Training Committee Q&A

Internal Links Kristen Reid

Question (2/2/21): ​I was curious to see how other banks are addressing customer service standards in regards to hand-shaking.  Pre-COVID handshaking was obviously the professional norm, however the pandemic and social distancing standards have largely impacted how we interact with customers and each other. I was wondering if any banks have adopted any new service standards in regards to how to approach handshaking in the interim and if there are any appropriate alternatives that are being recommended to customer facing staff.  

  • We have not yet established a new process as a standard, being that our lobbies have been closed since the pandemic began. We do, however see customers in our lobbies by appointment only. When this occurs, we do not handshake, we only greet them verbally and perhaps give them a head nod.
  • We have not adopted a new process. We are just offering a nice welcome without the offer to shake a hand.  I haven’t noticed any odd reactions and perhaps that is because our customers feel the same concerns with shaking hands. We have talked about smiling under the mask and importance of our tone.
  • I have heard many employees make it conversation to say something about how we can’t shake hands right now, and in certain atmospheres, they will elbow bump.  I also shared with them a while back about  How to Build Rapport … While Wearing a Mask (hbr.org).  We definitely have a lot of head nodding and more door holding as a greeting since our lobbies are by appointment as well. 
  • We too are doing more of the head nods, waves, hands over your heart gesture, virtual hug gesture, etc. Our lobbies have been open for several months now. We provide ‘Safety Guidelines’ to our employees that specify to continue social distancing (6-foot separation) as much as possible, avoid close contact, and do not greet others, including customers, with handshakes, hugs or fist bumps. Customers typically don’t want to shake our hands either right now! 
  • We haven’t really adopted a new practice as our lobbies have gone to by appointment only as a safety precaution with the pandemic.  But, we are opening the doors with this for the customers and have had conversations about the importance of smiling through the mask and tone.  Our employees do not offer the handshake any more or even address it and I think our customers understand because we are all on the same page with safety concerns.

​Question (2/5/21): Does anyone have a recommendation for a short, but fabulous inspirational/motivational YouTube clip to use during our all employee zoom meeting?  We have used Johnny the Bagger and our employees loved it.

  • One of the best inspiration/motivational Ted Talks I’ve seen this year is the The power of optimism/Bert Jacobs.  It’s approximately 19 minutes, but it’s awesome.

Question (4/2/2021): What LMS/compliance training/learning library do you use and how do you like it/them?

  • We use FIS as our compliance partner. They also provide us soft skills and bank related content for our LMS library. They are a great partner! Their compliance courses can be used off the shelf, or you can edit to make certain content bank specific.
  • We use BVS. Their canned products are good and we have the flexibility to do our own trainings too. I love their customer service/support. Cons- I don’t like their reporting features.
  • We also use BVS.  Overall it’s fine – it gets the job done and they are always willing to help. Creating a course from scratch can be a bit tricky using their system.  But it comes with many courses to cover our compliance needs and it is a great way to send out things like webinars, training documents (once you get it uploaded into their system) and track who completes things. 
  • We switched from BAI in 2020 to the ABA’s LMS. The courses seem more current than BAI, and the reporting system and solution support is much improved as well.
  • We use SuccessFactors as our LMS and utilize BAI for compliance courses. Thanks!
  • We also utilize BVS and I would echo what has already been stated. They provide great support and offer compliance courses that meet our needs. We have the ability to also customize courses and can import SCORM courses; however, the reporting does leave some room for desire.

Question (6/17/21): We are in the planning phase of revamping our internal training manuals and wanted to survey for options.  Does your institution use any special software/program to write and format training manuals? We have Captivate for some course development, but our manuals are typically Word or Adobe. We are looking at vendors now and have a trial with Easygenerator we are getting ready to test.

  • Does your institution have a template that is used bank-wide or does each department create their own? We do not have a specific template for training manuals although we do try to create them consistently when we can.

  • Who is responsible for maintaining and updating the manuals? How often? For our core curriculums the training department is responsible for updating the materials. For certain training resources and tools, it just depends.
  • If possible, could you share a sample page or suggested idea? Sample  from three different curriculums.

Question (11/1/21): Who (what position) at your bank writes Retail procedures on how to process teller and desk transactions?

  • All procedures on teller and desk transaction for Consumer are produced by our Consumer Bank Operations team. Our Mgr- Consumer Banking Policy writes the procedures, obtains input from the Director of Consumer Operations, the Retail Operations Managers. There are a few others that review before having them approved and implemented.
  • Our Retail trainers take care of that (team of 3 trainers and their supervisor).
  • The Consumer bank has a dedicated role that oversees all Consumer bank policies and procedures.
  • This is a group effort with myself, audit and senior management.

Question (11/1/21): Does your bank have an online resource for Retail staff to reference for help with processing transactions?

  • Yes, the Consumer Banking Center on the intranet has links to policy, procedures, job aids and other resources.
  • Yes we have a corporate HUB for internal use where training manuals and other process items are stored.
  • Yes, we have Consumer bank policies and procedures posted on our Intranet. They are organized on a Consumer Bank specific page and can also be searched by key words. Teller / Banker trainers reference these online policies in training. We do not print / distribute polices in any of our class, we refer learners to the Intranet. Our policies / procedures change frequently, and we don’t want outdated printed procedures being utilized.
  • Our teller system has a help guide/training guide built in.

Question (11/1/21): Who (what position) at your bank handles your teller/CSR training?

  • Training for Teller and platform roles is done via a partnership between Talent Development and the Branch Mentors/Leaders
  • Our Retail trainers do this.
  • We have dedicated Teller and Banker trainers (we call all our trainers Learning Consultants). Some are cross trained for train both.
  • Training Department which is small – only me ha! However, I have a seasoned CSR that does the majority of the training from an operational standpoint. I help with the customer service portion.

Question (11/1/21): What is the primary role of your Training Manager? Do they conduct soft skills training?

  • We have a Talent Development team made up of Learning Consulting, Learner Experience and Talent Development. The group partners with individual lines of business to consult and determine business training needs, research options, improve experience, build. We are developing enterprise-wide programs in addition to those for individual LOBs. We do have soft skills training capabilities.
  • We have me, the Director of Training that handles soft skills training, manager training, new hire orientation, overseeing the LMS, corporate training events, etc.  I report into HR.  Then we have the Retail trainers that report to Branch Admin under Retail and they strictly handle Retail training.
  • We have a Corporate Learning Director, who has 4 Corporate Learning Managers reporting to her. The manager roles are as follows:
    • Foundations & Readiness – all new hire training programs (teller, banker, Customer Care, orientation, etc.)
    • Production & Advancement – think consumer loan, branch manager training, treasury management, commercial training
    • Leadership & Corporate Initiatives – bank wide leadership development and any eLearning, special projects, bank wide initiatives (Risk, Finance, IT, HR, etc.) (This is my role)
    • LMS Administration – all things compliance training and LMS
    • Note – Mortgage falls outside of Corporate Learning. Mortgage has their own Learning Consultant.
  • Primarily the training folks that help me are there to show how we represent the bank and our customers – and what buttons to push. I oversee the process to follow-up with all things customer service, bank education and how to promote our products/services.

Question (1/3/21) Do you all have any mentors that you use for helping one to gain leadership skills as they move up in an organization? Specifically, someone that can mentor someone on presenting oneself more professionally for an executive role, being more polished with leading, etc.  Or do you know of a networking group (formal or informal) that can help here for someone to join to gather different perspectives or advice?

  • N/A
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