America’s First Federal Credit Union, a Birmingham-based community credit union with 19 branches in Alabama, has this year begun offering a popular new employee benefit: access to medical clinics where employees pay no copays for exams, lab work or prescriptions. “We try to keep abreast of the trends and are always looking for the next great thing to offer our employees,” says Audra Weber, senior vice president and chief people officer for the credit union.

The growing company provides attractive rewards to its hardworking employees, Collins says. “Our HR and employee engagement teams focus on offering the best benefits to our employees,” she says. “From great insurance and 401K matching programs to intramural sports leagues, free meals, work-from-home days and corporate discounts, we make sure our employees have plenty of perks.”

To keep long-term staff members fresh and retention high in an industry where burnout is common, Warren Averett provides a month-long paid sabbatical — in addition to vacation time — after 10 years of service. Then the employee is given the month-long perk after each five years of additional service. “As you can imagine, that has been tremendously popular,” Elliot says. Another strategy is to allow team members to career shift in-house when positions are available rather than having to leave the firm to follow a new interest.

MAX Credit Union works hard to keep its employees, says Chief Talent Officer Sandra Stenger. She points to the average tenure of staff members being greater than 10 years and the average tenure of credit union leadership greater than 20 years. Training and professional development for employees and “onboarding” mentoring of new employees is ongoing with an eye to future career paths, Stenger says. “We try to develop our staff members and promote from within,” she says. “Many of our senior leaders started out as tellers.”

Employees are encouraged to be innovative at Alabama Credit Union, one effort that has helped increase job satisfaction, says Brandi McKinney, assistant vice president for human resources. Research teams and employee think tanks look for ways to keep improving the organization. One group, for example, is considering how to unify the company’s wellness and financial health efforts. “We have seen staff members really break out and shine through their contributions to the teams,” McKinney says.