Executive Summary
Organizations become their metrics. So wrote the authors of a recent article that questions whether YouTube views are worth chasing. Whether the metric is YouTube views or return on assets (ROA), the challenge stands for credit unions: What are good measurements for the modern credit union? The International Symposium on Measuring Credit Union Performance, a partnership between Credit Union Central of Canada and the Filene Research Institute, brought together leaders from the United States, Australia, and Canada to identify common challenges and brainstorm uncommon solutions.
What is the Research About?
Six presenters brought their expertise to the measurement theme. For some, the metrics were core balance sheet and channel satisfaction systems. Others focused on social media and knowledge management measurements. The intent was not to solve the challenge of measuring the right things but rather to suggest knowledge gaps, novel approaches, and deeper possibilities for measurement and improvement.
What Are the Credit Union Implications?
We can learn a lot from the Australians. Encouraging knowledge transfer is essential. ROA without context is not a very helpful metric. The implications of each chapter are as different as the topics, but each chapter concludes with next-step recommendations for credit unions that want to pursue the recommended metrics. The overall takeaway: Organizations become their metrics, so we should be careful to measure the right things.
This report is sponsored by the Credit Union Central of Canada.