For starters, you must identify who “owns” training, that one
individual responsible for leading the charge, organizing the effort, and, in some cases,
implementing the training.
Next, you will need to do the
preliminaries: ascertain
what is needed, visibly obtain the complete endorsement from the
top of the bank and build a plan to get where you
want to go!
Who should be the designated driver for training at the
bank? No question Human Resources acts as home base for training;
it’s the conscience of professional development no matter what size your bank
is or wants to become. Oversight for salaries, promotions, personnel files, job
descriptions and performance evaluations belong to HR so that key area of the
bank should be the fuel behind passion for training. Depending on
the size and structure of your bank,
it may be time for Human Resources to
launch a formal training department.
A
community banker that has been there, done that is Randy Hesson, Vice
President/Education Director, Cornerstone Bank in York, Nebraska. Hesson
says,
"I think the most critical piece in making
training effective is having the endorsement of the man or woman at the top.
Training took on a new meaning at our bank when our President said to our
management team, ‘Our trainers are the messengers bringing my message that
training is a must! It’s not the trainers message it’s my message.’
Another key piece to training effectiveness is
determining who needs what. Here’s what is working for us in that arena.
First, we have a 15 member Education Committee which meets monthly.
Each member takes responsibility for surveying one or more departments to
identify training needs and report them to the Committee. Secondly, each
employee is asked to complete a Training Profile form during the annual
performance review. Input is expected both from the employee and the evaluating
supervisor.”
It takes dedication and buy-in to keep training effective on target and
current. Plus, it takes perseverance to guard against complaining or
other tactics intended to halt or stall when a strategy for training is in
place. No question training can easily be derailed due to mergers,
staffing issues and other complications. Yet the bank that takes on
training like they are required to take on compliance, and like they should take on sales, will be insulated against training taking a back seat when
things heat up. Choose to make learning a core value of the company and
training will be embraced.
Still learning,
Honey
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