Navy Federal Credit Union: 2023 BEST Award Winner, #5
In the area of talent development, Navy Federal Credit Union sums up its commitment in fewer than a dozen words: "With us, you can thrive in your career, develop, and grow." The company's Internal Mobility initiative is focused on matching employees' capabilities and skills to the various roles and career opportunities within the organization. The initiative has many different elements, including one concept that starts with common sense—experienced team members sharing their expertise—and goes in innovative directions.
The company invests in the development of employees at all levels. Coaching Circles is a development program that involves managers from around the business meeting every other week for six months to discuss relevant topics. The sessions are highly interactive, with some formal content on topics, such as wellness, and they depend on the interactions among the members of the circle. The facilitated meetings are confidential, and in a safe environment, managers share difficulties they are experiencing. The process encourages open-ended questions and spontaneous exchange of ideas and potential solutions, creating a peer coaching experience that often provides great insight.
Navy Federal anticipates 120 circles by the end of 2023. Feedback from participants to date demonstrates that the program is hitting the mark. Navy Federal has also scaled up one-on-one coaching, expanding individualized development deeper into the organization.
Another program, the People & Change Leadership initiative supports the company's employee-powered goal of team building through strong leadership. By focusing on managers' and employees' behaviors, the initiative strives to develop a workplace where team members have increased autonomy, are comfortable speaking up, and feel encouraged to advance within the company through innovative thinking. The People & Change Leadership initiative supports managers and leaders to develop talent with certain key behaviors such as listening and encouraging candor. The company has provided more than 3,000 junior-level to midlevel leaders more than 36,000 hours of development opportunities.
Navy Federal links programs such as People & Change Leadership and a diversity, inclusion, and belonging initiative to a variety of employee wellness campaigns to create the sort of psychologically beneficial environments where staff can work efficiently and develop the skills that will enable them to grow within the organization. One of the most effective retention tools for developing the workforce has been the educational assistance (EA) benefit, which provides financial support to employees who pursue continued education, including undergraduate and graduate programs and certifications.
In 2022, approximately 1,200 employees took advantage of the benefit, including almost 100 team members in pursuit of graduate degrees. The company's $100,000 EA Grad Program supports staff as they work toward a variety of degrees from colleges across the US in fields such as business administration, analytics, information systems, and cybersecurity.
View the entire list of 2023 BEST Award winners.