New platform helps BCU revamp learning strategy for users
Background
BCU had a very immediate need for an LMS to replace their existing system. The current system was not equipped to handle Instructor Led Training, so training and development opportunities were minimal. In fact, BCU experienced plenty of inadequacies in tracking registrations, waitlists and sending confirmation emails. The user experience made it difficult and time consuming for users to find and take the training that they needed. The system had an antiquated reporting process, making it nearly impossible to manage compliance training and notify employees when they had overdue training courses to complete. Faced with the immediate shutdown of their LMS system, they had just three weeks to transform their e-Learning program from an outdated and manual process to a modern best-in-class system that supported their goals of improving employee training and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Client
Headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL, BCU is one of the nation’s Top 100 credit unions with 3.5 billion in assets. Serving almost 250,000 members in the United States and Puerto Rico, their goal is to empower members to find financial freedom.
Challenge
BCU reached the end of their contract with their existing LMS system, and they did not have the ability to extend their legacy system on a month-to-month basis. After evaluating several LMS vendors, BCU selected Cornerstone OnDemand. Not only were they impressed by Cornerstone’s robust and intuitive platform, but they were confident that it would meet their short and long-term needs. Their goal was to find an implementation partner to help them make training an integral part of their learning strategy.
Solution
BCU brought in Educe Group as their implementation partner to support their fast-approaching go-live date with Cornerstone OnDemand. Educe was already working with BCU’s parent company on a large-scale implementation. Although each company used a separate learning system, BCU was familiar with the work they were doing, and they wanted to replicate it for their own users. In order to meet their aggressive timeline, Educe Group developed a rapid prototyping approach for the implementation. They established a regular cadence of meetings with stakeholders to keep tasks and decisions on track. During these informal discussions, Educe Group provided mock ups of what the system could do in order to quickly identify which requirements BCU needed and eliminate any potential for confusion. Prototypes included how the system functioned for each primary user role: Learner, Manager, Instructor, and Administrator. Additionally, three different portal environments were created (Pilot, Production and Stage) to help BCU accurately test each requirement they needed for the LMS. With just a small team of three people, BCU and Educe Group worked very closely during the entire process in order to make decisions effectively and efficiently.
We had such a short time to implement Cornerstone OnDemand and had never purchased an LMS of this scale. We were nervous about meeting timelines to launch the LMS. When we started working with Don and the Educe Group team, they were a calming force that enabled us to establish a realistic project plan in order to meet the deadline.”
Warren Iskowitz, Director, Talent Management
BCU
Results
In just three weeks, BCU’s LMS was up and running for over 600 users and in time for their upcoming new hire class, making this one of the quickest implementations that Educe Group has ever seen. After the initial launch, Educe Group continued to work with BCU for 3-4 additional weeks to make minor updates and solidify configuration before transitioning it over to BCU.
The new system allowed BCU to:
- Deliver more than 1,400 Cyber U courses to all 600 employees
- Customize system notification communications
- Provide an efficient way to manage, track, and report on courses
- Reduce the administrative support needed to complete manual tasks like sending course reminders to users
What’s Next
Now that they have a sophisticated platform readily available to employees, BCU is excited to revamp their Learning strategy. They plan to complete the following tasks:
- Set up a GoToMeeting integration to manage all virtual training sessions and attendance data from within Cornerstone
- Establish a consistent tagging process to make it easier for users to search for specific courses and content in the LMS
- Train Managers on Cornerstone’s self-service feature to give them full transparency into their team’s data including transcripts, training completions, etc.
Educe Group worked with us every step of the way to ensure we could pull off our go-live date. We did! I can’t imagine working with a better partner! ”
Warren Iskowitz, Director, Talent Management
BCU
