US BANCORP TRACKS EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT

Minneapolis-based US Bancorp, with $180 billion in assets, has selected a learning-management system (LMS) from Pathlore, Columbus, Oh., in order to keep its employees learning on the job.

Supporting the bank's 15,000 employees in more than 2,100 branches, the Pathlore system will provide a place for employees to access information regarding "a variety of different learning vehicles," said Mary Morand, senior vice president and director of performance improvement & training at US Bancorp. "What we have to do as an organization is make things available to people, and communicate and market those efforts."

Then, employees with the drive to succeed can take advantage of course offerings around topics such as lending, deposit gathering, and effective branch management. "What we will have is basic information on what drives our business," said Morand.

As such, it's envisioned as an improvement over the outdated "career-pathing" philosophy in which employees move programmatically from one course to the next. Rather, the offering is "a place for people to go for their learning development and access to information, so that they can create -- for themselves -- their own paths of development," said Morand.

The LMS keeps track of online and offline courses, and provides a way for both employees and their managers to stay abreast of company-sponsored training efforts.

The Pathlore system has been integrated into US Bancorp's existing HR system. "It's compatible and works very well with PeopleSoft," said Morand. "Those systems work well together."