An Evidence-Based Solution
Mortgage Learning Path
Situation
The request started from within the training department. At the time, there was only one mortgage trainer and her time was maxed out, she was unable to develop herself or her content. Training was delivered on an employee-by-employee basis with no consideration for existing knowledge or experience. It was not scalable.
Task
The request was to create additional asynchronous e-learning to minimize the instructor’s role in onboarding new mortgage employees. Once assigned to a colleague and me, we reviewed existing content and conducted information-gathering interviews with Mortgage Business Partners.
Based on our findings, the task became redesigning the entire Mortgage Onboarding Training. We discovered that the content taught in training was not transferring once employees were on the job.
Action
We approached the task from an evidence-based perspective. We wanted to gather all of the information before presenting a solution.
I developed a consistent interview process and set of questions to use with subject matter experts (SMEs) from each role. The purpose of this interview was to determine what and how to teach various role-specific topics to new hires. We conducted interviews as a team – balancing my partner’s subject matter expertise with my instructional design expertise.
Knowledge Level Summary
In order to assist in organizing our gathered content, I created a Knowledge Level Summary used to track necessary knowledge for each role on a subject-by-subject basis. We used this as a check-in and relationship-building tool with our SMEs.
Result
Using the data from the Knowledge Level Summaries, we outlined seven customized learning paths (one per role) and an additional Mortgage Basics track. These paths were shared with and approved by the SMEs and stakeholders from the Mortgage Department. The project was then passed on to other members of the training team for development.
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Responsibilities
Needs assessment, consulting, curriculum outlining
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Audience
New hires to the Mortgage Department
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Development Tools
Zoom (for interview conducting and collaboration), Microsoft Word
Design Rationale
The rationale for this project focuses less on theory and more on how we used data from the needs assessment to make evidence-based recommendations.
We proposed two separate trainings: Mortgage Basics and Mortgage New Hire Training.
Mortgage Basics
The Findings
We heard two things from SMEs: Experienced employees disengaged and inexperienced employees were lost.
New experienced employees disengaged from training when presented with basic, generic information, such as how to read a credit report. Disengagement caused experienced folks to zone out and miss the company-specific information that was critical for their roles. As a result, they entered the job without the specific skills and knowledge necessary to be successful.
On the flip side, employees without experience found that they neither received enough generic information to understand the mortgage industry nor enough company-specific information to complete their job tasks.
The Response
We proposed a customizable learning path focused on generic basics of mortgage. This allows employees who need it to gain the basic knowledge necessary to participate in company-specific training and allows those who don’t to focus on other parts of their onboard until it is time for company-specific training.
All mortgage employees complete an assessment on day one of their new job. Their performance determines which e-learning modules they are required to complete (if any). Learners complete those modules and solidify the new knowledge in a capstone instructor-led session. This decision pulled heavily from adult learning principles, mainly that of valuing experience and offering only what is needed to succeed in their role.
Mortgage New Hire Training
The Findings
While trainers were teaching all the necessary content, it was not conveyed in a way that transferred on the job. There was a need for training in the flow of work.
The Response
Our response accounted for three factors in addition to the findings above: different needs of the seven roles, trainer time and capacity, and overlapping content between roles. The outlines followed the general structure shared below.
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High level information that everyone needed
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Next-Day recaps and activities that reviewed previous learning
New information and reinforcement activities (usually this was system driven since each role worked within a specific part of a system)
Out-of-class assignment
Note: Trainers rotate roles – while one role completes their out-of-class assignment, another is trained.
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In-class assignment review
Repeat structure of Segment 2
This structure was developed pulling from research on spaced retrieval and repetition, ensuring that learners touch information at least three times before training was complete. It also emphasizes learning in the flow of work. Using the system to drive the structure of training helps learners make connections between information and tasks as they would on the job.
Additionally, we incorporated a problem-centered approach both in the systems training and in a compliance workshop aimed at applying what they learned in generic e-learning courses to a relevant experience.