A company shouldn’t be about barriers. That’s true of any organization (except maybe for prisons), but it’s especially true in the banking world. When customers routinely trust their most sensitive information to an organization, they’re investing with a team of professionals ready to reward that trust with hard work and collaboration.
That’s the perfect world scenario, but the world of business isn’t always perfect, of course. The reality is today’s typical banking organization has a variety of departments that do business in a variety of ways, serving customers in a variety of locations. What’s more, with consolidation and acquisitions being a common business practice, these banks are often doing business under a variety of names. The work gets done, of course, but perhaps not always in the most efficient of manners.
At least at some banks. At others, like those operated by Zions Bancorporation, the walls are tumbling down between departments, between silos, between brands. What’s emerging is a barrier-free organization where sharing is the 
order of the day.
This is no small challenge, by the way. Zions Bancorporation is the parent company for 8 banking systems, including Zions Bank in Utah and Idaho, California Bank & Trust, Amegy Bank of Texas, Nevada State Bank, Vectra Bank of Colorado and the National Bank of Arizona. What’s more, inside those banks are a variety of divisions, including commercial lending, investment banking, personal banking and wealth management.
“Often we go out and employ folks, bring ‘em on site and we show them an org chart and they just fall out of their chair because there are so many organizations that function. We thought what could we do in order to help people first of all identify with the different divisions that touch the clients and no. 2, all of the support groups underneath the umbrella inside the bank,” said Brent Godfrey, chief learning officer for Zions Bancorporation. “The problem was the employees ourselves. We didn’t know what the other groups or divisions were actually charged to do. We wanted to come up with a way to share knowledge inside the organization so folks could determine exactly what those various departments were doing.”
And now, let’s go to the video. Faced with barriers separating its 12,000 employees (not to mention the customers they touch), Godfrey and his team launched a series of informational videos designed to introduce the different banking arms to one another, creating a more collaborative organization. Playing off the name for their learning management system, i-achieve, the video series was dubbed i-connect, and that’s just what it’s done.
“I-connect has helped substantially with that, with breaking down those barriers,” Godfrey said.
Essentially, each division in the Zions organization has (or will) create their own i-connect video of about 60 seconds, designed to introduce that part of the company to colleagues. Each video has some standing structure, like showing the company’s organizational chart so associates could see where various functions fall. Each video is also designed to discuss how associates can work with one another to help meet organizational goals.
That’s a lot of ground to cover in one minute, so it’s no surprise that Godfrey refers to the short videos as online courses about the specific departments. The i-connect video project began about six months ago, and so far they’re about halfway done preparing videos.
“We’re probably looking, at the end of the day, at about 50 or 60,” he said. “People just love it. They love it because it’s a quick hit. That’s the important part.”
The project really amounts to user-generated content, as the various departments determine for themselves the message they want to share. Godfrey’s learning team is doing the heavy lifting, producing the videos themselves and even shooting them on a camera bought just for this project.
The common goal, of course, is to break down the barriers that might impede new business. Once the “getting to know you” is done and the results start rolling in, i-connect will officially be on the list of learning successes for Zions Bancorporation.
It won’t be alone though. When Godfrey joined the organization in 2006, it was with the mandate to create a zero-balanced budget, where every training dollar spent is collected somewhere. (Mission accomplished, by the way.)
But there’s more good news to share. In the first quarter of 2007, learning was running at about $300 per participant. Thanks to online learning and other just-in-time solutions, by Q3 of 2010 that number was down to $64 per participant. In fact, in the past three years, Zions Bank has tripled the amount of training taken while cutting costs by 25%.
Godfrey and his team intend to continue those successes, and they’ll be rolling out more solutions through i-connect and the bank’s resource library.
“Before we were just the training group, it was a necessary evil. Now we’ve changed it to learning and development and we’re at the table,” Godfrey said. “When our lines of businesses initiate a new strategy or a new initiative, they come to us upfront. They say hey, ‘how can you help us?’ I think we’ve earned the right to be at the table now.
“That’s why I think we’ve seen the number of deliveries go up,” he added. “I think we’ve raised the bar and now we’re actually helping with the business goals. At the end of the day that’s what it’s all about. If we’re not helping them meet their business goals, why are we here? We’re helping out, we’re making a contribution. That’s what helps me sleep at night.”
