WCUC Attendees Urged to Make Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions Part of ‘Distinct Credit Union Journey’
Keynote speaker Kim Lear also gives tips on attracting Gen Z workers in Tuesday general session
July 25, 2023
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) Executive Director Mike Reuter asked attendees of Tuesday’s 2023 World Credit Union Conference general session to consider making WFCU part of their “distinct credit union journey” by donating to a fundraising campaign for the 75th anniversary of International Credit Union Day.
The campaign aims to advance financial inclusion, respond to credit union crises and help find solutions to the movement's most pressing needs.
“We all know the mantra of 'stronger together than we are apart,' and I think International Credit Union Day is a great day to take a step back from our very busy lives and work to celebrate who we are, collectively, as an international movement, but also recognize that there is still so much work to be done,” said Reuter.
Donations to WFCU’s fundraising campaign for the 75th anniversary of International Credit Union Day, which will be celebrated on Thursday, October 19, are being collected here.
Reuter also outlined how past donations have been leveraged in crisis response efforts to support Ukraine’s credit unions during wartime and to create a new opportunity to bring credit union professionals together from different countries and regions.
“We’re proud, at the Worldwide Foundation, in partnership with the World Council’s Member Services’ department, to be bringing to you a new initiative called ‘Global Bridges’, which is truly offering a customized menu of journey experiences that we will help you curate to pinpoint the relevant themes and unique experiences that are of value to you—to help your staff, to retain talent, but also to bring something back to your credit union to make it better and to deepen the understanding of the global credit union system,” said Reuter.
Prepare for the future
Tuesday keynote speaker Kim Lear explained how recent sociological trends are creating a new generation of workers with different needs than the people hiring them, something credit unions must recognize in order to capture the best young talent.
She said one trend that’s influencing Generation Z workers is the close relationship most of them have with their parents.
“So, we found that there’s some organizations where, when they create an offer, they’re really focused on what that candidate wants. So, there’s a focus on career trajectory, growth and development opportunities, sometimes business resource groups and culture—things like that. But then they go and show their parents the offer, and their parents are like, ‘what’s the dental plan?’, or ‘what is the retirement plan?’, things like that. And so, we’ve seen organizations that have shifted, where, you don’t want to infantilize the candidate, but you do want to proactively address what their number one influencers might want to know, and often times that is mom and dad,” explained Lear.
Having access to a bigger worldview due to the internet and social media is also something new with Generation Z, according to Lear, which has also led younger workers to crave a local connection to their community.
“But I do think that for credit unions, the face of that local community piece is really strong, is a real selling point,” said Lear.
Still to come
The 2023 World Credit Union Conference continues Tuesday afternoon with a focus on climate sustainability and resilience, including the launch of World Council of Credit Unions’ Climate Influencers Network and a beach cleanup led by Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions.
Follow conference activities and see daily event photos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram with #WCUC2023.
Presented in collaboration with the Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA), the 2023 World Credit Union Conference runs through Wednesday, July 26.
World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development platform for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented 300+ technical assistance programs in 90 countries. Worldwide, 82,758 credit unions in 97 countries serve 404 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.
Organization: World Council of Credit Unions
E-mail: gneumann@woccu.org
Phone: +1 608-395-2048
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