Institution For Savings

Headquartered in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Institution for Savings is one of the oldest mutual banks in the country, with $2.7 billion in assets and seven branches serving communities on the North Shore. Together with Tammy Roeger, Senior Vice President of Retail Banking of Institution for Savings and Wes Barry, Vice President of Retail Banking of Institution for Savings, we share a success story in which Engageware’s Employee Knowledge Management helped improve training procedures and enhance internal efficiencies. Institution for Savings implemented Engageware ’s solution in December 2015. The Employee Knowledge Management solution addresses 500 to 1,000 employee questions per day, improving productivity and proficiency in internal operations at the financial institution.

The Challenge:

As one of the oldest mutual banks in the country, Institution for Savings was in search of a way to improve internal efficiencies, bank training procedures and easily update vital documents. Recently named the top medium-sized employer in Massachusetts in “Top Places to Work,” by The Boston Globe, Institution for Savings sought a solution that could easily and fluidly train new employees with up-to-date materials. As the company grew, management wanted to proactively put in systems that would make it simple to communicate with a larger workforce and distribute procedural updates and new information.

“Our data and information was all over the place. If you were a new employee, you had to spend a lot of time just figuring out where to find the information needed to do your job.”

– WES BARRY, VICE PRESIDENT OF RETAIL BANKING AT INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS

The Solution:

Institution for Savings implemented Engageware’s Employee Knowledge Management solution in December 2015. With the solution, Institution for Savings was able to instantly deliver employees the specific answers they needed while Engageware managed the entire process of loading and formatting content loading process and content formatting.

Engageware’s Employee Knowledge Management seamlessly integrates with banks and credit unions’ intranet or portal to provide customer service representatives with immediate and up-to-date information. The Employee Knowledge Management supercharges the banks and credit unions’ existing intranet by enabling employees to easily access very specific answers and contextual information front line employees need with ease.

Answering 99 percent of employee questions instantly and accurately, Engageware lowers calls and emails volumes to reduce inefficiency and increase productivity and reduce inefficiencies.

From the very beginning Institution for Savings needed their new solution to address three key areas: improve employee efficiency, enhance training for new hires training and build stronger processes for updating information.

“Our challenge was threefold. We wanted to help our current employees be more effective at their job, help new employees ramp up more quickly and ensure that information never went out of date,” said Tammy Roeger, senior vice president of Retail Banking. “Engageware has made it much easier to update on the fly, especially in this regulatory heavy environment.”

The Results:

Institution for Savings discovered the positive impact from using Engageware’s Employee Knowledge Management solution almost immediately. Within a couple of months, bank employees were using the tool to answer between 500 to 1,000 questions each per day.

The implementation of the solution also resulted in a reduction of questions among employees to employee questions, especially those pointed at to key subject matters experts. This allowed managers and experts to focus on more pressing issues and strategic initiatives.

“We were surprised to find that the number one area for search centers around our core Jack Henry Silverlake technology. Now we’ve seen a significant reduction in back office phone calls, which helps our management team focus on the tasks needed to better manage the bank.”
– WES BARRY

Roegers added that Engageware has helped immensely with onboarding new employees. She said the software creates an environment where anyone can quickly become a subject matter expert with a short query.

“Now, trainers sit with new employees and use Engageware to go through questions. It really gives the new employee confidence that they can get these answers,” said Roegers. “Engageware creates an environment where it’s professional and impressive for new employees because it’s easy for new employees them to locate answers.”

As for the ongoing maintenance of the information center, Barry added that the software makes it easy to make changes and ensure that employees have access to the most current, compliant accurate information.

“Previously, updating our policy manuals and data resources required a specialized role,” Barry explained.

“Now, any of our subject matter experts can easily and quickly make the adjustments needed.”