After the Planning Session: 4 Ways for Risk Professionals to drive Success at Your Credit Union

It’s that time of year. The strategic planning off-sites have wrapped up, the board has given its approval, and the shiny new strategic plan for next year is being distributed. For many, this signals the end of the process. But for savvy credit union risk professionals, this is where the real work—and the greatest opportunity—begins.

A plan on paper is a statement of intent. A plan in the real world is subject to market volatility, operational friction, and unforeseen challenges.

Execution is everything, and it’s riddled with risk. This is the moment for you to step up from being a planner to being an indispensable partner in implementation. Here are 4 ways to drive success at your credit union.

1. Deconstruct the Plan to Pinpoint Execution Risks

The strategic plan might have a goal like, "Launch a new mobile lending platform to attract younger members." That single sentence contains dozens of potential failure points. Your first step is to partner with the initiative's owner to break it down.

How to do it: Go beyond a simple compliance checklist. Sit with the project lead and map out the critical path. Ask probing questions that uncover hidden dependencies:

• "What are the top three things that could delay the launch? What's our Plan B for each?"

• "Our new fintech vendor looks great, but what's our process if they fail to meet their service-level agreement (SLA) in the first month?"

• "What's our biggest assumption about member adoption? What if we're wrong?"

  
  

By doing this, you're not a roadblock; you're a co-pilot helping the team navigate around obstacles before they appear.

2. Develop KRIs to Support the Plan's KPIs

The strategic plan is built on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—the metrics that define success. Your job is to create a parallel set of Key Risk Indicators (KRIs)—the metrics that provide an early warning that a KPI is in danger.

How to do it: Link every major KPI to a KRI.

• If a KPI is to "Increase our auto loan portfolio by $10 million," your KRIs could be the "first-payment default rate" on those new loans or the "average credit score" of the portfolio.

• If a KPI is to "Onboard 5,000 new members via our digital app," your KRIs could be the "application fraud rate" or "account closures within 90 days."

A negative trend in your KRI is a critical signal that the KPI might be at risk or is being achieved in an unsustainable way. Presenting this data makes you a vital source of business intelligence.

3. Run a "Pre-Mortem" Workshop for Major Initiatives

We all know what a post-mortem is. A pre-mortem is an incredibly powerful exercise where you imagine failure in advance to prevent it. It's a proactive, collaborative way to build resilience directly into a project's foundation.

How to do it: Invite the key stakeholders for a new initiative to a 60-minute workshop. The prompt is simple: "Imagine it's a year from now, and this project was a complete disaster. What went wrong?"

Encourage everyone to brainstorm freely. You'll hear potential causes ranging from technology failures and budget overruns to poor member communication and competitor reactions. Capture every idea, then facilitate a discussion to identify the top 3-5 most plausible risks. You can then build mitigation plans for those specific risks before the project even starts.

4. Establish a Quarterly Strategic Risk Check-in

The risk landscape is not static. The economic and competitive assumptions made during the planning sessions can become outdated in a matter of months. Your role is to be the forward-looking advisor who keeps the strategy grounded in the current reality.

How to do it: Propose a standing 30-minute quarterly meeting with the executive team or initiative leads. This isn't a project status update. This is a dedicated check-in on the risk environment surrounding the plan. Key questions to address include:

• "Have interest rates or local economic conditions shifted in a way that impacts our lending assumptions?"

• "Has our primary competitor reacted to our plan in a way we didn't expect?"

• "Are there new compliance concerns or regulatory whispers on the horizon that could affect our new product launch?"

This meeting solidifies your role as a vital strategic advisor, ensuring the credit union remains agile and responsive long after the annual plan is printed and filed. By focusing on successful execution, you prove that risk management isn't just about protecting value—it's about ensuring the credit union delivers on its promises to its members.

Let's face it - as risk professionals, we are always looking for opportunities to make folks see the value we bring to the table. I'd encourage you not to wait for the "I told you so" moment. Be proactive and own your expertise!