Situation

A large credit union wanted to build a 3-year growth plan for approval by its Board of Directors in less than two months.  The challenges, besides time, were that the very involved Board of Directors had previously outlined some ‘aspirational strategies’ that the organization’s leadership team was struggling to understand, and the Board had a different perspective on what the goals of the growth plan should be.  

What We Did

After understanding the history and goals of the credit union, we paralleled the development of a best practice strategic plan while interviewing Board members and refining their expectations.  Through facilitated workshops with the leadership team, we developed more balanced goals and strategies to increase membership while also improving member satisfaction and operational efficiencies.  We ‘leaked’ these goals and strategies to the Board while developing them to identify any potential roadblocks and obtain buy-in.  To manage the expectations of the Board that their aspirational strategies would not be lost, we transformed them into ‘guiding principles’ which they, and the leadership team, were happy with.

Results

The strategic growth plan was completed on time and presented to the Board at its annual planning conference.  The Board was extremely happy with the content and direction of the more balanced growth plan.  The plan consisted of mission and vision statements, goals, strategies and key performance indicators/measures. One aspect of the plan the Board and Leadership really liked was the focus on operational improvements to drive profit improvements – which allowed more money to be returned to members. Growth Strategy Partners was asked to assist with implementing the plan, and to attend the following year’s annual planning conference.