Who's the Boss? The Auditor, Examiner, or You?

Janice Hollar, a management consultant with Janice Hollar & Associates wrote an excellent article related to a common trap that credit unions often fall into: managing your credit union to keep the examiners and auditors happy. If you find yourself worrying about getting a near-perfect exam or audit, then you probably have taken your eye off the ball and have your priorities out of order.

Ms. Hollar explains that, while we must operate our credit union's in a safe an sound manner, "managing the credit union to a CAMEL ratio does not necessarily mean you are satisfying the boss that matters most: the member owners".

Exams and audits can be an important tool. But, as Janice says "Don’t ignore the CAMEL. Just don’t rely on it alone. If the CAMEL is poor, obviously there is a problem. But if your CAMEL is good, it’s not an indication that everything is fine". Take a minute digest how relevant the findings actually are. If it is just minutia, then the examiner/auditor ran out of important issues to review. . . address the items, then get to work on the important issues and grow earnings and capital by servicing new and existing members.

Want some advice on how to get the examiner or auditor out of your credit union quicker? Try some of these useful tips:

1. Tell everyone to speak only in a "robot" voice the whole time they are in.

2. Tie jingle bells to all your clothes.

3. Deliberately hum songs that will remain lodged in the examiner's brains, such as "Feliz Navidad", the Archies "Sugar" or the Mr. Rogers theme song.

4. Borrow the examiner's pen, then chew on it before returning it. Repeat.

5. Never break eye contact when talking to the auditor, all the while bobbing your head like a parakeet.