During November 2000, the St. George Bank introduced the Certificate III in Financial Services traineeship to Customer Service Officers. With the assistance of registered training organisation - Workplace Australia Group (WAG), over 600 employees have participated to date.

The bank's program, a compulsory induction for branch staff, consists of the six core units and nine electives which make up the Certificate III in Financial Services.

Ms Vicki Ramsay, Design and Delivery Manager at St. George said, "We selected the nine electives from a wide range of units within the Package. This enabled the development of a tailored program where, upon successful completion, our trainees gain a qualification unique to our organisation yet recognised nationally throughout the industry."

"We saw the advantages to be gained from delivering a qualification from the Financial Services Training Package. The opportunity to skill our staff to a uniform level with a flexible program gives us that competitive edge without affecting productivity. Our staff really enjoy growing and learning, so increased staff retention is a bonus."

The team at WAG, led by Project Manager, Cath Mannix, worked closely with St. George to develop the program. Ms Mannix said, "Logistically, the program development stage was difficult due to the geographic dispersion and large numbers of trainees - St. George has around 250 branches and recruits on a frequent basis - the result being a structured program supporting a high-volume rolling intake."

Built into the traineeship timeline is one classroom-day each quarter and three phone tutorials. Participants are provided with specialised workbooks addressing each unit of competency and are supported by a WAG Project Manager and help line - with a 24-hour return on queries.

With the majority of the program delivered on the job, the bank's Customer Service Managers (CSMs) are responsible for ensuring trainees have access to development and learning opportunities.

"The on-the-job component of the program was a key focus for us during the development stage. We didn't want to add to a manager's already busy day, yet we knew it was imperative to maintain productivity and build as much of our practical applications into the program as possible", remarked Ms Ramsay. "Now we have a consistent national delivery methodology - giving us an efficient and economical business practice."

To assist the CSMs, WAG developed a Skills Transfer Guide distributed to the CSMs each quarter. The Guide outlines the required outcomes for their employee in checklist format based on the individual's learning plan. Ms Mannix explained, "The Customer Service Managers are the subject matter experts and the Guide enables them to oversee easily the development of their staff. This way, staff development becomes second nature to the managers - in other words, the way we do things at St George."

To enhance the process, WAG maintains regular contact with the managers and participants are encouraged to phone or email WAG with any additional queries.  Ms Ramsay believes this schedule of communication is the key to the program's success.

Ms Mannix outlined the ongoin gdevelopment process, "We are consistently modifying the process. A lot has been learnt - especially the assessment methodology. Instead of asking someone to go and write a report to demonstrate evidence, we are gathering the evidence from a trainee's work place."

"This has streamlined the entire process and reduced an employee's down time. We've worked hard on refining the assessment methodology and the result: close to eighty percent of participants pass the assessment first time."

"As the program progresses, we've needed to respond to the sophistication of the trainees. Being able to recognise and reward the learning on the job is sometimes more valuable than what they've learnt in a classroom. We've seen a shift in their paradigm of thought - people have started to recognise that work on the job is learning! The fact that it happens on the job doesn't make it any less valuable."

Ms Mannix concluded by highlighting the advantages of implementing the Package, "The program has advanced the level of knowledge amongst St. George's employees with minimal disruption in the workplace. Trainees are enjoying cross-training in a variety of areas, giving them diversity in their careers. It's obvious that St. George's investment in the development of their human capital is returning positives."

The Workplace Australia Group team, headed by Managing Director, Judith Bowler, has grown from ten to thirty three in the last year. The organisation is now taking full advantage of the new improved Financial Services Training Package and delivering it to other organisations including ING and Zurich.