Calling all Star Wars fanatics. With the Last Jedi being released December 2017, you no doubt have wondered if this next installment will finally shed some light on the prophecy of the chosen one, the one who is (or was) to bring balance to the force. "A prophecy that, misread, could have been." While we still have yet to know if Vader was the chosen one, or if the one has yet to be revealed, we do know one thing for certain. In order for the galaxy to find peace, there must be balance, in this case, between good and evil. The same can be said for the success of your credit union and finding balance between operational efficiency and quality member service.
How can you find this careful balance? Here are few pieces of guidance from your CU High Council:
Your Members and Technology should be symbiotic
C3-PO and R2-D2 are clearly valuable players in the Star Wars universe, but as droids, they are there to improve the experience of the humans, not to take over the leadership roles. The same applies to your CU technology. Efficiency ratio is the key metric when it comes to measuring a technology’s effectiveness. It tells us how much operating expense is needed to create each revenue dollar. The lower your efficiency ratio, the better. But, sometimes in trying to reach this lower, "more efficient", level, we sacrifice quality in the hopes of making our operations leaner. This is where CUs need to find balance between forces. Technology should not only increase efficiency but also increase member satisfaction.
Seek Guidance from Your Council Members
A credit union is a lot like the Jedi High Council. While there is a core leadership group, there are many members that have opinions about how things should operate and their voices should be heard (this also prevents an uprising, or the Rebellion). CUs, more so than banks, need to be able to incorporate their member's feedback into operational changes. Credit union member services can't be made in a vacuum, they require input.
The Technology has no Power without the Person
Much like light sabers are useless without someone to wield them, your credit union technology is only useful if your MSRs know how to use it properly. Your core technology can hold many great insights into your member's habits, needs, and pain points, but your MSRs need to be presented with the information in an easy-to-use interface that allows them to make recommendations on potential member services and products.
It's hard to be certain that the measures you've taken to find balance have been successful - as when Anakin killed Darth Sidious, clearly an imbalance remained. The key to remember is that the forces in the galaxy, er....credit union, continue to change as operations and member expectations change. Your path to membership harmony and CU success, then, lies in continuing to seek this balance.
Read both to find the balance:
VS. 
