Navigating Member Challenges at the 2024 MCUF Financial Health Workshop
On Oct. 3, the Michigan Credit Union Foundation (MCUF) held its third annual Financial Health Workshop, at the James B. Henry Center in Lansing. The event invites experts to discuss financial health and well-being programs, tips and trends with attendees. This year, nearly 100 professionals attended the workshop.
The event was free of charge for attendees with funding from MCUF, event sponsor TruStage and session sponsor GreenPath Financial Wellness.
The event’s overall focus is to work with credit union professionals to build a better understanding of members’ struggles, and what they might be experiencing, as well as stronger habits for working with them to grow their financial health.
One of the recurring pieces of advice throughout the day, first brought up by Denise Keiser, Director of Training at BALANCE, was to use open-ended questions when working with members. For example, Keiser suggested asking, “What does financial success look like to you?” “What’s been holding you back?” or “How would your goal change things for your family?”
Additionally, she said an open-ended question like, “What do you want your budget to accomplish for you?” rather than a yes-no question like, “Do you have a budget?” leads to more collaborative sessions built on autonomy and motivation.
“It’s not you telling members what to do, it’s guiding them to discover empowerment and motivation to autonomously change their finances,” continued Keiser.
The event’s speakers also stressed the importance of credit union professionals to recognize a member’s struggles. Andy Manthei,Change Cultivator at GreenPath Financial Wellness, used his “3Dimensional Viewpoint” model to elaborate, saying that if we understand the internal and external pressures a member may be going through, we are more equipped to assist them. By understanding them, we can try and work around their priorities so we’re not impacting things like rent or food, he said.
Another key part of this understanding, Manthei suggested, was to get inside the mind of why some people have the spending habits they do, whether it’s due to scarcity shopping, a lack of impulse control or another reasonable factor that credit union professionals can work to destigmatize.
In the afternoon, the following Michigan credit union professionals made up a panel to discuss their financial well-being experiences and best practices:
- Ashley Josey, Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union
- Kathi Sitek, Diversified Members Credit Union
- Ciara Kolasinski, Financial Plus Credit Union
- Lisa Slaughter, Marshall Community Credit Union
- Mark Munzenberger, University of Michigan Credit Union
They discussed current member struggles, including scams that deplete savings and the generally high cost of living, as well as how educators now have to compete with the advice members are getting from non-professional social media influencers.
Multiple panel members said their credit union teaches new staff members during training about in-house wellness offerings so they can better help members reach counseling information when they need it.
“On behalf of the Michigan Credit Union Foundation I would like to thank both our speakers and attendees, for joining us for the third annual Financial Health Workshop,” said MCUF Executive Director Andrea Tucker. “This workshop is an opportunity to bring together credit union staff that are interested in learning more about member financial health and well-being and encouraging discussion on how they can take an active role in building programs and initiatives for their staff, members, and communities, in working towards a positive financial future for all.”
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