Scott Credit Union has remained committed to its strategy of being the best place to work. That commitment paid off again recently when the local credit union was named to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplace for the fifth straight year.
Scott Credit Union was ranked 20
th on the list of Top Workplaces for medium size businesses in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. The credit union, which is headquartered in Edwardsville, was one of only 12 companies to receive the honor five years in a row.
Scott Credit Union was one of 35 mid-size companies recognized as a Best Place to Work in the annual competition.
In a special publication, the Post-Dispatch joined with Workplace Dynamics to spotlight local companies who treat their employees well. The 35 companies on the list of medium size businesses were named because their workers, on confidential surveys, rated their employers with high marks.
The questions included everything from pay and flexible scheduling to career advancement and management"s openness to new ideas, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Scott Credit Union has focused for the past few years on improving employee morale and making the credit union the best place to work.
"It is an honor to receive this recognition five straight years," said Scott Credit Union President & CEO Frank Padak. "We are very pleased that the steps we have taken to make SCU the best place to work continue to make a difference with our employees."
In a service industry, Padak understands the importance of having positive and satisfied employees.
"We serve members every day. It is really important that our people enjoy working here and can pass their positive attitude along to our members in the experience that they provide them," he said. "We were excited to be ranked among the top companies in the region."
Scott Credit Union has continued to be successful with membership growth, asset growth and strong loan volume over the past few years.
"We truly understand that our employees make all of the difference when it comes to consumers choosing a financial institution," Padak noted. "It is really important to us that they are satisfied and feel valued."
Scott Credit Union also surveys its employees each year to measure satisfaction and makes improvements based on the results of the surveys. The credit union also has implemented an ideas program that allows employees to give their ideas on how to help the organization meet its mission Banking Simplified.
"A small group of Officers cannot completely run our organization without input from our more than 240 employees," Padak said. "It really takes every employee thinking of ways to make SCU a better place to work and a better place for members to bank. The strategy is simple. We ask our employees to give us ideas and input. We listen and make changes and improvements."
According to the Post-Dispatch, over 1,200 companies from the region were nominated to participate in the 2016 Top Workplace program. The Post-Dispatch chose the top 35 medium size businesses based on the results. Overall, the program recognizes the top 100 companies in the area.
Scott Credit Union is a full service not-for-profit financial institution that provides services for people who live or work throughout the area.
"We"re really happy to be able to provide our services to more people throughout the area," Padak added. "Credit unions are a better value than most financial institutions and we have really been getting the message out that people can save money by doing business with us. Plus, belonging to Scott Credit Union is as easy as opening a savings account with a $5 deposit. Anyone who lives or works in the area can belong."
As a not-for-profit cooperative, Scott Credit Union returns its profits to members in dividends while helping them avoid fees and get better rates. The credit union also uses its earnings to provide expanded services and convenient branches and ATMs to its members.
At the end of 2015, Scott Credit Union issued a bonus dividend and a loan interest rebate for the year exceeding $1.3 million. That money was directly deposited into Scott Credit Union members" accounts.
Earlier this year, the local credit union launched a new tool called Savings Detector that allows SCU representatives to determine how much money someone can save by switching their auto loan or credit card to Scott Credit Union. So far this year, Scott Credit Union has saved its members more than $325,000 using Savings Detector.
Scott Credit Union is open to anyone who lives or works in a 17 county area, including Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Perry, Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Clinton, Marion, Bond, Macoupin, Montgomery, Fayette, Effingham, Williamson, and Jackson counties. Anyone who lives or works in St. Louis County, Missouri also can open accounts at SCU. Additionally, anyone active or retired military also can have accounts with Scott Credit Union.
Scott Credit Union currently has 15 area locations: Scott Air Force Base, East Belleville, Fairview Heights, Collinsville, O"Fallon, Edwardsville, Waterloo, Highland, Caseyville, West Belleville, Millstadt, Mascoutah, Troy, Wood River and its Home Office in Edwardsville.
For details on opening accounts at Scott Credit Union, visit
www.scu.org
