Credit unions are a force for good. Their cooperative principles, collaborative mindset and innovative services help propel economies, support communities and serve families. We help credit unions thrive, to serve their members of today and of tomorrow.
Wiser Together Advisory provides interim executive; fractional executive; management consultancy and board advisory services. Our perspective includes small & medium sized credit unions; large banks and financial regulator. Our assistance is independent - without actual or perceived conflict of interest from audit services.
“We sincerely thank you for your participation on this project. You’ve served the interests of [our] members extremely well.”
“Really appreciate all of your support”
“I highly recommend Ross for any work that relates to consulting for, assessing, operating, or providing oversight to financial institutions. Ross was always knowledgeable, professional, and courteous and added great value.”
INTERIM EXECUTIVE
Like many organizations, credit unions sometimes leverage interim resources. A rapidly-available; immersion-ready; experienced executive may relieve stretched resources. But they may offer so much more. An opportunity to boost credibility; stabilize a challenging situation; and rebuild stakeholder trust. Or the ability for an organization to access specialist technical knowledge or professional skills on a limited duration basis. Such contracted resources may excel at accelerated assessments; external perspective and/or impactful outcomes.
Interim CEO mandates are reasonably common for credit unions. Other mandates may include Interim CFO, Interim CRO or Interim VP roles. The situational context, ideal competences and primary deliverables of their mandate may vary materially. Some may address sudden resource vacancy, remediate regulatory matters or execute limited duration projects.
EXECUTIVE TRANSITION
Interim resource as a temporary stopgap.
Executive recruitment or search processes can take months to complete. Credit unions still need to deliver member service, to manage employees and to fulfil community activities. For example, an executive may have left the credit union.
Interim resource can bring broad skills and system experience to support the organization in parallel with recruitment.
REGULATORY REMEDIATION
Interim resource as a remedial catalyst.
For some reason, it is not business-as-usual. There’s a need for support to get back on track. For example, the regulator may have escalated intervention stage rating; or CEO / Executive performance may be problematic versus context needs.
Interim resource can bring specialist skills and a calm, rationale mindset to support the board or CEO to take positive action.
PROJECT EXECUTION
Interim resource as incremental capacity.
Credit union workload is elevated on a temporary basis. A meaningful development is afoot. All hands-on deck, plus more. Credit union may lack the need, budget or on-boarding time to recruit full-time resource(s).
Interim resource can bring targeted expertise and a clear mandate to support the execution of specific deliverables.
“In business, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield”
“Never let a good crisis go to waste”
BOARD ADVISORY
Boards and committees of credit unions face an increasingly challenging role. Technical complexity; competitive intensity ; technological expectations; and regulator expectations can place a higher-than-past burden on a board and its governance practices. Governance can become demanding, for both large and small credit unions. Boards should ensure that governance standards are appropriate relative the to the evolving asset size, business complexity and risk profile of the credit union. Some credit union boards can be surprised by elevated prudential supervision expectations, say from historical asset growth or during active remediation of regulatory scrutiny.
Credit union boards may seek support to execute Governance Committee activities; for ongoing coaching; or for specific counsel. Independent from potential conflicts of interest, our objective is help board members to effectively exercise their duties and obligations to protect the interests of credit union members. The presence of a board advisor may help build trust with stakeholders, such as a regulator.
Governance COMMITTEE
Execution as governance service provider.
We can support a Governance Committee to execute professional activities that are within its terms of reference and proportional for the credit union.
Illustrative governance activities:
- board self-assessment survey
- board competency matrix
- board maturity assessment
BOARD COACHING
Support as a trusted, independent advisor.
We can review management reports; attend board and/or committee meetings; provide technical or directional guidance; and help board members to govern.
Illustrative scenarios for a board advisor:
- regulator in dialogue with Board Chair
- board self-assesseses competency gaps
- board seeks higher governance maturity
INDEPENDENT COUNSEL
Advice to bolster decision making process.
We can provide targeted, independent advice. A fresh, external perspective may ideas, expertise and/or structure to aid board to consider its potential next steps.
Illustrative examples of value-add counsel:
- CEO performance issues
- Succession planning
- major strategic development
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You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending”
“If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere”
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY
Finance and Risk Management functions of Canadian credit unions are busy places these days. Regulatory guidelines; prudential supervision expectations; business growth; maturity aspirations and more may readily zap related resources. Some targeted activities involve atypical complexity or low frequency that do not justify recruitment of full-time permanent staff. Specialist external resource may be able to provide a lower-cost and/or higher-maturity solution on a targeted scope, ongoing basis.es here
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Operating a credit union involves includes technical concepts; regulatory issues; market developments; internal policies and more that can be complex. Greater maturity can involve document upgrade, topic advice or management education.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic planning activities often vary hugely by size & maturity of credit union. From thoughtful informal conversations to radical proposition disruption. From near-year internal tactical priorities to next-generation industry domination.
EXECUTIVE COACHING
Bespoke coaching to emerging executives or potential future leaders may aid professional development or support succession planning. Coaching may include leadership, technical, professional and personal components.
BUSINESS CASE DEVELOPMENT
Exploring strategic opportunities likely involves a structured process. This may involve written documents and/or numerical analytics to identify key facts; assess opportunity; frame tactical options; and/or engage with stakeholders.
REGULATORY STABILIZaTION
Regulators may require that a credit union experience elevated oversight and/or execute specific actions. Remedial activities and stakeholder management may benefit from fresh perspective and experienced advisory.
SPREADSHEET OPTIMIZATION
MS Excel can be a powerful tool. Poorly designed XLS can consume time; create needless risk and provide limited insight. Redesigned XLS (and data/workflows) may radically improve operational efficiency and elevate functional maturity.
“There are costs and risks to any program of action. But these are far less that the long-range costs & risks from comfortable inaction”
“The man who moves mountains begins by carrying away small stones”
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