From John: How to Pitch Your 2020 Professional Development Plan

It’s a great time right now, as many credit unions develop their budgets for 2020, to plan what you (and your team members) want to learn next year. It’s also a great time to perfect your pitch to senior leaders about why they should budget for the learning you have in mind.

Notably, most credit union leaders understand the value of learning, both for themselves and for every staff member. But how can you—as an individual employee, a manager or an HR executive—move that understanding to action?

A key way is by expressing how the learning you have in mind will benefit not only individuals and their careers, but also the credit union as a whole. (The good news is, it really will.) For example, your pitch for a professional development budget for next year could cover such key organizational benefits as:

• Improved employee performance. Employee learning opportunities—whether onsite or virtual—can develop people as “backups” with key skills, make them more independent in their work and prepare them for new responsibilities.
• Boosted employee confidence. In addition to new skills, training also strengthens employees’ belief that they can do their current jobs well—and take on new roles successfully.
• Higher employee satisfaction. When your credit union supports learning, it proves that it values its employees and wants to see them grow as professionals. When employees feel valued, they feel happier in their jobs.
• Higher employee retention. Talent is an increasingly precious resource in competitive markets like financial services. Having a culture of learning can be a key retention tool and help a credit union win the war for talent.
• Improved recruitment. The fact that you have budgeted for professional development can attract talent to your credit union. It’s a differentiator that will stand out to high performance and high potential candidates in today’s tight job market.

CUES recognizes this is a great time to plan next year’s professional development. That’s why our 2020 event schedule is ready for you. We’ve also put together our downloadable 2020 Professional Development Planner, which outlines how to leverage CUES membership to get the most learning possible in the coming year.

I hope you’ll check out these resources and make a successful pitch that gets your learning plan for 2020 into your organization’s budget. Please let me know how it goes.

Since joining CUES in March 2013, John Pembroke has played a leadership role in developing and launching a new direction in CUES’ strategy, branding and culture. Under his guidance, CUES has revamped its membership structure, launched new institutes and introduced Elite Access™ Virtual Classroom, an innovative blending learning offering. Additionally, CUES has expanded its market further into Canada and the Caribbean. Pembroke’s experience includes 25 years in financial services, marketing and e-commerce. He also has served as chief marketing officer at PSCU Financial Services, St. Petersburg, Fla. Pembroke holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Marketing and Policy Studies from the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago. Pembroke also serves on the board of directors of the Goodman Community Center, Madison, Wisconsin, whose mission is to strengthen lives and secure futures.