Massachusetts Bankers Association

AllOne Health Resources EAP Supervisor Newsletter

massbankers — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:32:37 +0000

Employee Assistance Program

AllOne Health Resources EAP is pleased to share with you our Winter 2012 Frontline Supervisor newsletter.

In this issue we discuss inspiring your workforce, communication concerns within a department, collaborative leadership, and new employees navigating your workplace culture.

We believe this newsletter serves as a helpful reminder to managers, supervisors and leaders across your organization of all the services they can access through their EAP.

Contact:
Robert E. Messing
Director of Administration, Group Insurance Services
MassachusettsBankers Association
One Washington Mall, 8th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02108-2603
Tel. (617) 523-7595

Winter 2012 New England Bank Directory Now Available

massbankers — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:17:29 +0000

New England Bank Directory

Order your print, online, CD or ebook edition!

The Winter 2012 New England Bank Directory – the Blue Book – is the definitive, year-round reference source for anyone working with banks and credit unions in the New England states, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. And it is now available in four formats to meet your specific needs: print, online, CD and ebook.

The directory, published by BankNews Media on behalf of the MBA, includes complete contact information; bank officers and directors; primary branch locations; business hours; financial data*; correspondents; and memberships. Plus, you will find contact information for state and national associations and government agencies, with expanded information about the MBA.

The online version of the directory offers all the information from the print directory, plus the interactive benefits of the internet, including searchability by individual name, financial institution, primary and branch locations, and asset size.

With new charters and mergers, you will want to keep your reference materials up-to-date.

Click here to order your print, online or CD edition. To order the Winter 2012 New England Bank Directory eBook, visit www.Bankers-eStore.com. The ebook can be read on iPhones, iPads, and other devices with ebook/epub capability.

* Financial Data for the 2011 edition as of June 30, 2011.

Free Webinar December 20, 2011 – Tune-Up Your Search Engine

massbankers — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:22:55 +0000

Employee Assistance Program

Please click here for an invitation to another thought provoking Webinar conducted by the Association-sponsored Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)—AllOne Health Resources. This Webinar, titled “Tune-Up Your Search Engine,” is scheduled on Tuesday, December 20, at 12:00 noon, 2:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m. EST. Instructions for accessing the webinar are in the announcement. We hope you and your employees find the information useful and interesting!

Free Webinar December 8, 2011 – Managing Emotions in the Workplace

massbankers — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:12:38 +0000

Employee Assistance Program

We are pleased to provide the following link to the next program in AllOne Health Resources’ monthly Webinar series, entitled managing emotions in the workplace. AllOne Health Resources is the Association-sponsored Employee Assistance Plan (EAP), which supports and advises employees and their family members, as well as supervisors and co-workers.

SafeTalk newsletter: NEW Foreign Check Rider Now Available

massbankers — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:47:09 +0000

Contact
Jason Faulkner, Account Executive
Telephone: (216) 220-1339
Visit the ABA Insurance Services, Inc. web site.

Diminish Your Training Frustrations: 4 Tips for Improving Employee Performance

massbankers — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:18:12 +0000

Customer Appreciation Program

If your financial institution is like most these days, you’re taking a hard look at how you can drive employee performance with minimal training expense. As part of that consideration, you might be trying to maximize the partnership you have with your insurer to leverage their subject matter and industry expertise when preparing your teams to sell insurance. While leveraging your insurer relationship to train your employees can help, you aren’t alone if your FI has had some frustration with the insurer training experience.

A recently published research report entitled Bridging the Cultural Divide Between Financial Institutions and Life Insurers(sponsored by Affinion Group and conducted by Effron Company) aimed to identify the characteristics of a successful FI/insurer partnership, and also highlight opportunities for improvement. While the study was based on a pair of almost identical surveys sent to insurers and financial institutions, one of the most interesting sets of results highlighted the perceived inadequacies of training by both the FI and the insurer. To wit, there were dramatic splits between the “importance” and the “satisfaction” of the following for FI’s:

Customer service training
Back office support
Training for new product roll outs
Training for technology at point-of-sale

In each case, the financial institutions said these training programs were very important, but that the programs were not being effectively executed.

It’s not surprising that training is a point of contention, because quite frankly, it can be hard without appropriate performance support in place.

