{"id":42898,"date":"2018-03-26T11:45:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T15:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging21.finca.org\/uncategorized-en-ca\/training-facilitators-accelerated-learning"},"modified":"2024-11-04T02:07:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T07:07:23","slug":"training-facilitators-accelerated-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finca.org\/en-ca\/training-facilitators-accelerated-learning","title":{"rendered":"Training Facilitators of Accelerated Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

FINCA Development Academy Offers a Model for Professional Growth<\/h2>\n

Successful organizations prize growth: in outreach, income and name recognition. But what fuels growth? Often, it\u2019s the professional growth of individuals within the organization.<\/p>\n

FINCA invests in professional growth via FINCA Development Academy (FDA), which enhances employees\u2019 skills, cultivates leaders and reinforces the organization\u2019s values. Learning Managers across 20 countries carry out FDA\u2019s mission. They work with individuals at all levels\u2014from new hires to veterans, from customer relationship officers, to branch managers, regional managers and functional department personnel\u2014to improve individuals\u2019 capacity to serve customers through warmth, trust and responsible banking.<\/p>\n

Learning managers touch nearly all 10,000+ FINCA employees, so a critical piece of FINCA\u2019s learning strategy is to ensure quality and consistency across its expansive network. Whether in Quito or Kabul, experiences should foster engagement, discovery and co-creation among learners. They should also encourage staff to participate using their preferred learning styles and intelligences. This approach ensures that learners learn, and supports an environment of talent engagement and innovation across the organization.<\/p>\n

Ensuring that learning managers are well prepared is particularly vital to FINCA\u2019s success. Like job trainers anywhere, learning managers need to acquire knowledge constantly to remain engaged, up-to-date and relevant. They are the standard-bearers of professionalism for their learners.<\/p>\n

Partnering for Professional Development<\/h2>\n

Mastercard Foundation<\/a> has partnered with FINCA to promote cutting-edge professional development programs in Malawi<\/a>, Tanzania<\/a> and Zambia<\/a>. There, FINCA learning managers are helping their colleagues deliver a broad range of financial services, to focus closely on customer experience, and to bring measurable social benefits to customers and communities.<\/p>\n

Like their colleagues, FINCA learning managers take a variety of classes through FDA. These classes equip them to be effective facilitators of learning, communicators and workplace coaches; to design accelerated learning modules for staff; to facilitate virtual, or remote, trainings\u2014even to produce job training videos.<\/p>\n

One Learning Manager\u2019s Journey<\/h2>\n

FINCA Malawi Learning Manager Minella Kanthambi found particular value in a class entitled Instructional Design for Accelerated Learning. \u201cThat class has helped me to understand and support people\u2019s different learning preferences and use of multiple intelligences,\u201d she says. \u201cSome trainees prefer auditory learning; others learn visually; and still others learn kinetically, through hands-on activities and play. The class helped me to engage people with different learning preferences, and to design my courses to appeal to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking the class, Minella noticed that her trainees seemed more engaged. And surveys taken among her learners support her observations. Learners wrote that Minella \u201cmade sure that everyone was involved in the training,\u201d and \u201cgave us a chance to participate in all lessons.\u201d \u201cShe allowed active participation and her delivery showed that she was prepared and fully equipped to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Minella is undoubtedly a leader, she insists that learners are in charge of their own learning. \u201cI am trained as a facilitator,\u201d she says. \u201cI challenge the trainees and make them think. They are then inspired to apply our discussion to their own experience. Accelerated learning allows trainees to discover what they already have and encourages them to apply it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Professional