Gene's Note: Embracing Change

I know as I write this, you have just gone through our System Upgrade with us. Some of you are saying, “it’s about time” and others are asking, “why did you do this to me?” Our team worked diligently to make the System Upgrade as seamless as possible for our members. We worked to make sure you were aware in advance with over 70 different communication touchpoints. Our team also reached out personally to hundreds of members with unique account setups. No matter how much information we sent out, I know for many of you the System Upgrade was not top-of-mind until you logged in for the first time to Online and Mobile Banking.  

Why did we do such a major overhaul of our systems? Well, our primary operating system was put in place over 30 years ago. Our teams have worked hard to continue to enhance the system, but the foundation limited our ability to take advantage of advanced technology available today. Our objective from the very beginning was to create exceptional experiences that are effortless, personalized, and seamless across channels for decades to come. Our team was relentless in working to build a seamless personal and digital experience for every way you do business with us. 
Rogue has bucked the trend in financial services by continuing to add branches to our network and placing an emphasis on personal delivery. Because of our decision to retain personal service, we have grown at a much faster pace than others in our markets. At the same time, you have demanded we provide the latest technology, which will allow you to conduct your business at any time and any place convenient for you. In addition, due to Covid-19, we experienced significant limitations on personal service delivery, which highlighted our need for more robust remote delivery systems.

So, we searched for a system which would give us the best of both worlds. We found a system that meets these objectives today and provides the best platform to ensure we meet these objectives tomorrow as well. 

I was surprised last week when one of the vendors we are working with said we started our System Upgrade journey over 900 days ago. This has been a measured and methodical process where we evaluated the very best systems in the country, spent months identifying what would need to be done to make this successful, cleaned up records, tested systems and trained staff how to use the system. Our team has done literally tens of thousands of tests and spent hundreds of hours in training. Through all this, their focus was to make the experience as seamless as possible for you, our member-owners. 

We are excited about what the System Upgrade will do for you and how it will allow our team to serve you better. While we worked hard to prepare and inform you about our System Upgrade, our hope is that you only saw a minimal impact on the way you do business with us. Most changes will benefit you without any effort from you, while you may also notice a few differences. Whether you had little or no impact, I understand it is still change. I hear at home every time I have to upgrade my wife’s iPhone… “why? It works just fine for me!” So, I get the fact many did not ask for the change, but to ensure Rogue is as relevant tomorrow as it is today, the upgrade was an absolute necessity. 

Our teams are prepared to help you with your questions, concerns, or even more importantly, thoughts on how to take advantage of the new capabilities available in our new system. We have been experiencing heavier call and branch volumes, so please be patient with our team. We have increased our scheduled staffing, increased our phone lines and have brought in extra help to be there for you when you need us. Even with this extra effort, you may experience extended wait times. You can help by waiting to call our team or visit a branch unless you’re experiencing an issue. Please know our team is working as fast as they can to get to you.    

Our team has done a good job of communicating with members, but I encourage you to review our System Upgrade page one more time. The e-mails we sent out advising members of the change can assist, as you get up to speed and work through the new experience.   
As you do this, here are a few tips on navigating change. I hope this helps as you navigate the features and benefits of our system upgrade.

Acknowledge
You do not have to like change, but you do have to find a way to work it. Hoping it will go away is not a successful strategy. So, acknowledge the change is not going away so you can move to the next stage.

Understand
The System Upgrade impacts our members in different ways. Test drive the technology and write down your questions and/or concerns. If you can build a focused list of questions, our team can help you with. With this list, we can help you learn how to navigate the system with just one call instead of many. 

Explore
Once you understand the system enough to perform your normal transactions, explore the system menus and understand the system capabilities. Explore all the features; don’t just be satisfied with being able to do what you could do before. Explore all the possibilities to discover how to make managing your financial life even simpler at Rogue Credit Union.

Embrace
For many, the hardest, but most rewarding part is to embrace the features, benefits and capabilities of the System Upgrade. There truly are many features designed to make doing business with us even better. Whether you are in person, on a phone call, at an Express Teller Machine, on a chat or using our app we have new capabilities to help you. After you have had some time to understand and explore the System Upgrade, our team can help you with the finer details as you embrace all the features now at your fingertips.

I wish I could say the system is the only change you will experience this year. As best said by Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, “Change is the only constant in life.” And he didn’t have to deal with the rapid pace of technological change we now do! As we have learned with social change, a global pandemic and the wildfires, we are forever growing, expanding and evolving through constant change. If we can learn to embrace change and put it to work for us, our lives will be exponentially enriched.