Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union

With 12 locations serving more than 50,000 members across southern Louisiana and Alabama, Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union has been a staple of their community since 1966. Operating with a frontline staff of 105 employees, Jefferson Financial FCU takes great pride in providing excellent service to its members.

When Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union set out on a search for a new intranet, they recognized they needed something beyond a document storage system. Moving from a SharePoint which housed a variety of documentation that was difficult to both manage from an administrative standpoint and navigate from a frontline employee standpoint, Jefferson Financial FCU realized that what they really needed was procedure management. Instead of bringing on additional staff to internally manage procedures within SharePoint, they found a unique offering in Engageware’s Employee Knowledge Management, and were able to launch it within 60 days.

Replacing SharePoint With a Procedure Management Solution

While Jefferson Financial utilized SharePoint to upload documents in various formats and file types, the tool required close oversight and constant management. It was cumbersome to organize documentation, challenging to keep track of versions, and there was little to no insight into what was there and how often it was utilized. Furthermore, staff had difficulty navigating the SharePoint system to find procedures they needed in order to execute basic frontline tasks, such as check cashing procedures.

“We had a lot of old procedures stored on SharePoint and no way to control how many versions were on there or when they were last updated. Branch staff would always come to me asking questions about procedures because they weren’t able to locate it on SharePoint, and if they did – it may have been an outdated version. Now, with Engageware, they can navigate the platform on their own and find what they need, and we’re able to keep procedures up to date.”

– JULIE GORT, Operations Trainer

In their search for a new bank intranet Jefferson Financial’s Chief Operating Officer, Kristin Morrison, came across the Employee Knowledge Management solution and Engageware’s multi-pronged approach to resolving procedure management challenges specifically for financial institutions.

“There really isn’t anything else like Engageware’s Employee Knowledge Management in the industry. Engageware’s offering is two-fold: there’s the technical component which allows for organization of complex policies and procedures in a flexible, online platform that offers comprehensive procedure management, rather than just document management. Second, Engageware provides an unparalleled level of expertise and a supportive, knowledgeable staff that helped us re-organize procedures into a format that is easy for staff to access and use.” – Kristin Morrison, Chief Operating Officer

Unique Features Offer Comprehensive Procedure Management to the Jefferson Financial Team

Jefferson Financial was attracted to several features that meet the unique needs of financial institutions, including complex documentation and compliance standards. Among them is the ability to set review dates and automate a review cycle for documentation to ensure policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and kept up to date.

Additionally, the Jefferson team gained a new level of transparency and insight into the usage of and maintenance of their policies and procedures. Features like usage and popularity reports provide analytics on what content is most often being accessed, allowing the opportunity to identify supplementary content or training that may be needed.

Dedicated Engageware Staff Partners with Jefferson to Launch Quickly, and Provides Ongoing Support

Setting out on an ambitious goal to launch Employee Knowledge Management within a 60-day time frame (more commonly a 90-day endeavor), both teams worked diligently to deliver. Together with Jefferson’s project management team and Engageware’s dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) and Support staff, they were able to process, optimize and load 150 pieces of content and launch in less than two months. The combination of Jefferson’s dedicated resource and Engageware’s implementation process, and the trust and confidence in each other enabled this to take place seamlessly.

“Having a dedicated CSM as a resource to us boosted our confidence that we could launch within our ambitious timeline. Engageware was able to get their team on changes right away. We didn’t need to have too many internal IT resources tied up on implementation, so that was key to meeting the shortened timeline.”

– JESSICA MIRANDA TRICHE, Project Manager

Once Employee Knowledge Management officially launched, Engageware continued to provide ongoing support and consultation. As part of the broader solution, the people and processes behind Engageware drive as much of the success as does the technological component. Regular check-ins and a responsive Support staff ensure Jefferson Financial is getting the most out of the Employee Knowledge Management solution.

“There aren’t many vendors out there that offer such a product and service. You don’t feel like you are being handed off after the launch of the product to a generic ‘support’ queue. It’s comforting to know that you’ve already established a relationship with the CSM and that continues post implementation.” – Kristin Morrison, Chief Operating Officer

Employee Knowledge Management Enables Frontline Staff to Better Serve Members

With help from Engageware’s launch best practices that help to foster strong adoption and engagement, Jefferson Financial chose to name its new tool “Ask Jeff.” After an initial test run with a group of branch training liaisons, Jefferson received positive feedback on the navigation experience within Employee Knowledge Management and rolled it out to its entire staff. Within the first few weeks of going live, management staff recognized a notable difference in employees’ ability to self-serve and operate independently with greater confidence.

“Employee Knowledge Management has definitely helped save a lot of time on the front end. Staff no longer have to research multiple platforms, nor call various departments to get the answers they need. This also improves our member experience. The faster the frontline is able to access a resource that will help them assist the member, the faster and smoother that transaction will be for the member.” – Kristin Morrison, Chief Operating Officer