Passageways Blog

by Ken Burnett 

This month I want to spend a few minutes on the topics of blended learning, reporting and Mark Twain.  I hope you will find all of them interesting.  The blended learning section is to introduce you to a learning strategy that is critical to your organization.  The reporting section is a quick look at some guidelines for doing reporting.  Mark Twain's short stories are included, because on a cold winter day here in Salt Lake with 32 days before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, it seemed like the right thing to do. 

In the last blog, I introduced you to our products and services approach.  In this blog, I thought we would look at blended learning overall, and provide you a few more examples of blended learning approaches  that we use at the Bank.  Some of the more critical blended learning approaches we have at the Bank are our core skills and our approach to teller training.  I will talk about classroom, self-paced online learning, and structured OJT.  Let me spend a few minutes on blended learning, before I focus on some specific examples.

Blended learning is a lot like what Mark Twain said about the weather.  A lot of people talk about it, but no one does anything about it.  My view of blended learning is that it shouldn't be the goal of a training program, but the output of a program that is well designed.  Before I get too far into this, my definition of blended training uses a mix of various types of media to accomplish its training goals.  During our February webinar, I will spend a little more time on discussing blended learning approaches. 

Blended learning provides the training designer the option (I would argue requirement) of using the most appropriate media for each section of content.  For example, we deliver bank wide core skills training in a classroom environment for many different reasons.  Effective classroom learning provides a good way to deliver cultural messages about your organization.   Having employees learn from each other and get a consistent voice around a topic is another advantage of classroom learning.  The instructor can also hear if the learner is having trouble with a topic, and adjust the class to meet their needs. 

Classroom learning is not the most effective way to deliver all types of content.  For basic knowledge or to mimic a system for practice self-paced, online learning is effective.  We also use online for proficiency testing, because of the options for randomizing questions, record keeping, and reporting the data, and for the ease of test delivery. 

Let me tell you about the specific training approach we use to train our tellers at the Bank.  We hire employees in groups of 2-5 per month, so it is very difficult to have a teller training "class."  We had to figure out a different model.  The approach we came up with is structured OJT (On the Job Training) with one-on-one mentoring for specific job skills, classroom for other skills training and online proficiency testing.  We blend these training approaches to effectively train our associates. 

The reason I call it structured OJT, is that for many of the core jobs at the Bank, we have built task lists.  As part of those task lists, we also identify outputs for each task. Rather than just have the new employee sit with their coach, and they learn random tasks, structured OJT, provides a script or list of things the employee must learn.  Unstructured OJT is, in my opinion, a waste of time.  When the new teller sits with another associate to learn a job, the associate teaching the job is required to teach the new associate a specific list of tasks with the accompanying outputs.  The task lists should tie into a knowledge management system similar to the Passageways knowledge management system as common repository of knowledge. 

The next step in the process is to deliver skills like presentation skills or customer service skills in a classroom environment.  We use the Passageways Learning Management System (LMS) for this part of the process.  The last piece is the online proficiency testing part.  To assist with randomizing the questions, and making sure the test chooses from the right types of questions, you need a test generating piece of software. We use the test generating tool from the LMS.  The outcome of this strategy is a blended learning approach that meets the goals of effective training while taking into account the limitations of the organization and advantages of the software.  We also use the same type of approach for the Bank's compliance training.  To learn more about the compliance approach, please come to our next webinar. 

Reporting

When you design reports for managers regarding the learning that happens in your organization, the most important questions to ask are why you are reporting the information, and what do you expect the person to do with the information you are giving them.   I make sure that I have the audience, and the learning and performance expectations understood before the class, and that I am able to design reports to meet those needs.  I will talk more about these and other reports during my February webinar. 

Mark Twain's Top Short Stories (according to Ken Burnett)

I have long been a fan of Mark Twain.  I think his short stories stand up to his novels.  This is by no means a consensus. 

