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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.
Shelly Richard
Shelly Richard, Team Lead – Information Systems – Operations, is in her 33rd year with Synergent. Over that time, she has continued to learn and implement new products and services to meet the demands imposed by rapidly changing technology—and she enjoys it. In fact, she finds it to be a bright spot in her day when she is able to help her peers, the company’s credit unions, and their members succeed.
“Every day is different, as my priorities can change in a minute due to issues and challenges that may occur,” explained Richard. “That is what I like most about the job is that every day is different, and I learn something new all the time. A typical day, though, is lots of project and preparation meetings.”
Her role in Information Systems is incredibly crucial, especially when it comes to protecting private information as technologies continue to shift and evolve.
“I have been in this role for several years, so a lot has changed, but I would say the most that has changed is security awareness,” said Richard. “My team is very involved with security daily, from updates to audits.”
Although, security was not always her main focus. Richard began her career as a teller for a local credit union, eventually earning the role of Assistant Head Teller. She transitioned into a role in accounting before finding her place at Synergent.
“I really enjoyed learning about the credit union’s operations and jumped at the opportunity to join Synergent as a Customer Service Representative to help a lot of credit unions,” reflected Richard.
With a background in operations, Richard had the skills to successfully provide solid support to Synergent’s credit unions.
“After being a Customer Service Representative, I moved to Programming and then became the Telecommunications Specialist for several years before the Team Lead role for Operations became available,” stated Richard. “I have been the Team Lead of Telecom, Production, and the Computer Operators for several years.”
Her time as the Telecommunications Specialist allowed for ample hands-on work with the credit unions she served, providing experience as well as the opportunity to form lasting relationships with staff in those credit unions.
“When I was the Telecommunications Specialist, I upgraded all of our credit union routers and our core routers from Motorola to Cisco,” explained Richard. “I worked with Cisco to learn the new routers and how to configure them, then traveled to most of our credit unions to upgrade their routers.”
A Joy for Learning
Now in the Team Lead role, Richard is grateful for the strong team she has that continues to meet credit union needs in several ways, from connectivity to daily processing.
“I really enjoy working with my very dedicated team, growing with them, and all that we do for the credit unions together,” said Richard. “My favorite aspect of my job is learning new things all the time and working with a talented group of peers. Whatever we are doing, we always put the needs of the credit unions first so they can provide their members with the best possible service.”
When she is not assisting Synergent’s credit unions with the help of her incredible team, Richard keeps herself happily immersed in the things she loves.
“I love to camp, hike, kayak, snowshoe, and volunteer,” said Richard. “Yearly, I do several fundraisers and shop for families in need during the holidays. We also just held our 11th annual memorial motorcycle ride in memory of my daughter, and we raised $72,543 for three families.”
