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Synergent’s mission is to ‘help credit unions succeed and improve the financial lives of their members.’ In our monthly Employee Spotlight series, we feature one of our dedicated staff members to help you get to know the people who are working as an extension of your credit union team.
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Davis, Implementation & Training Analyst at Synergent, loves helping people and excitedly sits at her desk each morning, ready to help credit unions better serve their members through training. She looks forward to the varying challenges and tasks she is met with each day, and she appreciates the opportunities to engage with new people and form lasting relationships.
“My role is unique in that there really isn’t a typical day,” explained Davis. “In this role, I am usually working on several projects that are all in various stages of their lifecycles. These projects often involve working with multiple teams across Synergent, as well as with different credit union staff. My team also travels quite a bit onsite to credit unions to train, which certainly keeps it interesting!”
The COVID-19 pandemic threw their team a bit off-course, however, it provided a new opportunity to meet training needs without physically being onsite.
“I would say one of the biggest changes to my role is how we’ve had to adjust training due to COVID,” shared Davis. “The majority of training was always onsite and now that has shifted to about 50/50.”
With all training previously being onsite only, the team had to pivot and develop virtual classes to deliver the same content and information without requiring in-person interaction. Without hesitation, the Implementation & Training team jumped at the chance to offer content in a new way.
“We still have been working tirelessly to improve remote training so that classes can be more interactive,” said Davis. “We’ve also been putting a lot of effort into creating workbooks and additional practice for new credit unions coming onboard with us. Whether it’s an entire core conversion or a new single product, our goal as a team is to constantly improve our processes in order to make the transition for credit unions easier.”
A Central Role in Credit Union Growth
Davis has a passion for training, so while this challenge meant a lot of new work was coming down the pipeline, she was well-equipped with the necessary skills to get the job done (and done well).
“I’ve had similar training roles with companies I’ve worked for in the past, so those skills helped me transfer into this position at Synergent,” said Davis. “I’ve always enjoyed working with people and helping them get from point A to point B. I find this type of work incredibly interesting because no project or training is ever the same.”
This field of work is intriguing for Davis, as people, learning styles, and technology are constantly changing. It’s critical for Synergent’s trainers to understand this in the way they do to be able to continue meeting credit union needs as they evolve over time.
“Our team plays a very crucial role with our credit unions,” explained Davis. “When it comes to core conversions, we are often one of the first teams to meet with the credit union—whether that’s remotely or in-person. We work with every single department at the credit union, from back-office staff to front-end tellers. Not only do we help onboard and train brand new credit unions, but we also help current credit unions learn new products and work with staff to make sure they have the knowledge and understanding needed to do their daily jobs.”
One of Davis’s favorite aspects of her role in training is the opportunity to make connections with the credit unions they onboard during core conversions.
“We spend a lot of time onsite with credit unions and are sometimes away even over the weekends,” reflected Davis. “This creates such a deep bond with credit union staff, and they often start to feel like family. By the time they’re ready to go live, we have been working with them for months. That often means coming in early together, staying late together, eating meals together, and working through many challenges as a team. It’s hectic, fun, and incredibly rewarding all at the same time.”
Building Strong Relationships
Not only does Davis find herself growing closer to the credit union staff she works alongside, but she continues to develop stronger, close-knit relationships with the rest of the training team.
“Since our team travels quite a bit, we’ve gotten to know each other really well,” said Davis. “Traveling can sometimes be really stressful, but our team does a great job of managing that stress and helping each other out in any way we can. We’re sometimes there before the credit union opens until well after they close. It helps our team bond, all while helping us create lasting relationships with our credit unions because they’re right there with us.”
Day-to-day, Davis’s projects require ample collaboration with teams across Synergent in addition to her team and the teams she helps at credit unions.
“I’m proud of all the projects we’ve completed together and am so grateful I work on a team that loves to collaborate and share knowledge,” determined Davis. “I feel my team approaches most things as a group effort, and we all make it a point to fill in and help out so that any projects that come our way are as successful as possible.”
In her nearly five years at Synergent, Davis has gained ample knowledge of various training and teaching methods.
“This role has helped me become much better at adapting to change on the fly, which is a really helpful skill,” said Davis. “Understanding that everyone is different when it comes to learning styles and processing information also helps ground me and have more empathy for people going through big changes. When it comes to training and teaching methods, a lot of the knowledge I’ve gained and skills I’ve learned easily transfer over to everyday life, which I think is really cool.”
When Davis is not immersed in the world of credit union training and implementation, she loves to spend time with her family and friends. She said she has spent the last few years focusing on becoming more active and living a healthier lifestyle. She looks forward to summers in Maine and enjoys hiking, live music, and hanging out near any body of water whenever she gets the chance.
