Synergent’s mission is to “help credit unions succeed and improve the financial lives of their members.” In our monthly Employee Spotlight series, we feature one of our dedicated staff members to help you get to know the people who are working as an extension of your credit union team.
Wayne Sladen
For nearly three decades, Wayne Sladen has been a source of innovation, resourcefulness, and technical expertise at Synergent. As a Senior eServices Specialist, his day can shift quickly between long-term projects, responding to credit union needs, improving internal processes, and supporting team members through documentation and informal mentoring. That variety, along with the ability to contribute in both technical and collaborative ways, is one of the things Sladen values most about his role.
“The beauty is there is no typical day,” Sladen said. “There are projects we know we need to work on, however, we frequently have to shift gears to work on a request for information or troubleshoot a reported issue. When time permits, we also work on areas we find we can make more efficient with the use of tools at our disposal. Documentation, although not my favorite thing to work on, is super important to the success of all team members. Mentoring our team members for success is a priority as well. The challenges that we face that stretch our knowledge and improve our ability to provide service grows with every experience we have.”
From Computer Room to eServices Pioneer
Sladen’s journey at Synergent began on the ground floor, in the computer room. It was an ideal starting point for someone with a natural curiosity about how things work. He spent four years in that role, gaining hands-on experience with systems and processes before the eServices specialist position was developed, ultimately becoming the first person hired into the new role.
“During the time I was a computer room operator, I assisted many co-workers in testing for Y2K in addition to my daily work,” Sladen recalled. “Once we made it past that major milestone, the organization brought in-house the first online banking system we offered and I was tasked with working on the servers and software so that we could start offering it to our credit unions in the 2000–2001 timeframe, which led to the development of the eServices role.”
That pivotal opportunity launched Sladen into a long and evolving career—one that aligned naturally with a passion he’d been cultivating for years. From his earliest experiences tinkering with computers, Sladen had been fascinated by how things work. That passion for problem-solving laid the foundation for his contributions as an eServices Specialist, Team Leader, and now Senior eServices Specialist. Along the way, he’s helped build early eStatement capabilities, managed audio banking, and improved credit retrieval connections between core systems and bureaus.
“Ever since my first computer in 1990, I have been naturally curious about how they worked from the software down to the hardware,” Sladen noted. “When my computer broke, I had to figure out how to fix it… I didn’t really think about the possibility of making a career out of it in those early years, but I eventually went back to school for my associate’s degree in computer science.”
A Problem-Solving Mindset for Better Member Experience
Sladen brings that same problem-solving mindset to his work today. He spends his time refining workflows, optimizing product usage, and helping teams work more effectively, all with a practical, member-focused approach. That approach is especially valuable in his work with credit unions, where listening closely and responding to their needs helps shape better solutions.
“We work with credit unions to implement new products and find better ways to use the products they have,” Sladen explained. “Being a member of a credit union myself, it is pretty unique to be able to work on the products that I can then experience firsthand. It gives me the drive to want to constantly find ways to improve the overall credit union and member experience.”
Sladen takes pride in helping credit union staff better understand the tools available to them and in making workflows more intuitive. His ability to translate technical functionality into practical, day-to-day value—both behind the scenes and for members—reflects his dual perspective as a professional and a credit union member.
“Working directly with the staff at credit unions helps me gain an understanding of how they operate and how we can make their jobs easier using the products we offer,” Sladen said. “We can help make sure their member experience for those same products is top notch by advocating on the credit union’s behalf with the vendors to make improvements on their product offerings.”
A Proactive Approach to Automation and Efficiency
Over the course of his career, Sladen has contributed to countless projects, but one internal initiative stands out. He identified a time-consuming manual process involving data extraction from Synergy, Synergent’s enterprise content management system—something others had accepted as routine—and took it upon himself to automate it. The result was a significantly more efficient solution that simplified data retrieval, organization, and reporting.
“I have been very fortunate to have been part of many projects,” Sladen said, “and being the first one to implement them has had its extreme challenges, which has led to so much learning along the way. It makes it so hard to choose. One in particular was an internal project that I took on that nobody asked for, but I saw an opportunity to drastically improve the time it took to complete. There was a manual process to extract reports from Synergy and isolate certain pages from each report to provide to the billing team, who then had to plug the data into an Excel spreadsheet for billing individual credit unions for ATM usage. I created a custom automation script that opened all of the reports and extracted the counts from those reports, summarized them, and placed them in one Excel spreadsheet for all credit unions that the Finance and Accounting department can use for their billing. What took many hours of work now only takes roughly 15 minutes to complete.”
This kind of initiative is a hallmark of Sladen’s approach. He doesn’t wait to be told something can be improved; he sees the potential, builds the solution, and delivers results. His ability to combine technical skill with a proactive mindset has made a lasting difference for both internal operations and the credit unions they support.
An Award-Winning Career Built on Personal Growth
One standout moment in his career was receiving the 2012 Denis A. Letourneau, Jr. Outstanding League Employee Award, an honor he deeply values. Presented annually by the Maine Credit Union League and Synergent, the award recognizes an employee who exemplifies outstanding dedication and service. Honorees are selected for caring deeply about the credit unions they serve and the thousands of members they support, a sentiment that echoes the leadership and integrity demonstrated by its namesake. Sladen’s recognition reflected not only his strong technical expertise but also his proactive mindset and unwavering commitment to empowering credit unions and enhancing the member experience.
“Every year there are so many worthy candidates, and it has been an honor to have been selected,” Sladen expressed.
Beyond technical expertise, Sladen’s commitment to growth and service has shaped his personal journey as well. While his technical strengths are well established, stepping into client-facing roles required him to build confidence and communication skills, especially as someone who identifies as an introvert. With time, support, and feedback, he has grown more comfortable sharing ideas and leading conversations.
“I am an extreme introvert,” Sladen reflected, “and this job has put me in face-to-face and video meetings with credit unions to really listen to the challenges they face and come up with unique solutions that will help improve their overall day. I still get nervous in some speaking situations, but the feedback I receive after helps me to continue to grow my confidence and come out of my shell.”
Sladen’s curiosity, problem-solving mindset, and attention to detail extend beyond his professional life and shape how he spends his time outside of work. Whether he’s mentoring others, exploring family history, or teaching in his community, he brings the same thoughtful, service-oriented approach to everything he does.
“I am an amateur genealogist and have been building my family tree off and on for the past 30 years. It has connected me to family back in England which I hope to visit soon,” Sladen shared warmly. “I lead a class at my local church called Financial Peace University where we learn to live on less than we make and get out of debt, give to those in need, and build wealth for retirement, just to name a few things. I am enjoying being a grandparent to two boys and spending time with my wife and two pugs, Bo and Daisy.”
