5 Must Have LMS Features

September 22, 2017 - You have received the green light from management to change your LMS and training approach. Excellent! This is your chance to make a mark and to have a positive impact on your company’s culture and growth.

So where do you start? What should you look for in a new LMS? We recommend putting together a list of training elements which are essential to your training goals and execution. If you know what you are looking for, it will be easier to find. Here are 5 must have LMS features we recommend securing for your company.

Mobile Learning

Are you losing the battle to keep your employees off their smartphones? Try changing tactics. Give them something constructive to do on their iPhones and androids. Make their compliance training accessible via phone and tablet. At Edcomm Banker’s Academy, we offer HTML5 mobile-friendly training. That means training is at your fingertips every second of the day.

An employee can take their training while they take the bus to work, or when they wait in an airport to catch their next business flight. You may find that if you increase accessibility to the training material, learners will be motivated to take their training in a timely manner. This is especially true for your busy, board of directors and senior management staff. When company demands are pulling them in different directions, increased accessibility makes it easier to meet company deadlines. You can study up on human resources policies while polishing off your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Even your employees who are out on leave can brush up on corporate policies from the comfort of their own home.

Social Collaboration

The best Learning Management Systems are built to encourage social collaboration. Virtual interaction gives an instant sense of gratification and communication. This is why the content marketers on your team keep a close eye on the number of Facebook likes and Twitter impressions. It can be addicting, but in a good way.

Our Edcomm LMS platform features a My LMS Twitter. With it, you can share your impressions regarding your training experience. For example, a learner can comment on how much they enjoyed the Project Management curriculum, which expanded their time management skills and strategies. You can also use this tool to build hype and excitement for the annual or quarterly training release. It is pretty neat to see your coworkers follow you and value what you have to say. This collaborative tool also enables you to have a dialogue with your coworkers. Learning can be more meaningful and retained longer when shared and actively discussed within the team.

Virtual Classroom

Not everyone can make it to the corporate office for the meeting? No worries. As long as your training platform integrates a virtual classroom element, your team can be at different branches but still be on the same page and on the same phone call.

Edcomm LMS offers a Virtual Classroom tool. This tool enables you to sync your GotoMeeting, WebEx, or DimDim video conference account on the Learning Management Platform. It simplifies the meeting process as a learner does not have to root through old emails to find the call details. Instead, they can log on to the LMS and see meeting information on their home page on the Virtual Classroom widget. The LMS becomes a one stop shop, as you can plan the meeting as an admin and have a record of this training instance preserved.

Video Training

Tired of needing to click through training slide by slide? Consider swapping out traditional training for video training. It appeals to employees of all learning types. Your visual and auditory learners will be especially pleased to see training that is designed to help them succeed.

We have recently released the Edcomm Video Library Series. It cultivates your employee’s potential through professional skills focused videos. Our Edcomm Video Library Series offers a little bit of everything. For your content marketers, there is Social Media training material that helps fine tune their techniques and learn how to more effectively engage their audience. For your management team, there are Leadership, Meeting Skills, and Interviewing Skills focused training. Your Technology team may be excited to know that there is even training on how to secure data and respond to a computer security threat.

We give you the freedom to narrate your own story. Edcomm LMS makes it easy to stream or download your own videos. You can film a video in house, and then add it to your annual compliance training. Alternatively, if you do not have the resources or time to film your own video, you can grab the hyperlink of an informative YouTube video and make it available to learners.

Offline Classroom Feature

For a full learning experience, we also recommend finding a tool that creates a space for you to track in-house training. This way when your auditors come to check in with your state of compliance, you can pull an attendance report on who went to the Tellers basic training session. A face-to-face component can help ingrain the online training you assign on annual basis. It can also be handy in the case of keep track of the New Hire training.

Edcomm LMS hosts a state-of-the-art Offline Classroom Feature. With it, you can keep tabs on everything from what materials need to be prepared for the in-house training session, to what vendor is hosting the training, to key note speakers. It is a fantastic tool for communication as you can schedule email notifications to go out to learners upon being invited to a training session and reminders before the session starts. Many clients prefer using this tool, as opposed to maintaining a personal spreadsheet because it can be attendance records are delivered in a report format, and are easily able to be shared and edited by other administrators.

Please feel free to contact the Edcomm Team directly to discuss your training goals and how we can rise to make them a reality.

By: Madelyn Fagan

Don’t Lose the Data!

July 31, 2017

Keeping data safe and secure is one of the most important tasks that a financial institution must undertake. Customers and consumers trust the bank or credit union that holds their hard-earned money will keep their assets and information safe from hackers. It is no easy task. Here are threats that a financial institution might face regarding data security to be alert for; as well as solutions that can be employed to protect your company’s data.

Key threats to data security are as followed:

Data may get:

• Lost or corrupted by computer viruses.
• Hacked, deleted, or altered by unauthorized users.
• Destroyed by natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or war.
• Deleted or altered by employees wishing to make money or take revenge on their employer.
• Lost or damaged during a system crash - especially one affecting the hard disk.
• Corrupted because of faulty disks, disk drives, or power failures.
• Lost by accidentally deleting or overwriting files.

