Delta College Corp Services

"We created training teams and with the expertise of Delta College Corporate Services were able to use elearning tools, instructor led training, practice exercises and other means to get successful results."

One of the nation's largest credit unions points to Delta College Corporate Services (DCCS) as a prime reason the financial institution garnered two coveted national awards.

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has honored Teachers Credit Union, a mainstay in the Midwest, including Michigan and Indiana, after a Corporate Services training program helped lead a "seamless" transition to a new information-technology system for the financial institution's 650 employees.

CUNA officials, mindful of the internal challenges and potential disruption to member services when an organization converts to a new computer operating system, commended Teachers Credit Union for its foresight and the innovative methods it used to make sure employees were properly trained before the system conversion.

A 1st place award in the category of elearning and second place for best overall training curriculum or event reflects the organization's willingness to extend itself for its employees and members, says Tara Holloway, Teachers Credit Union's Director of Training and Organizational Development.

"We wanted to make sure each of our employees were trained on specific functions they perform every day and that our members were not faced with delays and other obstacles as we switched systems," she said. "We created training teams and with the expertise of Delta College Corporate Services were able to use elearning tools, instructor led training, practice exercises and other means to get successful results."

She added: "We're so pleased with the DCCS-designed program we now think we have a blueprint for future employee training activities. It was a team effort that continues to pay dividends."

A collaborative effort among Corporate Services, Teachers Credit Union, and a Pontiac, Michigan-based tech firm i3Logic, the training program featured over 50 elearning courses, and instructor led tests and exercises that employees could access from their workstation. Employees were alerted of computer-oriented modules they were required to complete and any classroom training assigned to them. Tests were then given with nothing short of a 100 percent passing score acceptable. If the employee, Holloway says, did not achieve a perfect score after three attempts, the test would lock until trainers and management resolved the difficulty.

"We used new technology and a new approach to enacting positive change," Holloway says. "The elearning methods and the web site/portal developed by Corporate Services for training purposes are valuable. As any manager will tell you, implementing wholesale change within an organization is often a painful, arduous process. Our employees bought into it wholeheartedly and because of that we are so proud to have received two awards."