Credit Union's Guide to Choosing Employee Survey Software

Employee surveys can provide credit union leaders the tools they need to understand their people and culture and make the changes that matter most for member service excellence. But with so many employee survey options available, how do credit union leaders know which software will give them the features and ROI they need?

In this Buyer's Guide, we'll first look at the factors credit union leaders should consider when researching employee survey options. Then we'll provide practical comparison points to help you save time in the decision-making process.

Getting Started

There are six indispensable steps in the process of choosing the right employee survey solution for your credit union:

1. Know why you're investing
2. Identify your needs
3. Determine your budget
4. Assess the value of each option
5. Compare solutions and features
6. Make a decision

We also know that the choice may not rest solely in your hands. It's critical to have all the information needed to secure buy-in from your executive team and board. This guide will equip you for those conversations in three important areas:

Educating effectively: Why should your credit union invest in employee surveys? We'll present data that proves the undeniable advantage of employee surveys for member-focused organizations.

Budgeting bravely: We'll provide budgeting prompts that help you look at your existing budget, calculate your ROI, and determine the numbers you need to justify your decision to leadership and the board.

Shopping Savvy: With so many employee survey tools out there, it's hard to know which one is the best fit for your credit union. We help you ask the right questions so that you can quickly and easily evaluate tools and make a confident recommendation.

Part 1: Know why you’re investing in Employee Survey Software

What would it mean for your credit union employees to thrive in their place of work? If you're not already asking this question, the time is now.

The challenge for credit unions:

For credit unions, engaged employees directly impact member satisfaction and loyalty. The 2024 Wipfli State of Credit Unions Report shows that 46% of credit unions list employee recruitment and retention as a top concern. With your mission centered on "people helping people," ensuring your employees feel heard and valued is critical to delivering exceptional member service.

For credit unions, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity: your mission-driven culture can be a powerful differentiator if employees feel genuinely connected to it.

Credit unions face unique challenges that make employee listening even more critical:

• Talent competition: Credit unions are struggling to attract and retain top performers in a competitive labor market, but without understanding what truly motivates and engages their workforce, many are losing valuable employees to organizations that better meet their needs.
• Member experience pressure: With credit union members having higher expectations than ever, credit unions need engaged employees who deliver exceptional service, yet many lack insight into what barriers prevent their teams from providing outstanding member experiences.
• Culture and communication challenges: Credit unions often struggle with inconsistent communication and collaboration across departments and branches, creating disconnected teams who may not feel aligned with the organization's mission and values.

The good news for credit unions:

Gallup's research shows that engaged employees produce dramatically better business outcomes. That means credit unions with highly engaged employees see:

• 78% less absenteeism and 14% higher employee productivity
• 10% higher member loyalty and satisfaction
• Up to 51% less turnover than credit unions with lower employee engagement
• 23% increase in ROI through improved member service and reduced costs

What does this tell us? When employees feel heard and valued, they naturally deliver the exceptional member experience that sets credit unions apart.

The key is moving beyond hoping employees feel connected to your mission and actively listening to understand what they need to thrive in their roles and serve members effectively. 

Part 2: Identify your credit union employee survey needs

Before you start evaluating platforms, it's important to identify the challenges your credit union is facing, how you plan to address these challenges, and your desired outcomes. Are you hoping to improve engagement, reduce turnover, diagnose a problem with branch culture, or something else?

• The more clearly you name your primary needs, the more likely you are to choose the right solution.
• What challenges are we facing with employee communication, culture, or feedback across our branches?
• What do our employees care most about? How do we know?
• How do we currently track employee satisfaction (eNPS, retention rates, exit interviews, engagement index, or something else)?
  • How time-consuming is our current method?
  • Are we able to receive authentic feedback from our entire workforce across all locations?
  • Can we easily identify themes and focus areas with actionable insights?
• How are we gauging the effectiveness of our branch managers and supervisors?
  • What data-based feedback are we providing to guide their growth?
  • How are they held accountable for improving the employee experience?
• How are we assessing the state of DE&I in our credit union?
  • How do we measure the connection between employee engagement and member satisfaction scores?

