TIAA - Customer Service Training or Coaching Program of the Year

Company: TIAA
Company Division/Group: National Contact Center
Company Description: TIAA (TIAA.org) is a leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields. TIAA has $915 billion in assets under management (as of 12/31/2016) and offers a wide range of financial solutions, including investing, banking, advice and guidance, and retirement services.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Training or Coaching Program of the Year - Other Service Industries

Nomination Title: TIAA's New Hire Training Reimagined: Innovative, Interactive, and Impactful

TIAA is a Fortune 100 financial services organization dedicated to helping our clients pursue financial well-being.

We were founded nearly a century ago as the vision of one of history’s great philanthropists, Andrew Carnegie, to make a difference in the lives of teachers. Since then, we have helped millions at academic, medical, research and cultural organizations — the people whose work makes the world a better place — retire with financial security.

Today, we are a global asset manager with $1.2 trillion in assets under management. Our investment model and long-term approach aim to benefit the five million people and more than 15,000 institutions we serve.

As we pursue powerful performance that can help drive better outcomes for our clients, we are committed to growing, innovating, continually improving and building on our proud history of diversity and inclusion.

Outline the nominated achievement since July 1 2019 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):

TIAA has a comprehensive New Hire Training (NHT) program that prepares roughly 250 financial consultants each year for their role in the National Contact Center (NCC). Consultants learn about TIAA systems, products and resources so that they can assist clients with everything from cash withdrawals to long-term retirement planning and financial education.

Over time, the NHT program expanded to address skills that are not foundational to the consultant role. This expansion resulted in a long and complex training program, with significant time between learning and application.

Careful analysis also revealed that most training was delivered via passive classroom lectures that failed to engage learners. In addition, learners didn’t get the opportunity to fully experience TIAA systems before taking phone calls.

To solve these problems, a Lean Six Sigma team at TIAA restructured the NHT program around three key philosophies designed to improve the client experience:

1-Teach only the minimum foundational knowledge required to begin addressing client needs.

2-Teach all processes using a hands-on approach that leverages the same systems used on the job.

3-Allow learners to take phone calls during training sooner and more often.

This transformation reduced the length of the NHT program by 30 business days (50%), saving more than $2.5 million per year. The changes also increased trainee engagement, confidence and proficiency – ultimately providing a better client experience.

Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):

Newly hired NCC consultants are now prepared to assist our clients within a shorter timeframe – 50% faster than ever before. Recently, TIAA capitalized on these efficiency gains in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to coronavirus-related layoffs and furloughs, Congress introduced the CARES Act, which relaxed rules for retirement account withdrawals and loans. The Act caused an unprecedented increase in TIAA call volume.

Efficiency gains from the NHT program redesign meant TIAA could react swiftly. Newly hired consultants were able to take cash withdrawal and loan requests by day 12 of training, rather than day 49 - supporting our clients when they needed us most. The NHT program is unique in both the degree of flexibility it provides and the way it leverages live systems to deliver hands-on learning.

Unlike most of our competitors, TIAA’s NHT program uses live systems with guardrails to train new hires rather than simulations. As a result, the systems learners use to train are visually and functionally identical to the systems they will use once they officially start their role.

This approach increases learner confidence and proficiency and significantly reduces the time and costs associated with maintaining a separate training environment.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):

We've attached a PowerPoint presentation titled 'Simplicity in New Hire Training'that provides an in-depth look at the project’s origin, research, solutions and results - ultimately demonstratingthe impact and success of our redesigned NHT program.

We've also attached an internal news article written by our communications team that interviewsthe two project managers responsible for the NHT redesign, providing additional insights into the programs design philosophy.