Training to the Rescue!

Everybody loves a conference: a chance to get out of the office, hear some great speakers, and have some fun while you’re learning. But most CU budgets aren’t going to cover sending every employee to a conference. Amy McConnell, digital marketing and public relations manager at $280 million/27,000-member Belvoir Federal Credit Union in Woodbridge, Va., figured out a solution: Bring the conference to the CU instead.

Belvoir FCU was, at the time, facing a daunting challenge: The training manager was involved in an automobile accident and out of the office for three months. Given that situation, McConnell took the lead along with Training Specialist Monica Edwards, and, as she says, “Together, we planned a day like never before seen at the credit union.”

The day was structured like any other conference but there were plenty of surprises. When those attending received their nametags, each listed the person’s name, job title and super power. Super power? That will be needed later.

The day began with a product challenge and leadership development course where ideas were conveyed through games rather than PowerPoints.

For example, Chair Basketball involved sitting on an office chair and tossing balls of crumpled paper into a wastebasket. Before the participant could throw the ball, though, he or she had to answer a question about a product or about leadership skills. Each paper ball that landed in the basket earned the employee points.

Another game was a spelling bee, where answering a question correctly earned the player one chance to spell a tough word.

Points were tallied for a chance to win the grand prize: a day off with pay.

Other sessions using more traditional formats provided some required training information on compliance and security.

Super Powers?

The afternoon included a team-building workshop. Remember those super powers on the nametags? Those were used to divide people into groups: all those who could become invisible in one group, those who had super strength in another, and so on, creating groups of people who didn’t normally work together.

“The objective for this workshop was to work as a team to create a product that did not exist which would make a task easier or more efficient,” explains McConnell. “The only limit was their imagination. The groups had to plan, create, implement, deliver and set goals for the product they came up with.”

To put together their creations, each team had a kit including Tinker Toys, Lego blocks, glue, pipe cleaners, crayons and other useful items.

McConnell says the success of the event was measured in a survey provided to staff the following day. “People commented that they had a great time and that it was a unique way to learn about the credit union products. They also enjoyed being able to work with employees they did not normally do things with.” Another common comment was that the person was excited to attend the next training day.

In addition, the CU received an Award of Merit in the 2013 CUES Golden Mirror Awards™ “Staff Training Programs” category.

“For other credit unions considering something similar, I’d suggest thinking about your overall training goals, then look at unusual or different ways to present the information to improve the audience’s attention and retention,” McConnell suggests. “Making the day fun and incorporating different elements keeps people engaged while they are learning new ideas they can take back to their work.”

>Winning the CUES GMA honor was an amazing achievement, she adds. “Due to the circumstances with our training manager being absent, just having a successful training day was a big accomplishment. When we heard we had won, our executive team and training department were ecstatic.”

Teresa Pitman is a freelance writer based in Guelph, Ontario.