member services representative

member experience specialist

senior relationship banker

relationship banker

business relationship specialist

Redwood Credit Union

Redwood Credit Union has a great reputation, and it is well-deserved. It's a very financially sound institution, and it's very involved with philanthropic efforts in the communities it serves. Employee experience can vary depending on department and work location, but senior management has an incredibly tight hold on the organization. The culture is generally strong at the Santa Rosa headquarters, though that can change in other work locations. Management frequently provides updates to the entire organization through all-staff meetings and informal "coffee chats" with the CEO and executives, giving employees an opportunity to share their thoughts and ask questions. This level of openness is rare for a company of this size, and as an employee, I appreciate it. Healthcare benefits are above average, and employees can get interest rate discounts on loans through the credit union.

As an employee I've felt micromanaged - not by my direct supervisor, but by those at higher levels. Minor decisions have to be run up the chain to the SVP or executive level. The company is extremely restrictive when it comes to remote work, particularly with time and location flexibility. The CEO himself will admit that he's against remote work and believes that employees are not productive when working from home, despite evidence to the contrary. Employees are not allowed to adjust their designated in-office days without approval from upper management. Working when away from home (for example, if visiting family) is not allowed. All employees must work in office 5 days a week for the first 6 months of employment (and for the first 6 months in a new role after a transfer/promotion). Executives are perhaps a bit too involved in day-to-day operations and micromanage the organization. There's a sense of being better than everyone else driven by management. DEI initiatives are lacking, and the organization will not make any public show of support for marginalized groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, out of fear of it hurting their brand or angering a small group of members. Operations are inefficient and there's a pervasive thought of "we've always done it this way," which prevents progress and improvement. Tech stack is fragile with frequent outages due to outdated technology.  

Employees are frequently asked to engage in political activity by contacting legislators at the state and federal level to provide feedback on pending legislation and expressing support or opposition. This is driven by executives and financial industry lobbyists. Recently, employees were told they were required to share their opposition to a bill (regardless of personal beliefs). This is incredibly inappropriate, and I feel is a violation of my rights to free speech and political activity. I do not need my employer telling me how to vote, or coercing me into communicating with my legislators and attaching my name to something I may or may not personally believe in. 

RCU is a great company to work for.   I am very proud to say I work for RCU.  The things I have seen first hand that we do for our members is remarkable. If it is fair and truthful, we will do it.  Community involvement is amazing.   When it comes to training and making sure you have the tools to do your job they are great.  I truly feel like I make a difference in members lives on a daily basis. The only area where I feel there can be some improvements is the pay scale matrix.  If you are looking for a job at the district office then you are going to be in good shape.  RCU seems to value district office employees more so than in branch employees at least financially.  I am a MSR and almost everything in the branch starts with us. We are the ones having those discussions with our members to get them take out the loans and other services we offer. The employees that service those loans and other services at district get paid more than MSR's.  Not saying they don't deserve their compensation, because they do.  Everyone I talk to at district is so helpful and kind. I have only came across one employee backstage that is difficult to work with.  I think this is done on purpose in a way,  you don't see many older MSR's. either they have the training to self promote or they leave.  Sad cause the job is very rewarding but just hard to make a career from it   I believe that our CEO and executive positions do a great job for the company. Feel secure in my job for a long time.

My typical day at Redwood would start with organizing the teller line, beside me were smart dedicated woman, who didn't understand the term "give up" it was always "How can we make this team better".
I learned that sometimes you have to let it go, move forward and do better next time.
My manager, to this day, is still a mentor and a friend. He looked past your face and cloths dug in deep and pulled out the winner inside you. I would always tell the girls who got discouraged, our manager doesn't hire losers, if your here there's a reason if he believes in you so do I. 
How do you create life time bonds with people? You go to work for Redwood Credit Union, embrace their culture and find that they have brought together like minded individuals seeking a common goal. When you are surrounded by people who want nothing more than to see you succeed you really only have one option. 
The hardest part of this job was leaving. When my husband received the offer of a lifetime you go. 
The most enjoyable part of this career was,  my advancement was entirely my doing, my success and growth was 100% my decision. Our evolvement with our community was perfection. I miss our marketing's imaginative, creative style of bringing life to our neighbors and friends.

