The Diagnostic Assessment is specifically designed to assess the skill levels of your commercial lending and credit personnel. The assessment will help you determine what training, if any, is required to bring personnel up to prescribed levels of knowledge. You will be able to use the assessment no matter what the size of your institution. It can be taken by one individual or by thousands. RMA offers a Certificate of Proficiency for those who achieve an acceptable score on all competency areas of the Diagnostic Assessment.
U.S. and Canadian Versions
The U.S. Diagnostic Assessment measures your staff members’ training needs, based on their responses to multiple-choice questions, in eight critical competency areas:
- Financial Accounting
- Risk Assessment
- Financial Statement Analysis
- Cash Flow Analysis
- Loan Structuring and Pricing
- Legal Documentation and Compliance
- Problem Loans
- Real Estate
There are also Canadian versions of the Diagnostic Assessment, in English and in French, which cover:
- Financial Accounting
- Financial Statement Analysis
- Cash Flow Analysis
- Industry, Business, and Management Risk
- Loan Management
- Loan Structuring
- Legal and Documentation Issues
How It Benefits Your Bank
The Diagnostic Assessment provides the base for starting or improving an effective training curriculum, and it develops an efficient and effective use of your training resources. It facilitates the development of employees who make sound lending and credit decisions, while it builds teamwork within the bank. The assessment contributes to your bank’s profitability and productivity by targeting limited training dollars in the most needed areas.
Online or in eMentor®...It’s Your Choice!
Internet version
Each participant is given the Internet address and a user ID. The Diagnostic Assessment can be taken at home or at work. Participants can access their results immediately after completing each module. Administrators can access the results of their employees through a reporting site, where all results for their institution are stored. Results are posted in real time. The administrator can obtain results for any individual, including his or her diagnostic messages, or for any group without individual names.
More information on the Internet version.
eMentor version
Now, with eMentor, you can add the Diagnostic Assessment as an optional feature* to help you evaluate your staff’s skills and link them directly to specific materials within eMentor that can fill in any gaps in knowledge. For moderate training needs, the Diagnostic Assessment modules link directly to specific materials in eMentor and serve as a “one-stop learning source” to fill identified training needs. If significant training needs are identified, RMA will recommend attendance at instructor-led courses.
Both versions
The questions and the resulting diagnostic messages are the same. Confidentiality is maintained. Only the administrator and the participants have access to the results. The administrator cannot see results from any institution other than his or her own.
How It Was Developed
Under RMA’s direction, separate panels of experienced commercial bankers and bank training directors in the U.S. and Canada developed specific questions reflective of the content and intent of each competency area. Respondents’ answers to these questions serve as a measure of their skill levels—their competency in Diagnostic Assessment of Lending Skills and Knowledge in each area and, therefore, in the entire discipline of commercial lending and credit risk.
In 2002 and 2005, RMA engaged teams of content specialists to revise the competencies and questions. Pilot sessions with different banks showed an extremely high level of both reliability and validity. In other words, the Diagnostic Assessment will do precisely what it is intended to do and in a consistent, dependable manner.
How to Order
To order the Diagnostic Assessment of Lending Skills and Knowledge or to obtain additional information, please contact the Regional Manager in your area, (not available through our Customer Care Department).
- U.S., product #622501
- Canadian English, product #622706
- Canadian French, product #622806
- Spanish, product #629611
Fees for Online Version
RMA members: US $150
Nonmembers: US $225
Fees for eMentor Version
RMA members: US $200
*There is an additional charge when you add the Diagnostic Assessment to your eMentor subscription.