Taking training deeper CBT's affordability and applicability to different employee groups is enabling banks to push the training envelope. This year, Al Mason, senior vice president and director of training and development at Norwest Investment and Insurance Services, Minneapolis, intends to extend formal training to assistants who are new to the trading desk. CBT enables us to offer training in key subject areas when these people come in, and it seems to suit a variety of different learning styles. The program will be particularly useful for training individuals who are new to the business or who lack background in the securities industry. Like other industries, banking utilizes CBT to beef up employees' general business skills.
Senior staff use it to improve their coaching, team building, leadership and computer skills.
For executives, the privacy that CBT affords is a definite plus. The development manager of a New York-based financial firm who uses multimedia products for multilevel learning says that the opportunity to do independent study appeals to managers who need to fill in gaps in their knowledge, but do not want to publicize this by joining a class with their subordinates. Good design is essential, according to Anita Zeldin, vice president in Citibank's Global Markets training area. Some of it is boring. You can't just take something and put it on a disk.