The way we did business a few years ago looks very different than the way we need to do business today.
For Central 1, as a cooperative financial institution, how we deliver value for our clients and members is just as important as what we deliver. And ‘the how’ is deeply rooted in our organizational culture — what our employees live and breathe every day.
To meet the ever-evolving needs of our clients, members, employees and the changing world, throughout the past year we’ve been shifting how we work inside Central 1.
Values that guide us
In 2022, we revisited our values to ensure they reflect and power our organization’s purpose — to enable a thriving credit union system, by cooperatively empowering those who deliver banking choice to Canadians.
Our values guide each of us at Central 1 in how we make decisions and show-up on a day to day basis. They also lead the way we approach our work, help us stay aligned with our strategy and set us up to collectively become the Central 1 organization we want to be.
We refreshed our values to reflect our unique and historic role in the credit union system while also driving innovation, reliability and client-centricity to keep up with the pace of change the financial services industry and Canadians are experiencing.
Our employees now unite around four core values:
We anticipate and plan for what will impact our clients, the credit union system and Central 1. In a rapidly changing environment, we must pivot from reacting to change to proactively taking advantage of it.
We are purposeful in how we plan and are focused on delivering excellence. This prioritizes steadiness, thoughtful intention and planning, and attention to detail.
As a cooperative, working together as a collective is key to our success. Channeling the power of diverse perspectives, experiences and capabilities is what will help us make better decisions that resonate with our clients and members.
At the heart of cooperatives are people, communities and the success we share together. We are part of something bigger and we care for the people and places that connect us.
Modernizing our workplace
Nurturing a modern workplace that attracts and retains great employees, and empowers them to do their best work is what we strive for. But what does that look like after more than two years of alternative work arrangements?
For Central 1, working remotely has long been part of the way we operate due to the nature of serving clients and members across Canada. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to lean into that way of working with relative ease. Now, we’re finding it’s a competitive strength that we can continue to leverage beyond the pandemic, offering employees from across the country the chance to contribute to the meaningful work we do.
In this model, our employees have the flexibility to choose to be office-first, remote-first or hybrid. The vast majority of Central 1 employees have chosen to be remote-first. When we come together in person, it’s with purpose: to collaborate, celebrate or connect.
We’ve also invested in the digital tools that support an effective and connected work environment and identified the norms and etiquette that respect each other’s preferences, working conditions and time zones. These investments help to ensure our dedicated team can reliably and effectively serve our customers and members and contribute to a thriving credit union system.
