Lafayette – 09 Dec 2019: Scott Credit Union was founded in 1943 from a group of visionaries at Scott Air Force Base. While continuing to fulfill its original mission of serving the military community at Scott Field, Scott Credit Union has successfully expanded to serve the greater St. Louis area. With 300 employees, 17 branches, and over $1.3 billion in assets, Scott CU found their in-house solutions just weren’t cutting it when it came to supporting their most treasured values: communication and engagement.
The Challenge
As Scott Credit Union continued to grow, they were still relying upon in house portal solutions built over 7 years ago to support both their board meetings and their employee intranet. Technology was moving faster than their developers could keep up with, and the limitations of their homegrown solution could no longer support their growing communication needs.
It Started with OnBoard
While serving on the board of the Armed Forces Financial Network (AFFN), Scott Credit Union President and CEO Frank Padak was first introduced to Passageways’ Board Management Solution, OnBoard, in 2018. He immediately saw the value that OnBoard brought to the AFFN board and quickly moved to purchase the board software for Scott Credit Union. The efficiencies gained were immediate and the transition from their in-house solution was seamless. With the board taken care of, attention quickly shifted to how to provide their employees with the same benefits.
Trust Led to OnSemble
Padak learned that Passageways also offered OnSemble, an Employee Intranet that connects an entire workplace to the central hub of truth, builds culture, and inspires employee engagement. Already having a relationship with Passageways, Scott CU did their due diligence and identified the gaps in their existing internal solution. “We were excited to see that it was going to do the same thing for us on the intranet side that OnBoard did on the board side.” Padak said. “It’s going to help us be more efficient in our communication with the entire organization.”
Build v. Buy
The trust Scott CU has developed in Passageways bolstered their confidence, alleviating any concerns for moving development outside the organization. While Mr. Padak does see a number of benefits to building a solution in-house (such as flexibility), he ultimately sees more value from increased efficiency. “From an efficiency perspective, [the value is] not having to have the staff required to not only build [a solution] but maintain it as well. To purchase at the right price, which is what we found with Passageways, is a no-brainer,” Padak said
The Results: Increased Engagement, More Efficient Communication
The changes have been noticeable and immediate. OnBoard’s ability to efficiently centralize board materials in one place means fewer emails sent back and forth between board members. Votes and initiatives happen faster, board books take far less time to assemble, and changes are distributed instantly. Communication and engagement are at an all-time high. Building on the trust they’ve established with Passageways, the staff has enthusiastically begun the work of shaping the new intranet using OnSemble.
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