Does “financial consulting” sound dusty and conservative? – Not with Deutsche Vermögensberatung! The DVAG IT and the education management of the DVAG (DAV) rely on modern online learning and two different approaches to blended learning. In the interview, Gabriele Feist (DVAG IT) and Matthias Spiegel (DAV) explain both approaches – and how the training and education of the financial advisors is supported by the blink.it learning platform.
Note: This article was published in November 2019 and last updated in November 2020.
Gabriele Feist (DVAG IT) is responsible as the head of the department for the design and implementation of IT training measures. For almost three years, these have been offered to around 17,000 full-time financial advisors of Deutsche Vermögensberatung in the blended learning format on the blink.it platform.
Matthias Spiegel (DAV) is from the education management and is responsible there with the colleagues from media development, among other things, for the blink.it platform of the Deutsche Akademie für Vermögensberatung. There, blink.it is used supportively and assistively for the training and education of financial advisors.
Over 25,000 online learning units were completed last month at the DVAG and DAV. What learning content do you provide to your financial advisors with blink.it?
M. Spiegel: At DVAG, we even have two blink.it platforms in use: one for our IT systems and one for the actual financial advisor training at DAV (Deutsche Akademie für Vermögensberatung).
We at DAV are responsible for the professional training and education of financial advisors, as well as for their management training. This usually starts with the business start-up, with the directors guiding the new financial advisors. We used blink.it to provide learning materials to the directors. The upcoming financial advisors can thus online familiarize themselves with the most important topics. We also provide materials to conduct training and seminars on-site.
G. Feist: On the IT platform, the handling of our digital support tools is the focus, especially the use of the apps and tools specifically developed for DVAG. We conduct standard courses following the blended learning principle and use these as learning support. We build a tailored measure upon request for our directors, consisting of an online course in combination with a webinar and/or a face-to-face event.
Why did you choose blended learning instead of pure e-learning?
G. Feist: We came to blended learning because we have around 17,000 full-time financial advisors, and we cannot provide further training for all of them in face-to-face seminars. That is simply not organizationally feasible. We needed a different solution to train our financial advisors in using our software: when we combine webinars with online courses, many more financial advisors can benefit from our training measures.
M. Spiegel: At DAV, we wanted to give financial advisors the choice of how they want to consume the learning content. In the past, there were face-to-face events for everything. Today, there is the option to learn each individual topic either in person or online. You can even combine both forms.
We see this free choice as an offer and also as a service from us. The age structure of the financial advisors is very heterogeneous, and thus the preferred learning methods are also very different. With face-to-face and online courses, we can ideally serve all target groups.
Who creates and manages these flexible learning offerings for the two blink.it platforms?
G. Feist: In IT, a learning architect takes on these tasks: a colleague from adult education with the appropriate degree. He is responsible for designing the courses to create suitable blended learning. The media are also created by our own staff.
M. Spiegel: Within DAV, a team of five people is preferably responsible for the blink.it platform. In consultation with the other departments, the content is maintained and expanded.
The blended learning model of DVAG with blink.it
Your online courses have partly several thousand to even ten thousand participants. How do you organize these large courses – and how do you monitor the learning progress of so many participants?
G. Feist: About 17,000 full-time financial advisors have direct access to the large foundational courses explaining our IT systems and digital tools. Here, the financial advisors can organize themselves independently and set their own learning pace.
In individual courses, our trainers monitor the learning progress. But there are only 30-60 participants in those. However, that is the only way we can ensure that a similar level of knowledge is present on the practical day on-site. We also check whether, for example, homework is done and point out tasks in advance. Participants can already ask questions that we can then address in more detail on the practical day. Our trainers take on more of the role of a learning companion in that case.
Why did you choose blink.it as a platform to implement these very different learning concepts?
G. Feist: The tip to try blink.it was given to us by our external consultant and blink.it advocate Heike Molin. We specifically looked for something simple and self-explanatory that even PC beginners could handle. What convinced us was the simplicity of blink.it and that the content can be worked on across all mobile devices.
M. Spiegel: An additional point is the possibility of customization to the corporate design of the respective company. We recently had a customization to our corporate design implemented at DAV and were amazed at how well the platform can also be integrated visually into our setup.
Insight into the blink.it learning platform of DVAG: A foundational course for all financial advisors with around 17,000 participants. Source: blink.it
Finally, a look at your employees: How do blink.it and your flexible learning concepts resonate with the financial advisors?
G. Feist: Since we originally had many face-to-face events in IT, we naturally had to deal with acceptance issues at the beginning. Many wanted not online courses but rather a person on-site. The convincing point for our participants was the short learning content: I can watch the videos on the way to the customer or in the evening on the couch. We also follow up with our financial advisors online after face-to-face events – for example, with summaries or photos – and receive feedback that it helps them recall the content again.
M. Spiegel: That financial advisors have the choice in training and education topics to say, “I supplement the face-to-face events with the online content and recall it again” is also received very well. We receive overwhelmingly positive feedback!
Thank you for these exciting insights into DVAG and DAV, Ms. Feist and Mr. Spiegel!
