Independent Banker - October 2018 - 55

13%
Annual employee turnover rate at
First Fidelity Bank in 2018 following the
launch of FFB University, down from
34 percent in 2017
sessions that take place during the third week of each
month from September until April. " Employees use the
materials they gathered at those seminars and pass those
materials on to the appropriate staff during those training
sessions, " he says.
LaNore finds that community banks have gotten
creative about sharing information. " Some banks can't
send all employees to certain conferences, " she says. " So
they then ask that those participating give a report to their
teams, whether it's at the department- or business-line
level, or whether it's to the entire bank. " She has observed
that some banks ask their employees to create a summary
write-up, outlining the key points and takeaways from
external training programs they have attended.
LaNore believes that it's human nature to want " to share
and empower those around us. " Community banks should
therefore devise ways that knowledge can easily be spread.
" By giving staff and employees the opportunity to learn,
we teach others, and it does start a ripple effect within an
institution, " she says.
The bottom line, though, is that professional
development is such an overwhelming positive that
community banks should avoid getting too hung up on
whether the employees they've educated eventually leave.
As Adamo says, " We used to joke: What's worse than
training your staff and having them leave? Not training
your staff-and having them stay. " He continues, " As
fast as the industry is moving, you cannot afford to be
complacent and comfortable and get left behind. "
Top-down initiative
Some see the most persuasive arguments in favor of
professional development in extremely personal terms.
Raymo, for instance, views education as critical to
realizing his own potential. " In my career, I was given
a lot of opportunities to attend educational events that
helped me advance my career, not only from a knowledge
standpoint but from connectivity and networking, " he
says. " I had the benefit of having a management team that
valued my training, and I'm passing that on. "
Arguably, education is a core value for community
bankers in a way that might not always hold true for
their megabank counterparts. That's because community
banks distinguish themselves by adding a personal touch
to finance-and this personal touch can take the form of
professional development opportunities that positively
change a bank's culture.
" Education plays a huge role in the development of the
culture of your organization, " says Raymo. " If you provide
education, even when your employees are not in the bank,
they act like they're proud of working here because they
know they're being invested in.
" The future of any organization is dependent on the
investment you're making today. "
Adamo agrees. He notes that in two years, it will be
the centennial of First Fidelity Bank, which is still owned
by its founding family. " There's a lot of experience and a
lot of things we can lean on because of our leaders and
the leadership they've navigated us through for nearly
10 decades, " he says. " We have a culture that embraces
continuing education, and it has to start from the top. "
Adamo believes that these values should apply to all
community banks. " Every community bank should have
a duty of continuously challenging and educating their
workforce, " he says. " That's really the best investment we
can make for our company. "
Elizabeth Judd is a freelance writer in Maryland.
Study up
ICBA's Community Banker University (CBU) offers
member banks an entire ecosystem of industry-specific
professional development courses, certifications,
webinars and live events across the country. Online
certificates range from Audit & Compliance to Human
Resources to Universal Banker. If you are looking to
train your entire staff, a menu of online training plans
and bundles offers partial or full access to CBU's
300-plus online courses. Individual courses are also
available for purchase. Learn more and register at
icba.org/education
independentbanker.org Q 55
http://www.icba.org/education http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - October 2018

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