Founded in 1947, the Vermont State Employees Credit Union, now officially identified as VSECU, (http://www.vsecu.com/) is a not-for-profit financial cooperative open to residents of Vermont’s Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Rutland, and Washington counties. As a co-op, VSECU is owned and controlled by its members. These members pool their financial resources and, as a result, reap cooperative benefits, including higher dividends, lower interest rates on loans and mortgages, friendly service, and free and low-cost insurance protection. VSECU offers a variety of deposit products and loans, including those for automobiles, mortgages, home equity and credit lines, credit cards, students, and more.


Challenge
Before partnering with Business Training Library in 2004, VSECU’s training and development curriculum was heavily technical, with little or no concentration on soft skills development. Varying skill sets needed improvement, including the need to initiate a sales training program for VSECU’s Retail Division. VSECU hired corporate trainer Bruce Tichenor to help the co-op with these needs. Bruce recognized that in order to take VSECU to a whole new level, its training program needed to have a broader focus than mere technical and sales topics. He believed it would benefit dramatically from the implementation of training in communication, business writing, management of difficult situations in the workplace, leadership, supervision skills and more. With senior management’s approval on the matter, Bruce sought out a means in which to offer a variety of training topics and resources to VSECU’s staff. Considering these needs, he decided to partner with Business Training Library because of its large selection and multiple learning options. Bruce appreciated Business Training Library’s e-learning and self-study training processes, and believed that they would mesh well with the CD-ROM and DVD programs accessible to VSECU for its classroom training sessions.


Implementation
The access and use of the Lending Library service helped to support and further enhance the co-op’s vision for their Corporate University. Bruce compiled a university catalog that lists courses in all areas of soft skills development, technical, and compliance training, and distributed the catalog company-wide. The catalog provides employees with course descriptions, class times and dates, any necessary prerequisites, and information on how to register for classes. Each year, VSECU’s employees complete individualized development plans. From these, Bruce and the training/HR department determine which courses are necessary in assisting VSECU staff in achieving its developmental goals. Custom curricula can then be created for each employee.

Bruce determines which Business Training Library video or DVD would be a good match for each course ahead of time; and once registration for a particular class has occurred, orders all training materials and has them shipped in time for the start of the course. In addition, Bruce integrates snippets of Business Training Library courses with PowerPoint presentations on the topic at hand and incorporates them into classroom sessions, as he believes this process “allows everyone’s eyes to get away from the trainer, and makes the classes more engaging for our staff.

Even with the support of senior management, the training department is at the mercy of the individual business units’ schedules. Because VSECU is in the financial industry, new regulations and information constantly need to be introduced to employees, and VSECU does its best to manage when and how this information is disseminated to its staff. While the soft skills courses offered through VSECU University are optional, some soft skills content covered in their compliance courses is required. To foster a healthy and productive learning environment, VSECU uses several Business Training Library best practices, including blended learning techniques, utilizing certificate programs, holding employee recognition meetings (“We value education, and we recognize and reward those employees for their accomplishments,” says Bruce), and, as previously mentioned, a customized university. The credit union even turned one of its small branches into a university location, with classrooms to accommodate all of VSECU’s training needs.


Conclusion
Since beginning its training/HR partnership with Business Training Library, VSECU’s sales, account services, marketing, business development, and mortgage services departments have all benefited from the tools offered by the lending library, and employee skill sets are consistently progressing to higher performance levels. Bruce has been able to foster an environment where VSECU employees learn efficiently and are recognized for their achievements in the training program. VSECU especially appreciates the variety of materials and services available through Business Training Library, commenting, “It’s all there with Business Training Library’s wide range of lesson plan supported curriculum, media programs and learning tools to help customize any subject or training initiative for our company.”