Independent Banker - November 2022 - 40

PORTFOLIO LEADERSHIP AT ALL LEVELS
Winning the war
for talent
By Lindsay LaNore, ICBA
Management System can extract
total users and pass rates while
helping to identify areas requiring
more training. If there were trends
of incorrect answers, that is an area
to target for additional training.)
 Reports of instances where training
had a direct positive impact on the
bank's goals
 A summary of what bank examiners
thought of the training eff orts
 A list of new training methods that
were deployed
 Recommendations by training
leadership that require additional
board support
If a bank reports more frequently
than annually, a progress update
should be included. For example, how
is the bank doing year-to-date versus
its outlined plan? If the bank is not on
target, what factors contributed to the
bank being off course?
ll industries, including
community banking, seem to
be talking about the " war for talent. "
Yet, there is one powerful solution
that's not always given the attention it
deserves: training and development.
Providing employees with the
opportunity to learn has proven time
and again to increase engagement,
fulfi llment, performance and
productivity. It also boosts innovation
and creativity, while lowering
absenteeism and attrition rates. If
people are our number one asset,
training and development should no
longer be something that happens in
the background.
Creating a culture of learning
requires time, attention and
investment, especially from those
in leadership positions, and
education and training should be
A
held to the same standards as other
business segments.
Boards of directors should request
a training report at minimum
annually, but ideally more often. The
responsibility for that report needs to
sit with the people in the best position
to view, evaluate and measure the
bank's overall educational eff orts,
whether that is a designated training
leader or a cross-departmental group
of leaders and HR.
There is no industry standard
for training reports, but some key
elements to include are:
 The amount of time and resources
allocated to employee training
 The focused training areas/skills
and employee feedback
 Success metrics for courses,
where available. (For instance,
community banks using a Learning
This active dialogue with the board
of directors allows for all leadership to
be in lockstep in achieving bank-wide
goals, allowing them to target specifi c
skills if the board is prioritizing
certain goals or business innovation.
Remember, though, that this is a
business report-not a full-fl edged
learning discussion. In the same way
the chief credit offi cer or chief risk
offi cer might share a board report,
these reports should be tailored for
the board audience, so ask colleagues
for advice on how to craft yours.
However you present it, consider
this annual report your community
bank's report card on what it is doing
to support its number one asset:
its employees. 
Lindsay LaNore (lindsay.lanore@
icba.org) is ICBA's group executive
vice president and chief learning
and experience off icer
40 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q November 2022
Photo by Fizkes/Adobe
Independent Banker - November 2022

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