The answers to these questions will help you determine where you need to improve, what features you need to look for in a solution, and how to start building the business case for your executive team.

How employee surveys can support your credit union:

• Reveal employee sentiment across demographics, departments, and branch locations
• Open up continuous, two-way lines of communication
• Invite authentic responses through anonymity or confidentiality
• Demonstrate to employees that they're heard and valued
• Identify patterns over time and across locations
• Allow you to catch problems as they start
• Hold leadership accountable at all levels
• Provide data instantly, consistently, and with minimal effort
• Formulate fact-based action plans
• Connect employee engagement to member service outcomes
• Support your mission-driven culture and values

Part 3: Determine your credit union’s employee survey budget

You've identified some core reasons why employee surveys will benefit your credit union. Now, let's look at the next critical component to purchasing employee survey software: your budget.

Before committing to any investment, it's important to establish a budget and calculate your ROI so you can clearly and effectively justify your proposal to your executive team and board.

You'll likely be asked questions about the costs, benefits, risks, etc. When creating your business case, be prepared to answer these questions:

• What can these types of platforms do?
• Why is now the time?
• How will you fund the program?
• What metrics determine if the program was successful?

It can be difficult to quantify the benefits of employee survey software, but if you can demonstrate that it will increase employee engagement, reduce turnover, and improve member service scores, then you're more likely to be granted the funds needed to secure the platform.

Part 4: Assess the value and cost of each option

We'd recommend that you start assessing value by asking vendors the following key questions. Remember that vendors may define terms differently, so ask clarifying questions as needed.

Terms of use

• What functionality is included in the contract? What’s not included?
• Is there a contract period? If so, how long are the commitments?
• Are there any limitations on liability or warranties provided by the vendor?

Pricing

• What is the pricing structure for the software? Is it based on the number of surveys, users, or responses?
• Are there any setup or implementation fees?
• Are there any additional costs for support, maintenance, or upgrades?
• Are there any cancellation or termination fees?
• How much does it cost to add additional administrators?

ROI

• How much staff time will it take to administer this platform?
• Can you give me examples of how this product has helped others with my core needs? (e.g., retention, increased productivity, employee satisfaction, etc.)
• How do you measure ROI for this software?
• Can you provide case studies or examples of clients who have seen positive ROI from this software? (reducing costs, improving efficiency, etc.)
• Can the software help us identify areas of improvement and develop action plans to address them?
• How does the platform connect employee engagement data to member service outcomes?

Part 5: Compare solutions

Now that you've assessed the value and cost of the options, it's time to compare the potential features and benefits of the employee survey platforms.

To make this process easier, we're providing key questions you'll want to ask when determining which software is right for your credit union.

Questions about development and customer support

Why this matters: 

The relationship you establish with your vendor goes beyond a one-time transaction. As a strategic partner, they should be continually providing expertise, helping you problem solve, and working to help you increase efficiency.

• What is your customer retention rate?
• How do you stay up-to-date with industry best practices and evolving trends?
• Do you support customers beyond launch, such as quarterly reviews or on-demand assistance?
• How responsive is your customer support team?
• What is your process for addressing and resolving technical issues?
• How often do you update or improve your software, and what is your process for doing so?
• ​​How do you ensure that software is compliant with data privacy regulations?
  • And how do you protect data from unauthorized access?

Questions about platform features

Why this matters:

Software features allow users to perform specific tasks or achieve certain goals. Now that you’ve established your needs, it’s important to ensure that the software features align with those needs.

• How user-friendly is the software? Is it intuitive for both survey administrators and respondents?
• Does the software integrate with other software systems/HRIS?
• Can you migrate previous data from other vendors?
• Does your platform support language translations for global teams?
• Do you have permission features that determine who can see what?
• What metrics does the software track and report on?

