Industry: Financial Services

Company Size: 1,700+ employees

The Challenge

• Maximize the potential of the company’s current talent pool
• Build an effective leadership development program with limited resource

The Objectives

• Engage and develop high-performing employees
• Build a strong leadership pipeline
• Deliver practical and tactical training that drives real behavior change

The Results

• 75% course completion rates
• Exceptionally high ratings in skills transfer and improved job performance
• Development of a true learning culture

"Equifirst has instilled an organizational learning culture that never previously existed. Leaders at all levels in the company understand the value of developing their leadership capabilities and have embraced the idea of becoming a high performing organization" - Bersin & Associates

To address their challenges, EquiFirst established a new learning and development (L&D) function that focused on leadership development, e-learning and business acumen learning for all associates. They created a set of leadership competencies and looked to build a learning solution that would help instill those competencies into the company culture and build a strong leadership pipeline.

Equifirst turned to Ninth House, purchasing an interactive leadership and management development solution which covered a range of leadership development topics, and was packaged with a host of customized supporting materials and services.

The Ninth House solution utilized an integrated blended-learning approach, designed to ensure that learnings were not only immediately put to use on the job but were also reinforced over time, providing employees with the skills they need to be more effective and productive leaders.

Six Ninth House online courses were rolled out that tied to the company’s leadership competencies. In addition extended, group-based sessions specific to each of the online courses were conducted to help equate online learning to real-life scenarios and experiences. And the Ninth House performance support system, Instant Advice® was offered to reinforce learning and strengthen productivity helping leaders to quickly find solutions to their daily challenges.

They achieved a very strong 75 percent completion rate for the courses. And program measurements showed that on a 7 point scale learners highly rated the ability to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the program to their jobs (5.93) and the ability to improve their job performance (5.87). See all the performance ratings below.



With the successful implementation of the Ninth House leadership development education program, along with the creation of defined leadership competencies and key senior management support, a true learning culture has started to emerge at EquiFirst. The company’s leadership strategy has gained a high level of approval throughout the company and their program has provided leaders the opportunity to acquire, apply and sustain knowledge over time.

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