Deutsche Bank: Efficient learning is bank's byword

Deutsche Bank is giving new meaning to the "e" in e-learning. Efficiency, not electronic, is now the buzzword as the German bank moves to reduce IT costs and to help its employees achieve more from their training.

In its drive towards efficiency, the bank is harmonising and consolidating its various e-learning programmes and technology platforms launched over the past five years worldwide. In the process, it intends to make the learning experience for its staff of around 77,400 employees, scattered in 75 countries easier, more effective and more personally rewarding.

"We had many different e-learning projects that weren't optimally linked," says Jochen Robes, responsible for e-learning infrastructure at Deutsche Bank. "We realised that we could get e-learning rolling much better if we formed one large initiative from all these individual projects."

The new learning and development division, responsible for all group training worldwide, is focused on unifying the technology, system procurement and contracts. Deutsche Bank University, the corporate technology-oriented training centre, has been folded into this division.

In a first step, Deutsche Bank has reduced the number of technology providers to ensure a unified technology platform. It has selected Mindleaders as its online provider for IT training and Intuition for business and finance. It also uses Harvard ManageMentor, an online support tool covering management topics.

"We have agreed to use common technology and the same content globally," Mr Robes says. "In the past, when our efforts were very decentralised, we often purchased programmes in parallel."

In addition, Deutsche Bank has moved away from licensing contracts in favour of pay-to-use agreements. Outsourcing is another focus. Deutsche Bank, which last year signed a $2.5bn IT outsourcing contract with IBM, is encouraging similar deals on the e-learning front.

"In the past, we hosted most programmes ourselves, largely for security reasons," Mr Robes says. "Security is now better, so we have begun to host numerous e-learning programs with an external service provider."

One of the big improvements from Deutsche Bank's e-learning harmonisation is that employees worldwide can now access one central portal instead of several. When they log on, they find a homepage that directs them to the new division's numerous offerings, such as a catalogue of e-learning programmes.

While the bank has done much to improve the efficiency of e-learning, it has no plans to substitute the classroom with a PC. "We've found that employees, if given a choice, will almost always select a seminar over an e-learning course," Mr Robes says. "They want the interaction and stimulation of the classroom environment." At the same time, the bank wants to reduce the duration of seminars and make them more efficient. So it has opted for a blended learning approach, which combines computer and classroom education. "We can reduce our seminar costs, while offering employees the opportunity to learn on their own."

By John Blau, FT – IT, April 2 2003