Cash Compensation of Credit Union Marketing VP/Directors, Marketing Manager/Supervisors, and Business Development Managers

By Chad Thiele
Senior Research Analyst,
Credit Union National Association

Due to the economic conditions of recent years, average salary growth for many job categories has slowed. According to the soon to be released E-Scan’s 2003 Complete Credit Union Staff Salary Survey, the average salary increase of credit union management employees was 4.31% in 2002, down slightly from an average increase of 4.83% in 2001 and 4.86% in 2000.

This downward trend is expected to continue in the next couple of years. The average budgeted increase for credit union management employees in 2003 is only 4.12%, while the average increase for credit union management employees in 2004 is projected to be 3.83%.

Despite the fact that average salary increases are declining, credit unions need to keep an eye on how well they are paying their top performing employees. Even though the unemployment rate is currently at 6.4%, attracting and retaining top talent remains a big problem, according to the 2003/2004 E-Scan Report. Noncompetitive compensation and benefits, in addition to corporate turmoil and limited career opportunities, are cited factors in the unwanted turnover.

Base Salaries of Credit Union Marketing Management Employees

Credit unions seem to be aware of the need to pay their marketing department management employees a competitive salary. According to E-Scan’s 2003 Complete Credit Union Staff Salary Survey, even though the average salary of credit union marketing VP/directors at credit unions with $1 billion or more in assets is less than the average salary of marketing directors in similar sized banks, the average salaries of credit union marketing VP/directors are comparable to or higher than the average salaries of bank marketing directors within all other asset categories. Furthermore, the average salaries of credit union business development managers are also comparable to or higher than the average salaries of bank business development officers within all asset sizes.

Overall, the average base salary of credit union marketing VPs is $58,476 this year, up 11.4% from the 2002 average of $52,491. At $45,094, the average salary of marketing manager/supervisors is up 2.6% in the last year, while the average salary of credit union business development managers has increased 5.0% since 2002, to just under $50,000.

While "overall" average salaries are useful to observe industry trends, keep in mind that credit union asset growth and turnover, in addition to actual salary increases, have an effect on the average salaries and percent-change figures. As is common with most credit union positions, the average salaries of these three credit union marketing department management positions tend to rise with credit union asset size. Therefore, it is important to look at applicable asset categories when evaluating how well you are compensating your employees.

Variable Pay for Credit Union Marketing Management Employees

Another way that your credit union can help attract and retain top performers is to compensate them with incentives and/or bonuses. Although variable pay is currently only a small percentage of a credit union employee’s total cash compensation package, the use of variable pay is becoming more common. In addition to the fact that incentives and bonuses reward favorable behavior among their employees, another possible explanation for the increased use of variable pay is that it gives the credit union flexibility in compensation when there is weakness in the economy.

In 2002, about seven in ten credit union marketing VP/directors, market manager/ supervisors, and business development managers received incentives and/or bonuses. Among credit union marketing VP/directors that received incentives and/or bonuses in 2002, the amount of variable pay they received was $4,928, on average. Overall, marketing manager/supervisors and business development managers earning variable pay in 2002 received an average of $2,838 and 3,744, respectively. As with base pay, the average amount of variable pay that credit union marketing department management employees received in 2002 tends to increase with credit union asset size. Therefore it is important to look at the appropriate asset categories when comparing your credit union to the national averages.

Next month’s topic: Making a case for the 18-to-24 year-old market.

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