Australian Central Credit Union

The Australian Central Credit Union is establishing best practice by introducing a competency framework to attract new staff.

"We are already seeing the results in recruitment and retention of quality staff," said Craig Walker, Senior Manager Human Resources at the credit union.

Three groups of competencies

The Australian Central Credit Union has a network of branches and advice centres in three Australian states and territories. It has developed a skills recognition and training system for its staff covering three groups of competencies. The competencies are taken from the Financial Services, Business and IT Training Packages.

• The first group includes core competencies for staff such as communication, team work, basic IT skills and problem-solving.
• The second group includes competencies for two levels of leaders.
• The third group includes job specific competencies e.g. front line work, HR or project management.

ICT solutions

'It took us a long time to classify all our jobs against these national standards but we have discovered now there are software systems to make this much easier,' said Craig. 'We could have saved ourselves a year by using software like the Competency Navigator.

Now that the standards are in place, the credit union uses them to profile the qualities and skills required in new recruits and to develop interview questions.

A tailored model

The skills recognition model will occur in two stages: first staff self-assess and then their self-assessment is checked by their supervisors. The next stage being worked on is to introduce a professional development program that means staff competencies can be recognised externally.

'We haven't linked remuneration to achievement of competencies,' said Craig. 'But there is a direct link between training and promotion. If we find a staff member has a skill gap, we arrange training and, when we see the performance outcome of that training e.g. increased sales, then we reward the staff member with a pay increase.'

Partnerships

The credit union has partnered with Coffs Harbour e-learning company, Janison, to provide on-line training for staff. 'The other thing Janison has done is to develop a competency management system that interfaces with our HR system' said Craig. It means our staff can look on it and find a record of their jobs and training history. They will use this system to do their self-assessment as well.'

By introducing this competency framework, The Australian Central Credit Union has found a way to give staff a significant benefit and also to increase productivity and stay in front of competitors.