Filene Research Team Shares Top 5 Reports of 2019

The fresh start of a new year gives us time for reflection on what we’ve done and learned over the past year so that we can get serious about what we want to accomplish in the year ahead.

Filene's research team took a moment to compile a list of the most essential research insights from our 2019 library to help make your 2020 the best year yet.

	Taylor Nelm's Pick: The Case for Workplace Financial Well-being: The View from Credit Unions "The insight here is that credit unions play a key role in promoting member financial wellness but may not pay attention to their employees. We looked at the impact of financial wellness on employee productivity, engagement, and attraction and retention and what we found is pretty amazing. We know that more than half of workers experience financial stress of some kind and we know that that stress impacts their performance at work, ultimately affecting the bottom line of the organization they work for. Employers are critical to promoting the financial well-being of their employees and this report shares what credit unions can do."
	Laura Gilliam’s Pick:  Meeting the Needs of Independent Workers at Vancity Credit Union "This report started with a hunch. Vancity Credit Union suspected a lot of their community members were working independently so they did some market research and found out over 30% of their community was. We know this type of work is difficult and that these workers lack access to a lot of professional tools and services and struggle for financing to get their business moving. This report shares the results of Vancity Credit Union's decision to pilot two programs to help meet the unique needs of independent workers."
	Paul Dionne’s Pick: The Lessons of Fintech Apps: Design Matters for Personal Finance "This report stood out to me in 2019 because it is based on original research from the team at the University of California, Irvine and highlights two kinds of lessons. The report talks about the lessons that the apps are teaching to the users but also about the lessons that are provided for credit unions who want to bring personal finance apps into their own shops."
	Elry Armaza’s Pick: Member Experience and Service Excellence Research Report Series "What I enjoy about this type of series is that we get to publish a couple of different reports around the same topic. Earlier this year we published one paper that talked about the new trends that can help credit unions to improve the experience they deliver to members. Paper #2 gave us an opportunity to work with credit unions through a survey to get at a couple of those trends around member experience and see how those trends, when implemented, impact the overall performance of the organization."
	George Hofheimer’s Pick: Leveraging Employee Loss for Employee Gain "What Professor Bermiss is talking about in this brief report is leveraging existing resources, and perhaps for credit unions non-monetary benefits, that might be helpful in positioning credit unions as a place for the next generation of talent. Rather than talk about monetary rewards maybe some of the more effective recruiting techniques have to do with the social mission of the organization or when employees leave the credit union and share where they go. This is a little bit of a contrary type of view but one that I found really intriguing and one I would encourage everyone to dig into."
	BONUS REPORT: Freddy Zhao's Pick, Filene Research Intern: Are You Prepared? Get Your Credit Union and Members Ready for Recession "The year 2020 is likely to be a year packed with uncertainties. Economists across the world are betting on the arrival of a likely recession according to the cyclical pattern. This research bundle brings together the best of Filene’s research on uncertainties, aiming to arm credit unions with the necessary tools, a long-term perspective, and a proactive mindset. Various topics in lending, member growth, and bank comparisons have unveiled both lessons from the past and opportunities for credit unions’ growth in the future."

Throughout 2020, look out for more research and innovation opportunities for your organization to better understand and serve the financial needs of underserved and vulnerable households, better serving commercial businesses, providing financial services for community members that have experienced trauma, even more from our member experience series, and a very interesting piece exploring empathy and intimacy in artificial intelligence.

There is a lot of new, unique and valuable research planned for the year ahead so take what you’ve learned in 2019 and get out there to make this year your smartest, savviest, most life-changing one yet.

P.S. If you want to hear the research team talk through their recommendations check out our latest podcast.