Does Your Bank Have a Learning Culture?

How can it be “back to school” time already? To some, the meteorological process is a natural and timely guide to our personal and professional lifecycle. To others, autumn triggers a sense of urgency to conquer all those projects that have been put off until the “right time.” No matter what bucket you fall into, this time of year gives us all an opportunity to revisit the bank’s training approach and learning culture.

The community banking industry is accustomed to required annual training mandates but the recent evolution in employment benefits makes learning a compelling non-salary reward. As a result, a bank’s training and learning culture is now listed as part of an overall benefits package along with well-being programs and other, more traditional benefits.

There is no one-size-fits-all program for community banks, so your bank has the creative flexibility to enhance and enrich its own training program in countless ways. Here are a few inventive approaches to consider:

• Create a shared learning and resource library—Enable employees to share or post video links, articles, blogs, training notes, books, and more. You might also make this sharing a performance metric of each employee’s role and, in the process, make knowledge transfer a priority in your bank’s culture.
• Give them control—Empower employees to take over their own professional development. This may mean assigning the mandatory training requirements, while granting a wide-open calendar that they are required to complete. It may also mean giving each employee an annual training budget for their preferred method of professional development.
• Remove day-to-day distractions—Encourage employees to step away from regular tasks and spend time in a designated (and uber-creative) training space. Think chalkboard walls, whiteboards, collaborative workspaces, digital workstations, motivating quotes and more! You might even paint the walls a bold, daring color or change up the lighting to make it an experience for employees.

Cultivating a learning culture in your bank has countless benefits. It undoubtedly encourages professional growth and greater confidence and engagement among your team.  It is also a critical component in the acquisition and retention of employees. The most exciting part of all of this is that you can let your creativity soar as you fine-tune your bank’s learning culture with the best interest of your employees and your business in mind.

Lindsay LaNore is group executive vice president of ICBA's Community Banker University.