At UW Credit Union, employees — like members — can be themselves

“I was a member before I was an employee,” said Washington, an educational lending specialist in the credit union’s corporate office in Madison. In both capacities, she felt fully comfortable being herself.

“The company values align very well with my personal values,” she said. “So it was easy for me to be who I am. When they say ‘here for every you,’ I feel that 100 percent.”

Washington was impressed by how the credit union took care of its members and gave back to the community.

“It was like, ‘Wow, I want to be a part of something like that,’” Washington said.

Washington’s experience reflects comments from other employees at UW Credit Union, which was named a Top Workplace for the third time. They say the credit union lives out its community-minded core values and welcomes people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities and nationalities. Employee resource groups like Black Excellence (BeU) are also offered.

“The reason that I helped to start BeU is because I had a great experience at the UW Credit Union. I felt like I was seen, I was able to be myself and that felt good,” Washington said. “I wanted to help create a space for other individuals that looked like me to have that same type of experience.”

About 40% of employees are in employee resource groups (ERGs), according to the credit union. These ERGs give employees the chance to connect around various affiliations and identities, which are spelled out the group names. In addition to BeU, those include the Green Team, Helping Young Professionals Engage (HYPE), Raices Latinx, Sexual and Gender Alliance (SAGA) and Women’s Initiative Network (WIN). The groups come together monthly through volunteering membership meetings, networking events or training.

Employees are also encouraged to give back in the community with all staff members getting 16 hours of compensated volunteer time off, or VTO.

That’s important to educational lending specialist Heather Wehling who has done everything from participating in a toy drive to helping make blankets for homeless children. She finds that personally fulfilling, because allows her to do an extra thing to “fill her cup.”

But even with benefits like VTO, the best part of working at UW Credit Union might just be that everyone can come to work as they are, reiterated employees Washington, Wehling and member solutions center specialist Akeem Wilkins.

“I think just our culture of allowing people to be themselves is a great perk,” Wilkins said.

The dress is business casual, but employees needn’t cover tattoos, worry about piercings or steer away from traditional dress that speaks to their heritage, Wehling added.

“We can still bring our culture and our identity to the workplace without fear of getting called out or getting spoken to about something you may value a lot,” she said.