Investing in a Training and Education Partner Pays Bottom-Line Dividends

The learning function is more relevant than ever before. Financial services providers are investing steadily in employee learning because business leaders recognize their employees provide the most sustainable competitive edge they have. In addition, due to the number of associates involved with branch banking, the financial risk associated with the daily operations of these individuals and the extreme importance of regulatory compliance in the financial services market, training and education remains a significant area of expense. 

The focus for many CEOs is on business growth, and they know that the most important strategic priority to achieve growth is increasing the capabilities and improving the productivity of their workforce. Many economists and business leaders agree that the key to achieving business results and winning in the marketplace is a fully engaged, knowledgeable and skilled workforce.

Training and education investment trends support this. The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) estimates that U.S. organizations spend nearly $130 billion on employee learning and development annually, with two-thirds, or $80 billion, spent on the internal learning function. The remainder—approximately $50 billion—is spent on external services. These numbers show signs of continued growth as well—for example, research shows that budget growth rates for learning and development have increased an average of 6.2 percent for large organizations and 2.7 percent for small to medium organizations over the previous year.

If one had to pick a single word to define the nature of workplace learning and performance today, it would be “dynamic.” ASTD points out that as corporate visions and strategies move forward, organizational structures evolve and job roles and responsibilities change, as do the processes and technologies that support organizations and their employees. Learning itself is more likely than in the past to take place on the move or outside a traditional classroom. Workplace learning and performance professionals who assume that traditional approaches will work indefinitely in this shifting landscape could find themselves unprepared to keep pace, let alone lead others in new directions.

Many roadblocks stand in the way of delivering complete and effective packages of training and educational materials in today’s financial services market. These include the need to be consistent and uniform in training materials and presentations as well as overcoming time constraints during the production of training sessions. Developing coursework that will help students learn and retain the information is also a significant task faced by training professionals today.

What does this mean to learning practitioners? Simply put, they are required to focus on content and course development while also coordinating training materials through document and logistics management.

One method to overcome these various roadblocks and to help training professionals focus on their core competencies—content development—is to attain the services of a training and education partner. According to ASTD, many organizations have experienced increases in learning efficiency by selecting outsourcing partners who complement their internal strengths.

As financial services providers gain a better grasp on their skills inventories, the kinds of external learning services they need change as well. Firms report that cost reduction is only one of several criteria they use to select external partners; and they are as concerned about who to partner with as they are about what they can outsource.

When evaluating potential training and education partners, learning practitioners must keep in mind that their organizations and employees are the content experts. As such, a solid training and education partner should offer services that assist the learning practitioner in other areas that compliment their educational capital, including content management capabilities, training effectiveness and the ability to use time wisely and effectively.

Eliminate Manually-Intensive Content Management
With branch locations dispersed across multiple geographic locations, a firm training and education program foundation can quickly crumble under a manually-intensive process for producing and distributing training documentation.

Staying compliant with an ever-changing regulatory environment requires frequent changes to materials. Processes for bridging the gap between content creators/owners, multiple iterations and the end user create costly logistics challenges, challenges that can be addressed by a training and education partner.

Increase Training Effectiveness
Employers require their workers to know more and stay current, so they are spending more on workplace learning in order to improve readership and retention. Maximizing employee contributions and job satisfaction hinges on compelling, consistent training documentation. Methods to attain this include personalization of the training materials and the addition of color to the presentation and handouts. ASTD research shows that color can increase learning and retention by up to 78 percent; and, because color makes documents more attractive, it also increases readership by 40 percent.

By turning the production and distribution of these personalized color materials to a training and education partner, a learning practitioner can focus on important issues like content development, learner retention and education schedules.

Time is of the Essence
There are several obstacles concerning the time it takes to create, distribute and maintain learning initiatives, including:

• Outdated training materials
• Version control
• Inventory costs
• Delivery timeliness
• Tight deadlines

After a training program has concluded, printed materials become an invaluable reference to trainees for on-the-job training. Without timely delivery of printed materials to the training site, the learning experience is compromised.

With the production and delivery of timely, up-to-date training materials managed through a single platform and provider, learning practitioners can take a more active role in coaching and supporting trainees after training is complete. A training and education partner helps maintain the forward momentum of the organization’s training group by having printed training materials ready where they need them, when they need them—whether domestically or internationally.

Case in Point
With a team of over 10,000 employees, a leading financial services company in the Northeast U.S. was challenged to manage costs and obsolescence associated with training materials used throughout their mid-Atlantic and New England regions. 

Tape-bound manuals, binders, quick reference cards and transaction packs were fraught with pagination problems and outdated content, not to mention the associated billing inaccuracies. 

Using Standard Register’s SMARTworks® technology and digital repository, training personnel are able to manage and track the print process from creation to material delivery at the training site, thereby reducing time and improving their personal productivity. 

Outfitting Customers, Employees for Better Business Performance
A financial services provider’s approach to customer and employee education and training defines the organization’s current capabilities and establishes the basis for its future business performance. A training and education partner can manage business-critical training materials so that learning practitioners can arm their customers and employees with the proper materials to stay one step ahead of the competition. From manuals to coffee mugs, posters to invitations, a training partner allows learning practitioners to focus on developing effective content while they handle design through delivery of the supporting materials.

For more information on how you can benefit by working with a training and education document management partner, contact Standard Register today.