• The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg

• Eve's Diary

• Cannibalism in The Cars

• Experience Of The McWilliamses With Membranous Croup

• The Stolen White Elephant

• Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven

• The Carnival of Crime in Connecticut

• The Curious Dream

• A Ghost Story

• The Coyote

Using the Passageways Portal and the Learning Management System to Deliver a Blended Learning Solution

by Ken Burnett as a prelude to upcoming free webinar (Jan 13th, 2010)

I am glad many of you who attended the first Learning Management System webinar in December found the information valuable.  As we continue to take a look at Learning Management Systems (LMS), the background and overview will be valuable for you.  For anyone who missed it, you can view the slides and the recording of the first webinar on the Passageways blog. 

I hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did.  If you haven't been able to tell yet, I am passionate about Learning Management Systems as a vehicle the organization can use to help it grow and develop.

In this second blog, I thought we would go through a case study to show the impact the LMS can have on your organization.  I would like to spend a couple of minutes on products and services training.  I bet many of those folks in the training world spend more than a little time on this topic.  According to a recent banking survey, many customers wish we would spend more time explaining to them about our products and services. 

The process we use at Bank of American Fork is effective, efficient and although not like an Emmy, a Tony, or an Academy Award has won awards. I tried to explain that I won an award to my father (who is in construction) for the LMS, and it made the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First" conversation look like the Gettysburg address.  But, I digress.

In order to deliver our blended learning approach for training product and services, we use Passageway's Products and Services Island and the LMS.  Our bank has about 300 employees, so we don't hire in enough volume to have a class for products and services training for new products, updates, or changes.  We use a combination of reference, quizzes, and classroom skill training to ensure that learning has taken place.

We have developed a Products and Services Guide using a template that follows basics principles of reference: 

1)         The information answers questions customers would ask, in the format they would ask them.  Employees traditionally have a hard time with reference, because they have to change the information to have the answer match the customer's request.  Formatting the information into questions customers would ask increases the chance the employee will use the reference effectively.

2)         The information reads left to right with a question the customer would ask, and follows with the response that includes information from the new product. One of the issues with the traditional heading chapter/title response is that the information is not formatted in the way customers and employees speak to each other.  Examples are: how does it work? how does it benefit customers? why should they come to us for this product?         

3)         Be specific.  We used focus groups to ensure the level of accuracy in the information provided. If you have time, call a few employees and ask them questions that they will need the products and services guide to answer.  Using these verification processes will ensure that you have a usable product.

When new products or services are introduced at the Bank we follow a specific process of first introducing the reference page.  The next step in the process is to use the LMS to check the employees understanding of the new product.  At Bank of American Fork, we design a quiz using the software Lectora to verify that all associates understand the key points about the new product.  Employees then access the quizzes on the LMS Teach Me page.  To help associates discuss the new product or service we include presentation statements to use while discussing the new product or service with customers. 

The quizzes are designed as learning events, so the questions aren't incredibly complex. We don't record keep their score, only their attendance.  The advantage of this approach is that by using the reporting function on the LMS, I can track who has completed the quiz, and therefore gained the knowledge of the product information.  The quizzes take about 10 minutes and are now an accepted part of the Bank's culture.  The completion of the quizzes is required, so every employee has at least a basic understanding of the products and services offered at the Bank.

The final part of our blended learning approach is the classes we offer to teach our employees the skills to present our products to our customers.  Because the employees have learned the basics of the product or service from the guide and their knowledge has been verified by the quizzes, they are much more confident at speaking with customers.  Learning can focus on teaching employees to use needs-based interaction skills to match customer need to product.  Employees can register to attend the Presenting Products and Services training sessions using the LMS.  We also use the reporting function of the LMS to determine who has attended the course.

The result of this blended products and services training approach is positive business results (increased profitability and more positive customer service scores).  On the organizational side, the Bank's management knowing that the training function has a repeatable, measurable process for training products and services is a positive for any training organization.  Without the flexibility of Passageway's LMS system, none of this would be possible. 

I hope I have intrigued you to see more at the new live Passageways Webinar.  I will walk you through this and other process that use the LMS to help your organization run more effectively.  I look forward to talking to you then.

Again, sign up for the and hope to see you!

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/181522923

Organizations now more than ever value highly skilled employees.  Cross-training, employee development, job-sharing, and changing roles due to downsizing are commonplace in today's economy.  In order to manage the learning function, organizations must have a flexible system for employees to manage their development, and for organizations to report and monitor their progress.  Because of the criticality of the changing needs of the workforce, a robust Learning Management System (LMS) is vital to any organization's success

            As your organization makes a decision on an LMS, the options vary as much as they do at a car lot or computer store.  You need to be aware of the critical differences before you make the purchase on a LMS. 

