A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP- Risk Management

My work anniversary falls on Earth Day (April 22) each year. This year, it (finally) struck me that there is a parallel between my role at Montana’s Credit Unions and the overall environmental policy goal of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Let me explain.

Reduce
Supporting credit union compliance efforts means reducing the amount of time they have to spend learning the details of a new regulation, deciphering how examiners are interpreting something, or writing a policy by doing those pieces for them. Years ago, we moved the technical assistance bulletins to a website and eliminated the need to photocopy and mail big, bulky updates in the mail.

Reuse
One thing about developing a compliance resource is that it can often be used in multiple places with minor changes. An article for a newsletter might also be a template for training and an FAQ document may be converted into a blog or training. It just makes sense to use tools as broadly as possible, as long as they are relevant to the current situation.

Recycle
Just like above, many of the compliance questions that come across the hotline are similar to each other. Once I listen and gather the unique details of the situation, I might recycle research I had done before and tweak it for the current one. So many of the questions that come in are nearly alike, and it is amazing how often a question comes in from different parts of the state on the same day with nearly identical details.

It is such a blessing to have access to so much of what I do or need on the Internet now, and not just in a drawer or binder. The delete button is more efficient than either recycling or shredding.

Now, if you are really paying attention, you’ll likely see this blog show up in the May Compliance Vault newsletter. Why not? It is part of the goal!