OnCourse Learning Gives Peace of Mind to Trusted Community Bank

THE COMPANY

Security First Bank is a Nebraska-chartered, privately-held community bank. They provide community banking services from the farm and ranch towns in rural Nebraska to the hub cities of Lincoln and Rapid City. Each branch is managed locally, and employees are part of the communities they serve. They feel that this gives them valuable, local perspective and a personal commitment to servicing the community’s financial needs.

Saphron Watson, VP of Human Resources at Security First Bank shares, “We want to be that hometown, small community bank. When customers call in, we take pride that they are able to speak to someone within the branch location. Customers provide that feedback – when they walk into a branch or call in, they know who they are talking to.”

Over recent years, they have experienced growth by acquiring branches in different communities. Today, they operate 26 branch locations and 12 insurance offices throughout Nebraska and southwest South Dakota.

STRATEGY & GOALS

Security First Bank knew early on that they needed a partner who could help ensure the accuracy of compliance training courses. The bank was using Digital University when OnCourse Learning acquired the eLearning company. The transition to OnCourse Learning was “seamless,” said Watson.

Their Human Resources department operates with a lean and mean team of three. Watson and her team partner with their compliance department to select the required courses for their annual compliance training program. Courses are then mapped to job roles within the institution.

Courses and Content

It is important to Watson and her team that employees can select additional courses on top of their required compliance training to further enhance their soft skills for career development. The team uses OnCourse Direct Libraries to make courses available to employees who can self-select training courses based on their job role or interest. Watson shared that new employees who do not have previous experience in banking, find these additional courses helpful. These self-selected courses provide them additional information they need to be successful in banking.

The HR team serves a wide range of learning styles. In addition to traditional online self-paced courses, OnCourse Learning provides engaging E3 compliance training courses that include animation, video, infographics and a variety of role-based scenarios. Watson explained, “E3 courses have been huge. Employees feel that they are streamlined. Courses are effective and efficient – students feel like it takes less time.” Employees no longer need to sit at a computer read something – they can click and interact with the courses. Saphron believes this helps drive increased retention.

When providing compliance training, accuracy is always top of mind due to regulatory requirements. By partnering with OnCourse Learning, Watson has confidence that course content is accurate and relevant. “If regulations change, who is going to re-record all the training? Having a partner who ensures the content is accurate takes that off our plate. That is the most important thing. It’s stressless for us.”

Reporting

Accurately and efficiently tracking training completion is a goal for this lean and mean HR team. The bank closely monitors completion rates and the progress of all their employee’s training programs. OnCourse Learning’s robust reporting functionality allows Watson to effectively pull a report and provide an accurate update for the bi-monthly compliance meetings.

Customer Experience & Support

Something that truly sets OnCourse Learning apart from other compliance training providers is their customer support. Over the years, Watson and her Relationship Manager have formed a great working relationship. Watson shares, “I can count on Kelly to provide a resolution quickly and smoothly.”

THE RESULTS

When Security First Bank works with auditors and regulators, OnCourse Learning enables them to effortlessly show the proof that training is being completed. Watson shares that auditors are pleased to see the content is consistently up-to-date and accurate. Robust reporting also provides accurate reports on training completion providing HR the data they need to notify supervisors of unfinished training. That level of reporting drives timely completion rates which helps the bank ensure compliance.

When COVID-19 hit and branches were forced to shut down, Security First Bank was able to use OnCourse Learning’s online training to keep employees engaged. They were already set up with a full eLearning solution which, when not able to be in the physical bank, employees were able to use that time to complete their compliance training. Then when they were back in the building, they were able to fully focus on providing their customers with the best experience possible. Even with branches opening back up, Security First Bank is still able to leverage OnCourse Learning courses to keep employees engaged when needing to be quarantined.

Security First Bank’s partnership with OnCourse Learning allows the bank to remain resilient and flexible, while meeting business needs, even when not able to be in the physical brick and mortar building.