The Commonwealth Bank Foundation began its journey to provide workplace financial education to Commonwealth Bank employees early in 2006. The Bank's employees overwhelmingly supported a workplace financial education initiative but wanted one that could be accessed at home and in their own time.
With such a clear direction from its employees and with a long term commitment, the Commonwealth Bank Foundation chose the path of online learning. Employees will be able to log on to the financial education program at home and work through a sequence of structured modules at their own pace.
 | 'With over 36,000 employees we are a community ourselves. We are committed to improving our employees' financial literacy and through this we can also impact on their families and friends,' said Barbara Chapman, Commonwealth Bank Foundation Board Member. The workplace financial education project is an extension of the Commonwealth Bank Foundation's suite of financial literacy initiatives. |
Barbara's suggestion to others considering a workplace financial education program is to 'use the financial literacy competency standards'. 'The standards offer an excellent framework to structure the e learning around, making development a much easier process', Barbara said. The Commonwealth Bank Foundation's workplace program has been shaped around four key nationally recognised financial literacy competency standards. The chosen content areas were identified by staff in a survey - money management, superannuation and shares.
The workplace financial education program will be launched in early 2007 and will form part of the Bank's focus on the wellbeing of its employees. Known as the LifeBalance Program, this initiative assists Commonwealth Bank staff to make informed decisions about a range of issues that affect their wellbeing.
Further information on the Commonwealth Bank Foundation's financial literacy programs is available from the following URL:
http://about.commbank.com.au/display/0,1694,CH2043,00.html