Building a training ecosystem for 170+ employees across 13 branches
A service framework only matters if every employee can run it. I built the training ecosystem that carried Midwest Heritage's customer experience standard to every branch.
- Midwest Heritage Bank
- Director of Customer Experience
- April to July 2026
170+
employees reached
13
branches across two states
95%
training approval rating from employees
Context
Midwest Heritage Bank has 170+ employees across 13 branches in two states. With a new customer service framework in place, the bank needed a way to teach it consistently: to leaders, to existing staff, and to every new hire.
Problem
Nothing existed to build on. There was no leadership development program, no recurring all-staff training, and no structured onboarding for the customer experience standard. Thirteen branches in two states meant delivery had to work without me in the room.
Approach
Three audiences, three programs, one standard. Leaders got a 12-month coaching curriculum so the standard was reinforced from the top over a full year. All staff got quarterly materials so it stayed current. New hires got onboarding so the standard was the first thing they learned, not something picked up later.
Systems built
- 12-month leadership coaching curriculum
- A full year of structured coaching for the bank's leaders.
- Quarterly all-staff training materials
- A recurring cadence so the standard stays current across every branch.
- New-hire onboarding
- The customer experience standard, taught from day one.
Results
In about three months, and alongside standing up the CX function itself, the ecosystem reached 170+ employees across 13 branches in two states. Every audience had a program: leaders on a 12-month coaching curriculum, all staff on a quarterly cadence, and new hires learning the standard on day one.
Employees rated the training at 95% approval. That is the number I care about most. A program people sit through and a program people endorse are different things, and only the second one changes how a branch treats a customer.
What I took from it
Training is infrastructure. Built once, with a cadence, it keeps working after the person who built it has moved on.
Midwest Heritage Bank has 170+ employees across 13 branches in two states. With a new customer service framework in place, the bank needed a way to teach it consistently: to leaders, to existing staff, and to every new hire.
In about three months, and alongside standing up the CX function itself, the ecosystem reached 170+ employees across 13 branches in two states. Every audience had a program: leaders on a 12-month coaching curriculum, all staff on a quarterly cadence, and new hires learning the standard on day one.
Employees rated the training at 95% approval. That is the number I care about most. A program people sit through and a program people endorse are different things, and only the second one changes how a branch treats a customer.