How long do most of you devote to classroom teller training? What level of training do you give in the classroom setting? Thanks...

Around 1991 or 1992, we developed a two-week, classroom style, teller training program. It was felt at the time, that the classroom training would give better training and thus reducing outages and employee turnover. The program last less than 2 years. It was found that outages and turnover were not affected by whether training was done in the classsroom or on-site at the teller's branch location. Now tellers are 'in training' on a case by case -- each branch supervisor determines at what point the teller is left to conduct transactions on his/her own without the trainer present.

How many "strikes" do you allow and what are some of the remediations?

Tellers must do e-learning in the branch with a mentor. They attend class in between the mentor portion. At the end of their training they take a test, if they pass the test they are then qualified to handle cash transactions on their own. They should not be doing any transactions alone until they pass the test. The total training time is 3 weeks, with most of it spent in the branch observing and doing non-cash transactions as the mentor sees fit.

All Tellers must go through this program, unless a branch manager wants to sign off that they take responsiility for thier new hire.

eLearning is a great way to perform Teller Training, but the best Teller Training is not eLearning alone. A blended approach – some classroom and some eLearning – followed by a mentor in the branch – is the best way to ensure that Tellers are both competent and confident.

The eLearning part of the training will help on overall cost savings, reduced training time, standardization and consistency of content, reduced time away from the branch, minimal travel expense, testing and tracking. The classroom time will contribute to the new Tellers’ feeling that they are part of the bank, and it can prep Teller for eLearning and/or reinforce the eLearning through role plays and other activities. The Mentor at the branch is very important, and to make the most of the Mentoring environment the new Teller should have a chance to observe the Mentor performing Teller tasks, then perform the tasks jointly with the Mentor, and then be observed performing the tasks independently.

A few notes of interest:
1. eLearning helps identify the “PURE” Tellers quickly. (PURE = Previously Undetected Recruiting Error!)
2. Your eLearning program can be an excellent resource for Refresher training.
3. Testing and tracking of Teller eLearning is critical and has helped many banks in litigation brought on by human resources disputes.
4. ELearning coupled with System Simulation training is the most effective way to teach a Teller to perform transactions using their Teller system.
5. If your eLearning program is robust and effective, you can use your Instructors and classroom time to focus on the difficult subjects, such as balancing (the #1 topic new tellers find difficult).
6. Retention following a good eLearning program will be 30% better than retention following classroom training alone. Retention following a good Blended program will be 45% better than retention following classroom training alone.

Julie
Julie Duepner
The Edcomm Group
Julie.duepner@edcomm.com
www.edcomm.com
www.bankersacademy.com
888 4 EDCOMM


The Edcomm Group is a 19-year-old multimedia education and communication consulting firm specializing in the development of creative business solutions that improve productivity, customer service and market share, providing bottom-line results.

Usually 2 weeks of classroom and the coached until ready to release to the world. Sent back for addtional classroom if needed to refine skills

One to four weeks in the branch being mentored before classroom (depends on when they are hired and when the next class is). Usually it ends up being 1-2 weeks in the real world. During this time they cover the basics and some regulations

One week in the classroom of which 1 day is policies and procedures followed by four days in the computer lab completing transactions (complete with tickets and cash).

Required 80% on a comprehensive final to pass (90% for supervisory). If they fail but are close, they can retake the test after two weeks, otherwise they retake the class. Two failures, which is rare, are addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Bobw, in-branch training sounds very interesting. We do a 9-day program with a half-day branch observation in the middle. Does anyone's pre-training training include any robbery training? I think that would be important.

I remember when I went through the training, it was all pretty strange, even though I had been in retail for a long time before. It would have been nice to see a branch in operation to get a feel for it first.

IMHO, blended training works best. We typically will do 1 week classroom and then 1-3 weeks hands on with a trainer at a branch location (there new home mostly).

The other thing we do is expose the teller to other areas of operation of the bank such as item processing, new accounts, lending, etc... I have found this to work well because it allows the new employee to see how what they do (or don't do) can impact other parts of the organization

All these ideas sound wonderful...we need to start this program...but sad to say we have had to start from scratch.

Does anyone have collateral material that we could start from?

I have recently started our teller manual, but it could use a lot of help and ideas.

I would appreciate ANY help!!

My bank does a blended approach of eLearning, classroom and videos as well as 1/2 days in the teller line. All of our tellers are sent to our home office for one week. During that time, they receive robbery training and teller training as well as much more. We have tried several different options when training new tellers but this blended training has worked the best for us.

The Bankersonline videos are a great tool for new employees. Our eLearning software is from Teller Solutions, which has been great. There aren't any trick questions and it is interactive. They provide a manual for the employee to follow along and have tests at the end of each module as well as a comprehensive test. What is best about Teller Solution, you do not have to sign a contract. If you use it one month great after you are finished send the CD back and when you need again, just call and they will send it out.

Once the teller has finished the initial training they are sent to the branches where they will be on their own, but will have a mentor for the next few weeks.

Good luck

eLearning is a great way to perform Teller Training, but the best Teller Training is not eLearning alone. A blended approach, some classroom and some eLearning, followed by a mentor in the branch is the best way to ensure that Tellers are both competent and confident.

The eLearning part of the training will help on overall cost savings, reduced training time, standardization and consistency of content, reduced time away from the branch, minimal travel expense, testing and tracking. The classroom time will contribute to the new Tellers feeling that they are part of the bank, and it can prep Teller for eLearning and/or reinforce the eLearning through role plays and other activities. The Mentor at the branch is very important, and to make the most of the Mentoring environment the new Teller should have a chance to observe the Mentor performing Teller tasks, then perform the tasks jointly with the Mentor, and then be observed performing the tasks independently.

A few notes of interest:
1. eLearning helps identify the PURE Tellers quickly. (PURE = Previously Undetected Recruiting Error!)
2. Your eLearning program can be an excellent resource for Refresher training.
3. Testing and tracking of Teller eLearning is critical and has helped many banks in litigation brought on by human resources disputes.
4. ELearning coupled with System Simulation training is the most effective way to teach a Teller to perform transactions using their Teller system.
5. If your eLearning program is robust and effective, you can use your Instructors and classroom time to focus on the difficult subjects, such as balancing (the #1 topic new tellers find difficult).
6. Retention following a good eLearning program will be 30% better than retention following classroom training alone. Retention following a good Blended program will be 45% better than retention following classroom training alone.

Julie
Julie Duepner
The Edcomm Group
Julie.duepner@edcomm.com
http://www.edcomm.com
http://www.bankersacademy.com
888 4 EDCOMM


The Edcomm Group is a 19-year-old multimedia education and communication consulting firm specializing in the development of creative business solutions that improve productivity, customer service and market share, providing bottom-line results.