Pros: The culture is great, and they put on fun events for the employees. They really do want to help their members and be a positive influence in the community. They care about the employees but really want people to stay in their current roles and do the job. Very stable job security. It is not uncommon for people to be there for decades. People are nice and pleasant, and they try not to create a toxic work environment. 
Cons: Office politics plays a big part in employee success. Upward growth positions are very rare when available, which they will always want to bring in "more qualified" outside hires. Very top-heavy organization where upper management is an extremely tight group who micromanages everything. They have been trying to change but there is a culture of "this is how it's always been done" so processes are outdated. A lot of ambitious projects are talked about, but nothing gets completed. Probably because no one has time because they are explaining everything twice over to management. Senior leadership walks around with a God complex but they are under a lot of pressure to keep the high reputation they have built.  Overall, it’s a good place to work but not the place to climb the corporate ladder. 


The only good thing about this company is that they will do great things for their members, but sadly, purely at the expense of its employees.  Don't believe anything you hear from this company about your position.  It's all fake advertising and marketing spin.  This company is terrible to employees.  They pay absolute garbage and you will not advance no matter how much technical skill you have.  You will work there for a decade and when a position opens that you know you can do, they will disregard all of your skills and hire a completely unskilled outside hire because they were willing to accept a lower salary.  This company thinks that employees working here should work for charity and not a competitive salary.  You will be overworked, underappreciated, and micromanaged wasting dozens of valuable hours of work time per week doing huddles explaining the same things you explained yesterday.  You will not be trusted by management.  You will not have the option for full time remote work, period.  Do yourself a favor and never, ever work here.  They absolutely do not care about you or your career.

As a member of RCU I have enjoyed banking with the credit union. As an employee it is a very hard job that requires a lot of training and pressure to perform right away if you are new to the financial industry or banking world. I believe in the work we do for members, I have seen great things happen that most institutions say no to. However, there are still selling goals and numbers required for raises and recognition sometimes that can get in the way of management seeing the bigger picture in branches. It can become a negative selling environment when sells goals are not met. 
Most things we say yes to members for and not the same for employees who are also members. 
It is very hard to advance within, the pay for the amount of dedication and responsibility you should have do not match and there is favoritism for employees that perform well.

Company absolutely does not care about you or your career at all.  There is no such thing as a promotion.  After your decade of hard work, If a new job opening is created that you are more than qualified for, you will be able to apply, have an interview, and then they will tell you how unqualified you are.  Then they will hire a totally incompetent unqualified outside hire candidate with less skills than you...  and you will be asked to train them.  Benefits are terrible.  Pay is garbage.  You will be working for way below industry average at any position for the "privilege" of working here.  You will not be trusted and must be on camera every day if you are working remotely.  Once COVID is over, you will be back in the office.  No permanent remote work.  Members are happy. 
 Employees are miserable.  DO NOT WORK HERE!!!

Each day brought in new Members that we had something to teach, but they were also teaching us. The entire staff of RCU was the rock that kept you going on those days that felt endless. Our Members were our life. To trust someone with your financial well being shows a huge amount of respect and faith they have in you to help them succeed. The hardest part was the 1 in 100 that we could not help. As far as RCU management, they never let you down. If you needed a break, to talk, request a class to better yourself, or to simply see where you can do better, they always stood behind you with a tremendous amount of support. They wanted to see us all succeed and to enjoy being at work.
Isn't that what we all want?

They push goals on us tellers expecting us to meet the goals when people mainly come in for cash withdrawals and are uninterested in anything else. We are expected to meet these unrealistic goals of investments, insurance, and auto referrals and only get credit if they qualify. The pay is lower than other places, and hard to live off of in Sonoma county. You only advance if you make yourself known and over achieve your goals they push onto you, let members know of other convenient services, as well as keep the transaction speedy. It’s impossible. We are cogs in a machine keeping this place running. 

It’s a great company to get a car, a loan  or have acts. Hard to move up. You are expected to know almost 100 of banking information this means loans, trust acts, etc everything. If you don’t you can reach  out for help to other departments but than there on top of you. They time your transactions and how long you take. There is no black or white answers for there members which leaves the employee floating. Than they blame you. They are growing as a company and seem like they are testing a lot. Which leaves you confused. One day you say this and than it’s that. They need some work within the company.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Member services representative 58 salaries reported	$25.91 per hour
Member experience specialist 2 salaries reported	$27.00 per hour
Senior relationship banker 2 salaries reported	$30.00 per hour
Relationship banker 13 salaries reported	$27.19 per hour
Business relationship specialist 18 salaries reported	$28.33 per hour

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