2015 BEST Place to Work Redwood Credit Union | NorthBay biz
NorthBay biz

2015 BEST Place to Work Redwood Credit Union

  • John Abbott

    • “When employees are happy and engaged, they’re a company’s best ambassadors.” —Kristina Derkos

     
    From the point of view of Kristina Derkos, senior vice president of employee relations and development at Redwood Credit Union (RCU), there’s a clear connection between workplace appreciation and business success. “An organization is only as good as the employees it keeps,” she says. “When employees are happy and engaged, they’re a company’s best ambassadors. We believe that happy employees are more empathetic about customer needs, more flexible and more willing to go that extra mile.”
     
    Contentment, a commitment to customer service, a shared sense of community: All of these factors explain why RCU was named Best Place to Work in our annual readers poll for 2015.
     
    “We take our commitment to our employees very seriously,” Derkos says. “RCU is keenly aware that, with more than 450 employees, its employees touch thousands of peoples’ lives both professionally and personally, so their well-being is the communities’ well-being. With that knowledge comes great responsibility. We want people to know we work hard to never lose sight of that.”
     
    Derkos points out that RCU’s values are framed around respect and sensitivity. “Many of our employees have been with RCU for more than 20 years,” she says. “We’ve been with them through life’s celebrations—such as graduations, marriage and children—and we’ve also shared in their challenges. In understanding and valuing this, we carefully build thoughtful management practices around long-term commitments to our employees.”
     
    Not surprisingly, the company offers a variety of employee reward and recognition programs, including a performance incentive program based on organization and individual results, certificates and acknowledgement at monthly staff meetings for exceptional service, Community Heart and Pulse awards for service in the community, employee of the month and year awards, and more. Its employee benefits are also outstanding: Besides the basics, RCU offers discounts on mortgage loans to help employees buy their own homes and a broad range of wellness programs that focus on financial and physical health and nutrition to help staff live a healthy and prosperous life.
     
    The credit union also listens to its employees through programs designed to actively seek out and act upon their ideas. Internal committees regularly review employee suggestions for improving the workplace and service to members, and RCU implements many of the ideas received. CEO Brett Martinez also holds monthly meetings where employees across the organization share ideas and discuss what’s on their minds. “Our employees love that they genuinely have the ear of the CEO,” Derkos says.
     
    The credit union’s culture is also a strong contributor to the Best Place to Work award, according to Derkos. “One element that’s unique about RCU’s culture is the idea of the RCU magic. Our employees talk about it all the time. The ‘magic’ is really born out of our mission to passionately serve the best interests of our members, employees and communities. Everyone at RCU understands it and lives it every day.
     
    “Each of our employees can tell you the role he or she plays in achieving that purpose and how it has a direct impact on the members we serve and the communities we live in. We hire specifically for people who have a greater calling of service. That spirit of people helping people permeates everything we do at RCU, which brings a true sense of fulfillment and joy to our employees.”

    Author