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BMO’s chief learning officer wins international training award

The Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) has recognized BMO Financial Group’s Gina Jeneroux, chief learning officer, with The Learning Leader of the Year award.

The awards were announced on Feb. 20 in London, U.K. at The Learning Awards annual celebration honouring the highest performing organizations and individuals globally from the learning and development industry.

This award recognizes companies and individuals for demonstrations of innovation, exceptional performance and contribution to the learning profession. Jeneroux was recognized as Learning Leader of the Year for her strategic vision for preparing BMO for the future of work.

“At BMO, we strive to create meaningful learning experiences that support our employees’ in ways that matter to them most,” said Karen Collins, chief talent officer, BMO Financial Group. “I am excited and inspired by the workforce of the future and what it means for our organization. At the heart of my excitement is the vision and passion of our chief learning officer, Gina Jeneroux. Gina’s curiosity, spirit and innovative mindset are at the heart of the Institute for Learning – BMO IFL – and our ‘Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in Business and Life.'”

About the award

The Learning Leader of the Year Award is presented to an outstanding trailblazer who has made a measurable impact in their organization.

Under Jeneroux’s ongoing leadership, BMO is building technical, cognitive and human skills as part of its multi-year bold talent strategy. This strategy is informed by trends, affecting the landscape and its customers’ evolving needs.

Jeneroux’s notable achievements include shifting “Learning at BMO” from a formal learning function into a high-performance team dedicated to advancing performance through learning that will prepare the workforce for the future. This is showcased by her reimagining how employees learn for their job, career and interests, by launching BMO U – BMO’s mobile, 24/7 learning platform – and lastly by championing BMO’s investment of more than $86 million in employee learning and development each year.

BMO U

In 2018, BMO established BMO U, the bank’s mobile learning platform, to empower employees to learn for their jobs, careers, personal interests and for the future of work. BMO U creates a customized experience by offering easy access to thousands of formal and informal learning resources, and it provides ways to share insights, find experts and participate in learning communities. Today, more than 70 per cent of BMO employees are active users.

Last year, the bank also launched BMO Forward to help employees build the technical skills they will need for a digital future, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, data science, cybersecurity and digital acumen. The program also includes “human skills” – such as empathy, resilience, judgement and cultural intelligence – to differentiate people from the technology they’re building and using, and to forge stronger connections between individuals, teams and customers. The goals of BMO Forward are to raise the water line for all employees, help subject-matter experts stay at the top of their game and equip leaders to lead in a new context.

The range of learning options at BMO has increased dramatically over the past 25 years. From formal classroom programs to online courses to bite-sized videos, articles, eBooks, infographics and on-the-job development activities, BMO employees can choose what, where and how they build their skills.