The world of web 2.0 is all about free exchange of ideas. Places like Everythingcu and banktastic are great examples of this on a large scale. What about on a small scale?
Most institutions are inherently hierarchal in their creative process. It is left on the shoulders of a few high level employees to come up with new products and campaigns. How much easier would it be to allow every person in the institution to have a say in this creative process? To delegate some of the creative "work" to internal resources.
Especially in larger credit unions, there is so much untapped creative power sitting on your teller line and in your member services department. Many of these employees either feel intimidated by bringing ideas and opinions directly to the President or Vice President, or they simply just don't have the time to set aside a meeting and work out ideas.
I believe there is a solution, and it lies in current computing tech. How much easier would it be to create an environment for creativity if there were a place for everybody to have open discussion and idea exchange, all without leaving their desks.
Implement an intranet for all employees that integrates some type of message board, or even better, blogging software. Create a place that employees can share their ideas for the institution when they have a few spare minutes. Instead of going through the trouble of setting up a meeting with "important" people and taking time away from their desk and leaving a department short handed, employees could post their ideas and have discussions within this forum with these higher level execs. Think of it like a transparent, two way suggestion box.
Something like this could also be a great influence on getting and keeping younger employees. As I stated in this post, Gen-Y employees feel like they should have a chance to change things right off the bat. We have grown up in a culture of change. We love feeling like we make a difference. What better way to encourage this than by creating an open environment internally for these employees to express how they think things should change.
Creating an open environment for change and creativity can help you institution stay relevant, as well as keep your employees happy and feeling like they make a difference no matter what level position they hold. Get people involved at a higher level of the credit union movement and you just might end up with evangelists instead of employees.