Measures that can be taken to keep data secure include:

• Using a system of passwords so that access to data is restricted.
  • Do not use obvious passwords, e.g. password123.
  • Do not use a password that reference personal information e.g. using your birthdate or family member’s name as a password.
• Change passwords frequently so that passwords cannot be predictable.
  • The recommended frequency to change a password is every 6 months.
• Safe storage of important files stored on removable disks, e.g. locked away in a fireproof and waterproof safe.
• Allowing only authorized staff into certain computer areas, e.g. by controlling entry to these areas by means of ID cards or magnetic swipe cards.
  • If possible, keep the authorized staff to a minimum.
• Always logging off or turning terminals off and if possible locking them. Hint: an easy way to quickly lock your computer is to use your “Win + L” keys all at once.
• Avoiding accidental deletion of files by write-protecting disks.
• Using data encryption techniques to code data so that it makes no apparent sense
• making regular backups of files (backup copies should be stored in fireproof safes or in another building).
  • The recommended frequency for backing up files is every once a month
• protecting yourself against viruses by running anti-virus software.
  • Run anti-virus software very frequently e.g. once a week.

Following these steps can insure that your company’s data remains safe and secure. To learn more about data security and how to keep data secure, ask about our Edcomm Video Library Series. This series includes countless videos that explain the dangers one might find regarding data security as well videos explaining how to keep data safe. 

By: Matt Cohen

For Better or Worse: A Rise in Canadian Interest Rates Possible Harbinger of Global Changes

This week The Central Bank of Canada raised its overnight interest rates for the first time in seven years from 0.50% to 0.75%. This announcement comes just a month after the US Federal Reserve raised rates from 0.75% to 1.25%. The overnight rate determines how frequently banks lend money to other banks.  More cooperation between larger financial institutions has the potential to entice investors and bring new capital into the country. For average consumers, the increase will likely mean paying more for certain types of borrowing such as variable-rate mortgages, lines of credit, and student loans. Although this will surely be burdensome for some on an individual level, such increases generally signal a confident, strong economy. The Central Bank released a statement regarding the increase calling the economy “robust” and the update “long expected.”

The Canadian economy is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth for the first time since the 2008 recession, so the financial sector is considering the decision a possible omen of things to come globally.

By: Christine Belusko

3 Steps to Motivate Learners to Take Compliance Training

June 26, 2017 - Do you have a hard time motivating your employees? The auditor could psychically be in the building, yet users still cannot find the time to finish their compliance training? When compliance training feels more like a chore than the adventure of learning and growth it should be, take a step back. Let go of feelings of frustration and resentment, and examine the root cause. The real problem is a communication breakdown between your coworkers, who you anxiously pull completion reports about on a daily basis, and you, the person in charge of compliance training. Do not worry, there are a few easy steps you can follow to bring everyone back on track.

1. Communicate why the compliance training is important.

Make sure everyone is on the same page. Do your employees actually know why taking compliance training is important? Because the auditor makes us. That is a valid reason why employees finish their training, but not the most meaningful reason. Ask yourself, why does training matter in the long run? Connect your reasoning back to your bank’s or credit union’s values. Then communicate this value to the team.

Companies that thrive are ones where all employees share the same vision. They are there to service the customer to the best of their capabilities. To serve your customer, that means staying on top of regulation changes that protect your client’s interests. It means being vigilant to ensure elders are not being financial abused and veterans are not turned away from housing opportunities. It means staying knowledgeable and compliant. To me that rational is more motivating and meaningful that another item off my check-list of tasks to complete.

2. Develop clear and realistic expectations.

When it comes to training an administrator needs to set clear and realistic expectations. Give your employees a hard deadline of when their training is due. This way you do not find yourself at December 31^st with more learners in started mode than completed status. Curriculums can be due on a regular monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. At this point, it is an industry standard that Learning Management Systems give you to freedom to apply due dates. Make sure you take advantage of this feature.

It is also necessary to have realistic expectations. For example, if someone is a Platform Professional, they are in charge of both Teller customer service tasks and sales-oriented tasks. It may be a little too optimistic to assume that an employee who wears so many hats can successfully complete 10 curriculums in the same month. Make sure to space out your training schedule. This will help to make sure learners do not feel overburdened and give them the time they need to train at their own pace and plan ahead.

3. Send out Email Notifications.

Now that you have defined why training is important and set realistic goals and due dates, it is time to communicate your expectations through emails. At Edcomm Banker’s Academy, we offer a robust Automated Email Notification feature. This feature allows you to schedule email notifications in advance to correspond to the due dates you have chosen. When email notifications are pre-determined, it lessens the burden on your shoulders. You will not have to worry about tracking down users who are incomplete in their training. The LMS will only sent reminder emails out to learners who still have outstanding training.

Our Automated Email Notification feature provides unlimited, direct customization. You know how to best motivate your staff, so flex your creative muscles. Make the correspondence personal and purposeful by communicating why training is not just a responsibility, but an important part of the narrative that makes your company unique, dedicated, and successful.

By:Madelyn Fagan