The “Jobs to Be Done” framework can help your credit union develop and expand its growth opportunities. Where do the most fertile opportunities lie? In most situations, look first at needs for which no good solutions exist. To get a handle on how to prioritize member needs, take a closer look:  How your members’ “jobs” break down Your members have a variety of needs that we can express as “jobs to be done.” Most fall into two categories:

1. Main Jobs to Be Done, the main goals that members want to achieve.
2. Related Jobs to Be Done, or ancillary goals that relate to these main jobs.

Jobs also fall into two primary types:

1. Functional job aspects, or practical and objective member requirements, and
2. Emotional job aspects, subjective member requirements related to feelings and perception.

These emotional job aspects further break down into:

1. Personal dimension – how the member feels about the solution.
2. Social dimension – how the members believes he or she is perceived by others while using the solution.

Example: One JTBD is to organize and manage books and reading material for personal use. An important functional aspect of this job is reading. A related emotional/personal job is to organize and manage books in a way that feels good; a related emotional/social job is to have a presentable book shelf for visitors that inspires the sharing of book recommendations. Related jobs might be downloading quick reads from the internet, participating in a book club, studying a specific field, and enjoying oneself. To uncover needs that lead to opportunity for your credit union, study members and find out what they are trying to accomplish – especially where they don’t have sufficient solutions relative to available processes and technologies. What jobs have ad hoc or poor solutions? Wherever you see members piecing together solutions themselves, you’ve found great clues for innovation. Sometimes “Jobs to Be Done” are not as straightforward as you might think. For instance, a fast-food provider found that its customers were buying flavored milkshakes before doing a long, boring commute in traffic. They were not only looking for convenient, non-messy refreshment in the morning, but they also wanted to make their commutes more interesting by entertaining themselves with a breakfast that took a while to consume and provided joy. The job statement  One tactic to try: Create job statements to describe member needs. Key components include an action verb, the object of the action, and clarification of the context in which the job is performed. “Manage personal finances at home” is a job statement. So are, “Stay on top of all bills” or “Create a safety net.” Prioritizing needs Of the thousands of jobs that members are trying to get done, which ones represent the best opportunities for you? Which ones might help you become a market leader? Prioritize needs according to how important they are, how satisfied members are with existing solutions, the general potential for developing new (or more ideal) solutions, and the specific potential of your credit union for creating new solutions. In general, underserved jobs are best met with a core growth innovation strategies (improve incrementally on an existing solution); over-served jobs are ripe for disruptive innovation strategies (completely rethink the solution). One last thing to remember: Your members’ needs are completely neutral to the solutions you create. While members’ jobs may not change much over time, your products and services should change constantly and provide increasing value. Expectations for experiences are always on the rise. Your job is to improve the experience of your member at strategic intervals.