Practical questions about surveys

Why it matters:

Employee surveys come in all shapes and sizes. Make sure you understand each vendor’s features and functionalities so you can identify which ones are best suited to your goals.

• What types of surveys can be conducted using the software? (e.g., engagement surveys, pulse surveys, wellbeing surveys, annual surveys, etc.)
• Do you provide unlimited surveys?
• How customizable are the surveys? Can we add or modify questions and response options?
• Can the system isolate patterns in long-form responses?
• Can respondents submit surveys completely confidentially?
• Can you respond to employee comments anonymously?
• Can the software provide real-time reporting and analytics? What types of reports are available?
• Can you export insights, and if so, how?
• What data segmentation is possible (by branch, department, tenure, etc.)?
• Can the system make recommendations for improvement or training based on data?
• What other action-planning features are available?

Questions specifically for credit unions

• How does your platform support multi-location organizations like credit unions with multiple branches?
• Can the system track and compare engagement across different branch locations?
• Does the platform include benchmarking data specific to credit unions or financial services?
• How can the survey data be connected to member satisfaction metrics?
• Can the platform support our mission-driven culture and values?
• Do you have experience working with credit unions and understanding their unique challenges?

Part 6: Make an informed decision

You’re almost finished. Now that you have the information you need to choose the best employee survey software for your company, it’s time for the final step: purchasing the product.

But before you commit, here are a few do’s and don’ts to point you in the right direction.

Do

• Ensure pricing is completely transparent before purchasing the software
• Pay attention to testimonials, case studies, quotes, and awards. What other credit unions have to say about their experience matters
• Look for a trusted partner who is committed to your credit union's success through actionable insights and ongoing support
• Consider how the platform will scale as your credit union grows

Don't

• Be easily swayed by cheap options, which may reveal hidden service charges, markups, or other unexpected expenses
• Depend entirely on the salesperson to assess the long-term suitability of a program
• Choose a standalone product that will limit your capability, deter growth, or not align with your credit union's values and mission

As you begin to research software, we hope that you'll consider WorkTango. But whatever your choice, we hope you've benefited from receiving the tools that will enable you to confidently research, purchase, and implement your new employee survey software.

Why top performing credit unions choose WorkTango:

Unlimited Surveys: Deploy unlimited surveys on desktop, mobile, or in-person kiosk. No email needed. Perfect for credit unions with diverse workforces across multiple locations.

Research-backed questions: Measure employee engagement with research-backed questions created by I/O Psychologists or customize questions to match previous surveys you've run to keep historical trends.

Multi-location support: Measure engagement by group, location, department, and more. Compare and rank employee feedback across all parts of your credit union to identify high-potential or problem areas.

Real-time insights: View intuitive, real-time dashboards that are easy to interpret and share. Empower leaders with role-based dashboards for executives, HR leaders, and branch managers.

AI-powered comment analysis: Cut through the noise of open-text feedback with WorkTango AI that automatically transforms employee comments into clear, actionable summaries and identifies key themes so you can quickly move from feedback to impact.

Anonymous conversations: Extend listening and respond to employee comments with Anonymous Conversations to gain deeper insights and ensure team members feel heard.

Benchmarking: Leverage benchmarks across industry, size, region and more to contextualize employee sentiment and empower data-driven decision-making.

AI-enhanced action planning: Utilize predictive analytics and AI-powered insights from WorkTango to support suggested actions specific to each leader and location, helping you build targeted strategies based on what your people are really saying.

Proven results for credit unions

Credit unions using WorkTango have achieved remarkable results: 49% reduction in turnover, 12-point increases in employee engagement, and 68% more employees hitting member service targets. These outcomes demonstrate the direct connection between listening to employees and delivering exceptional member experiences.

Read more in our comprehensive report to discover detailed case studies, proven strategies, and actionable insights from leading credit unions.

Ready to get started?

Schedule a demo to see how WorkTango can help your credit union achieve similar results.