Organizations are increasingly accepting the need for robust learning and development for employees. So much so that the global corporate LMS market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.2% from 2018 to 2023, rising from a value of $2.06 billion to $7.12 billion in the five-year period. It no longer is whether ongoing corporate training is a need, it is about how effective that training can be made. It’s a change that is highly welcomed as organizations start to consider investing in learning software to handle corporate training. Among them are the banks and financial services sector that have been among the forerunners in adopting the latest and technology solutions, to provide cutting-edge services.

And, when it comes to effectiveness of learning and development initiatives, technology solutions have certainly evolved exponentially in recent years. The learning management system (LMS) that has been in the market for many years, offering the opportunity to take training into the digital realm.

While neither the LMS nor the LXP is necessarily the best for a particular bank, understanding what makes each solution distinct can help make accurate comparisons and informed decisions regarding training platforms.

What is an LMS?

Most banks take advantage of the benefits that go with an LMS, from administration to delivery, reporting, and evaluation of training and learning initiatives. It has some essential functions. An administrator can assign training materials to employees. The latter will then be notified of the training they need to complete upon logging in. They can quickly access the materials and complete the training from the platform. 

The LMS will then collect data and make it accessible to the administrator. The data may include key metrics, such as assessment scores and whether or not the employees have completed the training. The ability to audit is one of the critical advantages of this functionality. Proving compliance is made easy, thanks to the easy-to-access and robust reporting features of an LMS. This is particularly important for a heavily regulated sector, where compliance is a crucial aspect of a bank’s survival. 

What is an LXP? 

An LXP brings together different functionalities on a single platform, thereby improving learning engagement as well as training outcomes. It helps banks ensure continued learning, through quick and convenient creation and deployment of training modules. An LXP resembles popular consumer platforms that allow employees to easily see what content is available and what skills can be learned.

The LMS helps ensure compliance and obtaining certification. An LXP, on the other hand, promotes learning engagement. It is primarily employee-driven, in contrast to the administrator-driven nature of the LMS. With an LXP, employees are empowered to choose what content they would like to engage with. Moreover, this robust platform comes with functions that encourage collaboration and content sharing, thereby enabling conversational learning.

Employee engagement in learning and development (L&D) programs is a critical success factor for any company. Survey data from Find Course, released in 2018, shows that around 42% of companies indicated that employees who are highly engaged in L&D programs are also highly engaged with their organizations overall. A 2017 Gallup study, meanwhile, said that top-performing companies in employee engagement almost double their chances of success, as compared with companies with low employee engagement.

The benefits that employee engagement brings to banks revolves in three key aspects: talent management, productivity and customer service. After all, banking is all about being responsive to the customers at all times. It’s nearly impossible for banks to deliver excellent customer services without an engaged workforce. When employees are engaged, the betterment of their peers and customers will always be on their agenda. This follows that when employees are invested in the success of the bank, they become advocates for the bank. You can expect them to serve the customers at their best.

Here’s how an LXP works for banks:

Can an LXP replace the LMS for Banks? 

LXP is quite a new concept, yet its benefits cannot be ignored. Centre for Learning and Workplace Survey found that a staggering 87% of employees want a shared format for learning, while around 79% prefer web resources. Investing in an LXP means that aside from being one step ahead in the talent war, you will also be spending less on LMS upgrades with a digital solution that is future-ready. It may only be a matter of time before we see more companies shifting to LXPs, as they realize that the inflexible LMS is not built for the rapidly evolving banking and financial services sector.

The banking sector is in the midst of a technological revolution, witnessing fast-paced changes in products, services, customer education needs and regulatory frameworks. The problem is that the pace of change is only likely to increase going forward. How do banks ensure that their employees are trained at the speed of technological evolution? This is where an LXP can prove invaluable.

Ensuring Constant Compliance

It is becoming increasingly necessary, yet difficult, to ensure compliance in an environment of constant regulatory revisions. The guidelines have never been as stringent for financial services providers as they are today. Quick revisions to compliance training modules and rapid deployment of training programs to ensure that employees across the board are familiar with the latest regulatory requirements is crucial. This is exactly what a robust LXP, like Kea, offers, allowing companies to quickly convert content into digital formats with just a single click of a button.

Customized Training Solutions for Banks

Some of the largest banks in Europe, including Lloyd’s Bank and TSB, have already used bespoke eLearning platforms. With a customizable LXP, each bank can choose the third party apps and integrations that suit their training needs the best. Leading banks are already using such platforms for accelerated onboarding of new hires, mortgage training via simulations, complaint handling training, modernization of legacy training systems and much more. In fact, during the merger of Lloyds and Halifax Bank of Scotland, just such an LXP was used to train staff across both companies in a quick and unified manner.

High Engagement Levels

An AI-driven platform can ensure the highest levels of engagement, through a virtual personal learning assistant. For instance, Kea, the personal learning facilitator is not only available 24/7 to answer any questions but also helps with effective content recommendations, alerts and notifications, and encouragement to complete training modules.

Apart from this, an LXP can help banks with providing customer education, a key regulatory requirement. Banks can ensure that compliant and standardized information is available to all customers. It also helps employees quickly seek answers to questions through a platform that enables easy indexing of content through automated meta-tagging.

Training is no longer optional for companies in the banking and financial sector. To stay one step ahead of the competition in adopting and implementing the latest technology for their products and services, these companies need to ensure agile employee training. In addition, not just sales skills but also soft skills can easily be taught with an LXP to boost customer acquisition and retention.

If you too would like to give your banking or financial services company a leading edge, contact us to know how Kea can help.