Lizeth GeorgeLast year, Delta Community Credit Union’s Net Promoter score (NPS) was 74.8%, the credit union’s second highest score ever and a number that placed it in the top percentile of credit unions nationwide. Over the same period, the average NPS for similar-sized credit unions was 57% and 39% for banks.
According to Hank Halter, CEO, Delta Community Credit Union, that high NPS is a testament to the credit union’s employees. “Our employees are our greatest asset,” said Halter. “So, for Delta Community, it’s important that we find the best and brightest employees and invest in them — and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
Halter and his leadership team made enhancements both during and after Covid-19 to ensure that Delta Community is competitive when it comes to attracting — and retaining — top talent. It enhanced its benefits program and introduced remote work for much of its workforce. The team also improved the credit union’s variable compensation programs. When Delta Community meets and exceeds its earnings goals, all employees — not just managers — share in the upside.
The organization also hired a third-party coaching firm to provide employees with career planning and “help them be the best that they can be,” explained Halter. The coaching also provides leaders with the skills necessary to communicate effectively, especially when dealing with employees one-on-one. “We’ll provide training and invest in employees not only on day one, but throughout their careers,” added Halter. This includes a leadership development program and cross-functional training. If an employee who works in branch operations shows interest in moving into marketing, their manager will help the employee explore options.
Because many of Delta Community’s employees choose to work remotely, it has ramped up ways to create a sense of community among employees and to ensure employees understand how best to serve each other and serve the credit union’s members.
In this year’s Best Places to Work survey, one of Delta Community’s 1,300 employees wrote, “I feel that Delta Community Credit Union constantly does things to make their employees feel important. I have seen many employees get promoted from within. DCCU trains their employees to be more effective so they can grow.”
Perhaps that is why, for nine years in a row, Delta Community has made the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Best Places to Work list, this year, topping the Extra-Large Company category.
Delta Community has 32 branches (29 in metro Atlanta) and is active in those communities.
The credit union also operates under the philosophy that when the communities in which it operates thrive, its employees thrive. During the first six months of 2023, Delta Community conducted 100 free financial education workshops, touching 6,000 individuals. Combined with Delta Community’s scholarships and support of various community causes, the credit union will invest roughly $1 million in metro Atlanta this year.
As of June 30, 2023, Delta Community had $8.85 billion in assets under management and 490,294 members. Halter is currently serving as chairman of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, a network of over 300 credit unions across Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