When any of your FI’s product partners are providing training, consider these tips to not only make your roll-out more successful but also make learning stick:

Define mutual expectations for the training initiative: Your partner should provide guidance on what you can expect from their training efforts (from drafts of materials to post-training support). Determine who within your FI will make sure that the knowledge shared is institutionalized across your organization. (Often this responsibility is spearheaded by your internal training department, but it can also include representatives from marketing and sales.)
Provide training context: Adults learn best when they understand why they are doing something – how will the training they’re participating in help them perform their job better?
Establish specific objectives: What do you want to measure? Sales? Account holder satisfaction? Remember that training should support your FI’s goals and not just be for the heck of it.
Create a culture of success: This goes beyond training and speaks to what type of institution you are (or aspire to be!). One 2-hour training session can’t develop an employee from an order-taker to a sales person. Rather, it takes a carefully crafted plan that is reinforced throughout the institution, for training to truly stick. Consider the skill sets of employees you are hiring, the expectations you have for your managers, and the messages you are sending – in the end, a long term strategic plan (with training included as one of the elements of employee support, rather than the only element!) will drive the best results.

Training doesn’t have to be a frustrating experience – with the right considerations early on, it can be a highly motivating, educational, and (dare I say it?) fun experience for both your institution and your insurer.

Erin Evans is the Director of Affinion Group’s Performance Solutions team, which has conducted more than 1,500 training sessions at over 160 financial institutions in the past 6 months.

As a global leader with over 35 years of experience, Affinion Group (www.affinion.com) enhances the value of its partners’ customer relationships by providing comprehensive customer engagement and loyalty solutions that enhance or extend the relationship of millions of customers with many of the largest and most respected companies in the world. For more information about Affinion Group contact Misha Bleymaier-Farrish.

Contact
Misha Bleymaier-Farrish
Senior Manager l Sales Administration
Affinion Group
Telephone: (615) 764-2492
Cellphone: (615) 796-4981
Fax: (615) 764-5492
Visit the Affinion Group web site.

Disaster Recovery Tip #48: 2011 Hurricane Season Wrap Up

massbankers — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:27:36 +0000

The Wrap Up

Today officially marks the end of hurricane season. The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season produced a total of 19 tropical storms of which seven became hurricanes, including one that made landfall.

Take a glance at the 2011 storm-track map. Click here to enlarge map and view details.

Although the 2011 hurricane season has ended, the need to prepare for various disasters remains year-round activity. In fact, it may surprise you to know that half of Agility’s disaster declarations this year were due to isolated, non-weather related events.

With that being said, we encourage every business to prepare for all types of hazards by making an emergency plan and building a disaster recovery kit.

Contact

Mike Estey, Area Director at Agility Recovery Solutions
Telephone: (603) 660-2455
Fax: (800) 536-4237
Visit the Agility Recovery Solutions web site.

Snowtober: Just the Tip of the Iceberg

massbankers — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:02:03 +0000

The Northeast Has Seen its Fair Share of Disasters in 2011

Hurricane Irene. Tropical Storm Lee. “Snowtober.” It seems like every time you turn on the TV, another impending disaster is bearing down on the Northeast. And according to meteorologists, a long winter is in store.

To help businesses prepare, plan and recover from disaster, Agility Recovery, one of the nation’s leading disaster recovery and business continuity providers, has compiled several free disaster preparation checklists.

Click below to download:

Winter Weather Preparedness Checklist
Disaster Recovery Kit Checklist
Influenza Checklist

For more than 20 years, businesses have relied on Agility to plan for and recover from the unthinkable. We are proud to say that we have successfully responded to over 800 disaster events this year alone.

If you have any questions about Agility Recovery call 866.364.9696 or visit www.agilityrecovery.com

Contact

Mike Estey, Area Director at Agility Recovery Solutions
Telephone: (603) 660-2455
Fax: (800) 536-4237
Visit the Agility Recovery Solutions web site.

Disaster Recovery Tip #46: Involve Your Organization Top to Bottom

massbankers — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:45:43 +0000

Gaining Support

With the end of the year just around the corner, most companies are in the midst of 2012 budget planning. Tough economic times are forcing small business owners to take a critical look at their past and future expenses.
Due to its perceived complexity and traditionally high cost, management can be quick to put business continuity planning on the budgetary chopping block. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Sometimes all it takes is an internal champion to help upper-level managers see that implementing a solid disaster recovery plan doesn’t need to take a lot of time or money.

To help with this process, Agility is hosting a free webinar tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EST on securing management support for business continuity. Join Agility’s CEO Bob Boyd as he provides actionable advice and suggestions on how to overcome a lack of internal support.
Click here to register.

Contact

Mike Estey, Area Director at Agility Recovery Solutions
Telephone: (603) 660-2455
Fax: (800) 536-4237
Visit the Agility Recovery Solutions web site.

VSP November EnVision Now Available

massbankers — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:27:32 +0000

Vision Service Plan (VSP) is the endorsed vision care plan of the Massachusetts Bankers Association. Employees’ eye health awareness should be an important goal of wellness programs. This newsletter is a helpful reminder.

Contact:
Robert E. Messing, Director of Administration, Group Insurance Services
Massachusetts Bankers Association
One Washington Mall, 8th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
Tel: (617) 523-7595