            As with most software programs, the differences that influence your ability to use the product invariably focus on:

1.  Flexibility
2. Ease of use and content delivery
3. Price

            Passageways LMS was designed by a generous input from a corporate trainer (yours truly, Ken Burnett) with over 20 years experience in delivering training and providing recordkeeping for a financial organization, who will talking about the LMS at a Webinar hosted by Passageways.   

Flexibility

            The Passageways LMS provides the Training Department flexibility and ease of use as they set up courses/sessions and administer the learning functions.  Many other LMS offer course set up functions, but the Passageways LMS provides you the option of adding audience by groups you define, then excluding specific members of that audience based on need.  You can also set prerequisites for the training that will direct courses only to those employees who meet the requirements.

            The system is flexible enough to use that I have assigned over 1300 compliance courses to 30 unique groups in less than an hour.  I can setup a course that has 16 different classroom sessions each with unique times, dates and locations in 30 minutes.  Many LMS systems have similar features, but it is Passageways unique design of filtering the learning directly to the person who needs it that will improve your ability to deliver training. 

Ease of Use and Content Delivery

            The manager functionality in the LMS is designed to fit today's working environment.  The Passageways LMS provides managers the opportunity to sign their employees up for courses, view the associate's transcripts, and note which courses the employee is requesting.  Most of the other LMS have only two levels of access, one for the administrator, and one for the user.

            I'm sure many of you have been to a restaurant trying to decide between items, when the entree looks good in one meal, and the vegetable in another, and you wish you could take the best of everything.  Well, with Passageways LMS you can author in not just one program, but many types of software.  At the Bank of American Fork we use several different types of authoring software delivering courses to our employees (Lectora, Adobe Captivate, and Rapid Intake among others).  Not only that, but you can choose best in class courses from many different vendors.  In our LMS, we currently have courses from six different vendors all running through the Passageways LMS.  This type of flexibility allows you to find or author the exact content you need for your course. 

            In many of the other LMS systems out on the market the learner/administrator/manager has to make multiple clicks to perform a function, but Passageways LMS is designed to minimize the number of clicks to get you the information you need quickly and efficiently.  Many of the other LMS systems on the marketplace bury critical information in layers of menus.  The Passageways LMS system has a minimal menu structure. It has to be efficient, because I use it too!   

Price

With all the functionality offered by the Passageways LMS, you'd think it would be the most expensive in the marketplace.  Well actually Passageways LMS is priced very competitively and good value when money is tight.  You can't approach the Passageways LMS functionality for twice the price.  I'll be happy to discuss these in the webinars with you as well.

            The Passageways LMS is the best product on the market if you are a bank or a credit union. Admittedly, the reason I can say that is that my organization uses it to manage our training function, and knows the difference this makes over our prior experiences.  If the system can't meet the needs of my organization, I am accountable.  I am continually getting feedback from my users and other organizations that I coordinate with Passageways to keep the system up to date and ahead of other competitive products.  I hope you'll take a look at the system to see how it will help your organization.   Don't forget to sign up for a session where I will be available to talk more about all these aspects of LMS. Hope to see you!

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/816021291

About Ken Burnett

Passageways Evangelist for Learning Management System

Ken Burnett has over 20 years experience in the Training and Workplace Learning Environment.  His focus is on helping organizations and individuals change behavior to achieve business results.   He is currently the Training Director for Bank of American Fork.  As the Training Director for the Bank, Ken focuses on customer service, sales, systems, compliance, products and services, and policy and procedure training.  Prior to joining the Bank, Ken worked at Fidelity Investments in various training functions in Salt Lake and Boston. 

Ken's perfect day would be to take Mark Twain to a Boston Red Sox.   

There is no better time than today to thank you for being a part of the Passageways family.  We are very grateful for your continued collaboration and support.We have had a great year and as we continue to share more success stories, we have a lot to be thankful for.

We wish you the best and I recommend that you take a moment to think about those to whom you are thankful and grateful.

