Following an internal review of their induction programme for 'new to role' Personal Financial Advisors (PFAs) Lloyds Banking Group (HBOS) knew that something needed to change.

New PFAS come from a variety of backgrounds, from experienced Financial and Banking Advisors to Milkmen and Personal Assistants, and it was important to start catering for all of their different learning needs. In order to gain qualified and competent PFAs at the end of the induction they began the ‘Destination PFA’ initiative where the key to success would be training knowledge and skills as separate entities.

From the shortlisted e-learning awards submission in the category of ‘Best online or distance learning programme 2009’, this complimentary case study provides further insight on the Podcast recently recorded with Mark Shelmerdine at Lloyds Banking Group in December 2009 and published on the Towards Maturity website. In that Podcast Mark describes how they identified the need, how they established the key criteria for developing the programme, the 6 topic areas that comprise their blended learning solution and finally the benefits that have resulted.

They identified 5 key objectives for their new Destination PFA programme:

1. Provide a programme that could be tailored to an individual’s needs, allowing delegates to learn at their own pace.
2. Allow delegates to learn wherever and whenever was best for them.
3. Provide skills and knowledge that could be easily applied in the real world.
4. Design the entire programme in-house to allow for quick and easy updates.
5. Provide cost savings.

In less than a year Destination PFA has saved direct costs in the region of £500,000, and that doesn't include the benefits of increased staff morale, lower staff turnover and higher productivity.

In the Podcast, Mark provides the following tips for others who may be facing a similar challenge:

• Speak to past users to understand their experiences.
• Spend time on understanding the skills and knowledge that's required to do the job and what's needed.
• Explore what's available in terms of technology and tools and consider what could be used.
• Don't be restricted in your thinking or approach.

Within the year, this blended learning programme @ Lloyds Banking Group has delivered:

• Improved staff morale
• Lower staff turnover
• Saving £500,000 direct costs

Destination PFA set out to achieve a number of key goals which have all have been met, laying the foundations for expanding the concept of this blended learning programme into other areas. In fact Lloyds Banking Group have now developed a comparable programme for Mortgage Advisors in half the time based on their experience as Mark reveals in the Podcast.

Related downloads

• Benefits of blended induction programme @ Lloyds Banking Group

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