2016 Applicant: Colleen Tilton

Colleen Tilton is a 34-year-old Director of Staff Development of Blackhawk Community Credit Union ($440M) in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States.

Project Title
Learn to Earn: Our Transition to a Learning Organization

Short Pitch
My program invests in our employees’ professional development by creating career paths with educational and experience opportunities that allow them to specialize in member service areas, as well as increase their own income potential.

Synopsis
As part of Blackhawk Community Credit Union’s strategic plan, I have been tasked with concentrating on one of our five areas of focus – employee development. Specifically, I am planning how we will transition Blackhawk Community Credit Union into a learning environment. My big, audacious goal for the plan envisions our credit union as a premier employer in our community. We want to be known for providing our employees with a career path that helps them achieve their professional goals. Our member experience is our number one priority and we recognize that we are only as strong as our employees who serve our members. By investing in our employees, we are investing in our members. Members want to work with experts. 

We are developing academies that allow employees to develop the basic skills and competencies that are necessary for performing their jobs at the credit union. Once employees have mastered these skills, they can focus on achieving a certain level of expertise or a specialty by completing required education. Once they have taken the courses and demonstrated their ability, employees will be rewarded with an increase in their hourly pay. Employees are then able to focus on another educational path, if they choose. Learn to Earn encourages our employees to pursue their career goals and gives them a path to get there.

We will measure our success through monitoring a decrease in employee turnover, an increase in internal promotions, and strong enrollment in the program.

Join the journey at #investineducation.

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