Leveraging incentives and bonuses to keep high performers,taming the costs of Obamacare and looking at new policies toaddress workplace bullying are among some of the top trends that HRprofessionals in the credit union industry are expected to betalking about throughout 2013.

Although credit union salary increases are projected to remainlow in 2013, more credit unions are expected to leverage incentivesand bonuses to retain and recruit high-performing employees.

Credit unions expect the average full-time management salaryincrease to be 2.26% in 2013, a slight drop from the 2.53% averagewage hike in 2012, according to CUNA's Complete Credit Union StaffSalary Survey Report. For non-management credit union employees,base pay increases also will remain low. In 2013, credit unionshave projected an average base pay increase of 2.23% fornonmanagement employees, which is slightly down from the 2.43% in2012.

More 2013 Watch

• Dec. 28, 2012 Marketing in the Year Ahead
  
• Dec. 27, 2012 Gen Y in the Year Ahead
  
• Dec. 27, 2012 Member Investments in the Year Ahead
  
• Dec. 26, 2012 Member Business Lending in the YearAhead
  
• Dec. 21, 2012 Credit Union Taxation in the YearAhead
• Dec. 20, 2012 CUSOs in the Year Ahead
• Dec. 20, 2012 NCUA Board in the Year Ahead
• Dec. 19, 2012 Cards in the Year Ahead
• Dec. 19, 2012 Mortgage Lending in the YearAhead
• Dec. 18, 2012 Low Income Service in the YearAhead
• Dec. 18, 2012 Bank Conversions in the YearAhead
• Dec. 17, 2012 Student Lending in the YearAhead
• Dec. 17, 2012 Auto Lending in the Year Ahead

However, the good news for the New Year is that while creditunion employees may not be gaining much when it comes to wageincreases, they may be making up for it in bonuses and incentives.For example, half of credit unions with $1 million or more inassets offer bonuses to their full-time employees, the report said.A little more than half of credit unions (52%) provided bonuses(rewards for exceptional job performance) to management employees,while 42% of nonmanagement credit union employees receive bonuses.Those percentages, according to the report, have increased from 47%and 38%, respectively, from last year, according to the CUNAreport.

While small businesses could benefit from the healthcare reformlaw, otherwise known at Obamacare, midsize companies, those thathave 101to 1,000 employees, are expected to see their health carecost jump by 9.5%, and for large companies that employ more than1,000, health care cost could increase by 4.3%, according to theUrban Institute. Small firms may see their health care expensesdecline by 1.4%.

To control these rising costs in 2013, more companies, includingcredit unions, are expected to offer workplace wellness programs tohelp employees adapt healthy lifestyles that can help businessescontrol or even reduce health care premiums. According to a HarvardUniversity study on workplace wellness programs, medical costs fallby about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs andabsenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.

Do you have bullies in your workplace? It's a costlyproblem.

A Society for Human Resource Management poll found that 51% ofcompanies reported incidences of bullying in their workplaces.Research shows workplace bullying can lower employee morale andloyalty, reduce productivity and increase healthcare and workers'compensation costs. Experts are recommending companies adoptpolicies and training that address workplace bullying.

Member Investments in the Year Ahead