the year.

Now, eight months into the year, I am proud to say that we have continued to meet or exceed nearly all our core credit union goals! We look forward to continued success for the remainder of the year and taking what we learned in 2012 and improving the program for 2013!

Kristina Flores, Prospera Credit Union