FORUM Credit Union examined its new hire turnover, productivity, and job satisfaction, and determined that its onboarding process was not creating “sticky” employees. So it created a new onboarding program called CONNECTIONS, which aims to create an opportunity for new employees to connect to the organization, their teammates, and FORUM’s purpose.
Program Details
CONNECTIONS highlights include:
- C-Suite Presentations: Executive leadership shares history, vision, financial health, and organizational operations.
- Lunching with the C-Suite: FORUM’s CEO formally presents new hires with their name badges during a board dining room luncheon with the executive team.
- The Amazing Race: Participants tour the building, meeting employees at various stations, and gather information on employee programs at each stop. For example, participants “race” to the fitness center where a wellness committee member shares upcoming wellness programs and activities with them.
- Project FORUMway: Loosely based on the TV show, Project Runway, participants learn dress code expectations by designing appropriate work attire for every occasion and season using mannequins and apparel items from the clothing closet.
- Personal Finance: Participants learn products and services provided at FORUM utilizing a life-size game board. This game blends elements of Sorry, Life, and Monopoly, and participants have choices and chances as they relate to utilizing FORUM products and services.
Since changing the classroom experience alone would not ensure success, FORUM also developed a company-wide Ambassador program. Representatives from each department/branch serve as the primary, on-the-job trainers for new hires. These Ambassadors—trained quarterly—review the new hire’s on-the-job checklist and perform a 30-day evaluation.
“Re-CONNECT,” a 45-day follow-up training session, helps employees understand how front-line and back-office staff collaboratively facilitate successful member experiences. In addition, it allows trainers the opportunity to evaluate the knowledge retained from CONNECTIONS class and redirect as necessary.
Results
Results from CONNECTIONS have exceeded expectations. In the branches, 51 percent of new employees hired in 2013 experienced at least one unrecoverable variance in their first 30 days. This number was reduced to 34 percent after CONNECTIONS was implemented. Moreover, the number of transactions increased 7 percent per day, making CONNECTIONS new hires more efficient. Finally, Loyalty Index scores (a calibration of service) increased to an average of 9.86 out of 10.
Call center employees’ results also improved. During the first 30 days, the average calls answered per day rose from 55.7 to 69.4. Additionally, the average availability of new agents increased 12.3 percent as determined by minutes per call.
Finally, across the organization, turnover rates decreased from 20 percent in 2013 to 16.3 percent in 2014, and were trending to decrease further in 2015.
