Personalized Learning

Innovation is disrupting the learning industry both in terms of the technology used (online, video, simulations, apps, etc.) and the players (Coursera, for-profit online universities, etc.).

A positive result? For employers and organizational trainers, it’s moving from “pushing learning on people to letting people drive their own learning,” says Mike Rustici, founder of Rustici Software and president of Watershed LRS, CUES’ partner in the new CUES Learning Tracker.

“We’re moving from a world where the management and tracking of learning was put first instead of the needs of the learner,” Rustici says.

But when you put the learner at the center of employee education and add in rich analytics, you’ll be poised to create deep, personalized and proven training programs, he explains.

And that’s where learning management technology proves indispensable. With learning management solutions, your credit union can design a training program to fit individual, departmental and overall CU needs—whether you have in-house trainers, a general human resources exec or, instead, rely on supervisors and managers to take the lead in employee development.

Learning Plans for Everyone

By designing your own programs, you can create learning plans for different types of credit union employees.

For example, a learning plan for a new teller might look something like this:

• Complete a simulation program.
• Watch a webinar.
• Take a test.
• Review CU policies and procedures.
• Whereas, a learning plan for a loan officer with management potential might look like this:
• Attend a CU lending conference.
• Watch these three webinars.
• Read the following 10 articles.
• You could even let employees create (or work with their supervisors to create) their own plans, based on their career goals.

Analyzing the Data

With the data available in learning management programs, there’s really “no reason not to analyze, track and quantify” employee training, Rustici says. Using analytics built into most programs, your CU will better understand:

• the skills employees already have;
• hidden skills you didn’t know they had;
• who is ready for the next step, next job, or more responsibility; and
• where there are skills gaps. What are the skills you need to cultivate internally or hire externally to fill the gaps?

According to Rustici, employee training effectiveness is most frequently measured using the Kirkpatrick Model, which examines:

1. Attitudes of the learner: Did they enjoy it, was it helpful? (This is usually done with a survey.)
2. Knowledge assessment: This is a pre-test and a post-test measuring how much the student actually learned.
3. Change in behaviors: Is the employee applying the knowledge or new skills on the job?
4. Change in performance: Is the employee doing the work better, however that is measured? For example: Is the employee meeting or exceeding cross-sell goals following a sales course?

With the right learning management system, your CU can access data to support all four levels of the Kirkpatrick Model.

“You’ll know what programs are working and what programs are not working. Don’t waste everyone’s time by sending employees to training that is not meeting their or your needs,” says Rustici.

Ultimately the most important questions to ask about your CU’s current employee development programs are: Is it working? And, do you have the data to tell?

Theresa Witham is a CUES senior editor. Reach her at theresa@cues.org.