The Benefits of Training Software when Upskilling Bank Employees

Banks Looking to Quickly Train Employees

Differentiating oneself amongst competitors in the financial and banking space can be won through superior customer service, particularly in employee technical competency. Getting employees to an optimal level of software proficiency can take time, but doing it faster and better than everyone else will have massive advantages.

Corporate investment banks looking to quickly train employees on new software and improve onboarding and adoption speed — while not sacrificing the client experience — can do so by building a specialized, digital training program. Off-the-shelf solutions often don’t fit banking software requirements. To that end, a bank would be wise to have a software manufacturer handle the creation of a custom training solution. Typically, a capable partner should have experience in the e-learning market, understanding of the technology landscape, strong learning design and content expertise, and examples of successfully developed and launched employee training programs.

The Challenges 

The main challenge to any bank hoping to enhance productivity and customer service is that training new and current employees across various business units requires specification. New hires need to be onboarded quickly but are not aware of the company culture and processes. On the other hand, upskilling current employees requires separate training material that doesn't rehash what they already know. To accommodate for the variety of employees, workflows, and banking technology updates, the software partner must create multiple simulators.  

Not only will banks have to solve the pressing need for fast adoption, but they must also consistently upskill and improve the productivity of existing workers. A potential second challenge can emerge when banks prioritize speed above all else, namely that an increase in speed — can sometimes mean an increase in employee errors. In the banking and investment industry, mistakes can result in severe consequences of a monetary and reputational nature.

Implementing the Training Solution 

Although much of the actual development and implementation process falls upon the software manufacturer, banks must properly outline and define their needs and challenges so that their partners have the best direction possible when building the training solution.

An experienced software manufacturer will digitalize the bank's training program to prevent existing systems and workflows from being disrupted. The partner could base all the simulators after one template saving on time and being cost-effective. This approached should help to make simulator development unified and scalable.

The interactive simulating courses can include hints and prompts to help employees understand how to complete documentation and practice workflows. They also often include time-restricted assessments, quizzes, and practice-oriented exercises. A virtual guide is also a nice inclusion, as it will lead users through the workflow and instruct them on the primary skills needed for work within the simulator. Additionally, to cut down on future mistakes, the virtual guide can notify an employee if they filled out a field incorrectly and tell them how to correct their error.

Benefits of the Training Solution 

A real-world bank used the method described above to tremendous effect. By leveraging the skills of a software manufacturer, they obtained a training solution that helped their employees quickly learn and adopt a new banking software. This prominent financial corporate bank – ranking among the top ten in its country – specializes in corporate investment banking, retail, SMEs and private banking.

They ultimately needed 37 software simulators to train all its employees and achieve the benefits, including:

• Reduced training time from employees having the ability to train anytime and anywhere.
• Decreased costs in content creation by utilizing the original template to produce additional simulators.
• Faster adoption of new software amongst employees increasing productivity.
• Increased engagement and self-sufficiency, which correlated to employee proficiency and loyalty.
• Enhanced employee awareness of banking software and operations, leading to a decrease in technical support calls and help desk costs.
• Increased employee engagement and proficiency with software, improving ROI and closing the digital skills gap.

Data gathered several years after the project launch revealed the achievements:

• The bank managed to train more than 16 thousand employees since the project's launch in 2018.
• More than 40 different banking operations within the company used the 37 software simulators.
• Between 2018 and 2020, 787 offices adopted the training.
• The software received unanimous praise from employees themselves, who gave it a 4.8 out of 5 on the feedback score.

Today, customer experience is everything. Banks and financial entities must prioritize prompt and effective employee training lest their competitors outperform them. 

By implementing a digital training program with a bespoke software solution, banks will not only speed up the onboarding process and improve productivity, but ultimately provide a better service to their customers.

Author: Denis Kovalchuk, Head of Corporate Training Solutions, EPAM Systems, Inc.