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Can you see me now? A Baltimore credit union needed to communicate with and relay information to all of its employees simultaneously

Communications News, Jan, 2008

Historically, training at the Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore (MECU) was conducted on a rotating schedule, with trainers presenting the same topic at each of MECU's seven branch locations and the downtown headquarters. As the staff and number of branches grew, however, scheduling became problematic, especially when the presenter was from outside the credit union. Often, speakers took several months to visit and present to staff at all of the branches and corporate headquarters.

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MECU found that this method of training and information distribution led to inconsistencies and discrepancies in the information the staff received. More frustrating, staff members were learning ideas, principles and other critical information at a different rate and at various times. In one instance, a training session focused on information that employees needed to know prior to the rollout of a new product, but some staff members were not completely briefed prior to the product launch.

"We knew that something needed to change, because the way in which information was being disseminated throughout the organization was becoming far too cumbersome, costly and extremely inefficient on multiple levels," says Bert Hash Jr., CEO of MECU.

As today's workforce becomes increasingly dispersed and mobile, organizations are constantly looking for ways to maintain and improve employee collaboration. Driven by the desire to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the time and money its employees spend traveling to mandatory bimonthly training sessions from multiple branch locations in and around Baltimore, MECU implemented a videoconferencing solution to provide employees with face-to-face interaction.

Founded in 1936, MECU provides banking and financial services to more than 90,000 members. With assets totaling more than $800 million, MECU has experienced growth over the past decade, opening seven different branch locations in the Baltimore metro area. Although this growth has been beneficial to MECU members, it has placed added stress on the hundreds of employees who have to travel to the MECU corporate headquarters, in the heart of downtown Baltimore, to attend training sessions.

With a commitment to staff training and the strategic initiative to hire, train and retain the best people, MECU enlisted the help of CDW Government (CDW-G) for advice on a solution that would best fit the needs of the growing organization. MECU wanted a system that would provide the organization with the tools to effectively communicate and simultaneously relay information to all of its employees, regardless of location. MECU also wanted an interactive solution to engage employees and ensure that they would be actively involved in the training sessions.

CONSISTENCY IN TRAINING

"Training is very important to MECU," says Michelle Williams, MECU training coordinator. "It was difficult to ensure that our employees, whether at headquarters or one of our seven different branches, were trained on important topics in a timely manner and that the information was consistent."

Williams understood that MECU was in need of a solution that would allow the organization to train all 241 staff members at the same time, so that all employees received the same message from the same subject-matter expert.

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Several years ago, MECU installed a basic videoconferencing solution at its main location. Staff hoped it would have the capability and scalability to provide communications between the various branches and corporate headquarters. With the rate at which MECU grew, however, coupled with the organization's vision of future branch expansion and increased membership, this particular videoconferencing system did not have the ability to grow with the organization.

Although the system proved to be short-term, it provided a starting point and was the foundation from which MECU and CDW-G built a new videoconferencing solution. Given that MECU's corporate headquarters was already outfitted with projectors, cameras, microphones and drop-down screens, CDW-G filled in the holes, providing guidance on which videoconferencing system would work best with MECU's present technology. More importantly, CDW-G provided MECU with expertise on the technology that could grow with the organization into the future.

With this guidance, MECU was able to test drive multiple videoconferencing solutions on-site. After evaluating solutions from a handful of different vendors, MECU decided on a videoconferencing system from Polycom. With CDW-G and Polycom engineers, MECU installed and implemented its videoconferencing solution in less than two months.

"We wanted the best of breed in the industry, and we did our research on what is out there," says Chris Lumley, director of information systems at MECU. "It was essential that the videoconferencing system have the ability to grow and expand, as MECU continues to grow in size and open new branches."

Technology Industry

Can you see me now? A Baltimore credit union needed to communicate with and relay information to all of its employees simultaneously

Communications News, Jan, 2008

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