Training is not an option: four reasons to invest in professional development.

Imagine a local gas station discovers a skimming device on its pumps, and the credit and debit card information of an unknown number of customers has been captured by fraudsters. Worried customers start to call or visit your bank. Some have actual transactions to dispute; others don't, but want

Account relationships and a bank's reputation can be won or lost in a situation like this. And the difference can boil down to how well your employees--from tellers to compliance officers--are trained.

Here are four ways training makes the difference in this situation and others:

1 First-impressions count. Customers quickly see the results that investments in training and development yield in improved customer services. This is essential in a business that depends on people to succeed--the teller who solves a problem, the manager who expedites a loan application, the private banker who provides expert financial counsel.

The decisive moment for demonstrating this improved quality of service occurs when a current or potential client walks into a branch or calls your hotline. Informed, accurate answers define your bank's competence, reassuring your customers that they are well served. That brief encounter, which occurs countless times daily, can become another vote of confidence--or a lost opportunity.

2 Training boosts morale, lowers turnover. Employee loyalty and morale also define your customers' image of your bank. Studies show that training and development programs strengthen loyalty, self-esteem, and morale. According to research published by a firm that specializes in maximizing the potential of human capital, McBassi & Company, "Investment in training and development has been shown to be a key driver of employee retention, which in turn has been linked to improved customer retention, leading to enhanced sales and ultimately overall profitability."

3 You can't afford to get compliance wrong. Regulatory compliance is also key to the reputation your bank works hard to maintain. The burden on employees to understand and abide by a myriad of regulations is quite large. This demands keeping abreast of the new rules, interpretative guidance, and technologies for monitoring compliance.

The potential for error is particularly great--and the cost of getting it wrong is even greater. Ongoing training is a must to help employees understand their responsibilities and to instill in them the need to honor the letter and the spirit of the law.

Great harm can be done to your bank's reputation when enforcement actions are taken against it, or when a customer files a complaint alleging wrongdoing. Client trust and confidence are shaken, if not irretrievably lost. Educated employees are your best defense to ensure rigorous compliance while sending a strong signal about your commitment to doing what is right.

4 It pays. These benefits--high marks from your customers for your service, an impeccable reputation, employee loyalty, and effective regulatory compliance--are invariably reflected in the bottom line. And that's the fourth reason to invest more in employee training.

Banks with training and professional development programs see higher performance in the key financial measures--return on assets, return on equity, net income, asset growth, and stock market returns--than their peers with insufficient investments in human capital.

One study of 575 publicly traded companies by the American Society for Training and Development shows that, "for every increase of approximately $700 per employee training, there was a 6% improvement in total shareholder return in the following year."

All four reasons ultimately contribute to enhancing public trust and confidence in our banking system. Without strong trust, banks would fail to attract deposits, which in turn provide capital that investors and entrepreneurs are more confident in risking. That infusion of capital leads to economic growth and jobs creation. Each person in a financial institution affects public trust by their work, character, and commitment to high professional standards and ethics. Through professional development, they can understand, appreciate, and flourish in their role.

ABA's professional development programs include more than 40 professional schools and conferences, more than 350 written and computer-based training and informational products, and the American Institute of Banking.

By J. Douglas Adamson, executive director for ABA's Professional Development Group.