Our Mission. Our Future.
A message from Achieve Credit Union CEO Bret Fisher
Our 66th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 16, featured this video message from Achieve Credit Union CEO Bret Fisher. The video starts with our Management team reciting our Mission Statement.
Transcript
It is the mission of the credit union to exceed expectations with superior service and products that will promote members’ financial success, while operating in a financially sound, ethical manner.
So when you look at our mission statement of exceeding expectations with superior service and products that promote members' financial success while operating in a financially sound and ethical manner, it really tells you exactly what we're about.
Exceeding expectations: you can't just meet a member's expectations when they come in here. So why do people decide to use us for their banking? Why do people decide to be members? It's because we're exceeding their expectations.
Promoting their financial success – that's really what we do. We need to make sure our employees have the tools and the knowledge to do that for our members. And then, operating in a financially sound and ethical manner is truly looking out for the members as a whole, not just the individuals, but ensuring that we can operate well as an organization and take care of their needs.
Our employees are our best resource and our biggest asset in order to serve those members. When you look at our mission statement being our “why,” our core values are really “how” we get there. So, when we look at our core values of service excellence, integrity, doing the right thing all the time, professionalism, being professional when we're doing that, and respect – respect for the members coming in, fellow co-workers, and really respect for anybody out there.
Members are the core of what we do. They're the reason why we're here. Again, when you look at credit unions in general being a financial cooperative, and that motto is “people helping people,” you're not going to survive if you don't have members. People can't help people if there are no people around, so the members are our focus all the time. And again, it goes back to adding value for those members. How can we help them in ways that they might not even know they need help with? That's why we're here.
“Exceeding expectations: you can’t just meet a member’s expectations when they come in here. So why do people decide to use us for their banking? Why do people decide to be members? It’s because we’re exceeding their expectations.”
When we look at the next couple of years, we've put together a pretty good strategic plan here. And it's really all about raising the bar. So, we want to raise the bar across everything that we do.
The first initiative we have, the first word that comes up is efficiencies. How can we do things better with our internal processes? How can we make it easier for us to operate, but then also – and more importantly – how do we make it easier for our members to use us? So, some of the things we're looking at are instant issue debit cards, tap debit cards, improving our online banking, improving our online bill pay, making it easier for members to join us – again, making it easy.
Improving some of our facilities – so we still have the Lorain Branch scheduled to be moved over to Rt. 58. We've had some hiccups with that, but I think we're in the process of getting over that last hurdle to start that process.
Our main office here is now 25 years old this year, so it definitely needs some tender loving care, some improvements here. We're looking at making some modernization renovations here, again, raising the bar for our members so when they come in, they're more welcome and they can be served a little bit better.
We don't want to just be the best place for our members to bank and do their financial needs, but we also want to be the best place for our employees to work. So, that takes a lot of focus, a lot of hard work. And, again, when we look at the mission statement, that's our why. So it all goes back to that and building on top of that, having that top of mind to make sure that we're focused on our members’ needs.
It's a lot of hard work, a lot of focus, but the team we have here in place is definitely up for that challenge.
About the Author
Scott Nelson
Scott Nelson has served as Achieve Credit Union’s Marketing Director since 2022. Scott’s a big fan of credit unions and the positive impact they have on the local communities they serve.
Fun fact: You may see Scott at your local high school baseball games - as an umpire.