                                          Safe Travels and Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Congratulations to everyone who contributed towards this solution especially Community Credit Union of Florida and Educators Credit Union.

To find out more about this Innovative solution click here! 

The holidays are quickly approaching, wouldn't it be nice if your portal theme could reflect the holiday cheer?  Would a custom character or mascot create enthusiasm within your office?  Is there a year-end goal to promote to employees?    Let the portal themes work for you!

The Passageways Portal gives you many opportunities to take advantage of the themes as well as make your portal truly unique.  With P4, you are no longer limited to one look and feel throughout the organization.  P4 gives you the freedom to choose from multiple layouts and theme designs, assign them to users, or allow them to select their design choice.   Even if you have not upgraded to P4, custom branding is still possible.

Don't have a designer on staff or the time to spend creating new themes?  Let Passageways create them for you!   Contact us via email or call 765-497-8815 extension 8898 for details on our new Custom Branding Service.

Thank you and Happy Holidays! 

- Paroon Chadha 10/26/09

I have visited over 200 banks and credit unions in the last few years.  Community Credit Union of Florida ranks right up there in terms of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. In a recent visit to Rockledge, they demonstrated this once again!

It's a tough economy in Florida and all businesses are hurting, including this credit union where employing caution is the order of the day.  To add to this, they are shorthanded on staffing. But in true spirit of the times, they chose to take this as an opportunity to streamline their operations and get more efficient.

Laurie Cappelli and Hank Phillips are both as modest  as they come about their achievements,  but not in their goals. They set out to improving customer experience, while taking employee productivity to whole new measurable level. They wanted to measure and improve employee utilization to 70-80%. For this they needed three new systems:

  1. A Lobby Management System

  2. A system to share unassigned odd jobs, among existing staff member

  3. A system to measure the ‘talk time' on the phone, working with clients

Act One: They approached Passageways to deploy a lobby management system, but they needed it to be such that customers can walk in and scan their credit/debit cards and the system puts them in a virtual queue, driven by a touch screen kiosk.  ( yes, they even designed a few options for visitors who were not there for banking but may be just vendors etc). These were great enhancements and were quickly integrated into the Passageways Lobby Management System and are now standard features!

The Result: A complete system which literally eliminated the need to have receptionist at their branches as all foot traffic now goes through this system. The reporting from such a system now helps them keep track of the demand and staffing levels between branches can also be optimized.

I got a chance to click a few pictures while I was there, just to prove that you don't have to have huge R&D budgets or mega IT budgets for such projects to be pulled together. Of course, the other reason is to prove that I was working in Florida and not just enjoying the Sun!

Yes, you guessed it- they literally bought the touch screen for $600 and connected it to card reader with a USB cable and they were on their way!

 Act Two: Upon losing some employees, through attrition, they again got thinking and came up with this rather unique system they aptly named "Job Jar". This system allows their staff to pull from a virtual job jar where any job can be  parked for anyone who has time. This system keeps track of how much time is being spent by a particular staff member for any such job they undertake, after an approval process which ensures that staff is qualified for any particular job they request. This system has now been working well for a few months and work seems to be getting done!

The Result: They now have jobs (such as mailings, back office tasks etc.)  being routed through this system complete with  reports on how much time and which staff members are accomplishing such jobs. Yes, they now want to create a portal application of this as their home grown version is being well used and certainly has proven to be a great way to get staff to contribute and share the extra workload equitably throughout the organization.

But they are not done yet!

Act Three: As a final addition to this system, they are planning to incorporate a VOIP based telephone system (they are thinking about an open source platform rather than the usual suspects like CISCO and Avaya). This will allow them to check how much time a particular service representation spends on the phone, serving customers.

Now when you combine these three measures, you have a quantifiable way to measure how much time a particular MSR or PSA spent on serving customers or on working on back office jobs in any given day, or a week and even in a month. Their goal is to get this number to be close to 70-80%.

My favorite part about all this is, the fact that this is such an innovative approach in the given times when every bank and credit union is thinking of finding ways to do more with less. And the result focused approach is truly a testimony to their smarts!

Hats off to everyone at Community Credit Union of Florida for being such innovators and showing us the way!  We consider ourselves lucky to get to work with such a great team...and deliver real business applications!