Sunmark FCU shares best practices in hiring, keeping staff

LATHAM, N.Y. (5/27/08)--Making the workplace fun is one of the best ways to attract and retain employees, a New York credit union CEO told participants at a seminar sponsored by The Business Review Wednesday.

"Financial services can be a little dry," Bruce Beaudette, president/CEO of the $432 million asset, Schenectady, N.Y.-based Sunmark FCU, said. "We still manage to have a lot of fun. It works well for retention and for attraction [of employees]. We do a lot of things to create the fun."

Beaudette was one of three panelists participating in a seminar focused on recruiting and retaining employees as part of The Business Review's best practices seminar series.

One way to keep employees enjoying their work--which is important--is to pay them referral fees to find workers to fill company positions, Beaudette told the paper.

Asking oddball questions--about one's hobbies for instance--when interviewing is a good way to catch candidates off guard and find out what they are passionate about, he added.

Distance is one barrier to finding good workers, Beaudette said. With gas prices at or near $4 a gallon, people don't want to travel more than 15 minutes to work. Before, they had no problem driving 45 minutes to work, he added.

courtesy of cuna.org