Cross Financial Group, Lincoln, Nebraska www.crossfinancial.com

Banking Industry Professional Development Resources Survey Project Overview and Executive Summary

Introduction In the fourth quarter of 2013 Cross Financial Group conducted an online survey designed to collect and evaluate perceptions of professional development resources available to financial institutions. The following executive summary provides topline highlights of the information captured by the survey. Methodology and Structure A 35-question online survey instrument was used for data collection.

Base Questions and Demographics • State • Bank size • Tenure in banking • Job responsibility classification • Effectiveness ratings for learning formats • Importance ratings for education resources

Survey distribution was targeted to senior bank managers, officers and decision-makers. A link to the online survey was provided to state banking associations in 16 Midwestern states. The state associations were encouraged to distribute the survey link to all association members in the targeted audience groups. Survey Response The survey produced 2,771 total responses. Ratings and index scores presented in this report have been calculated based on the number of responses received for each question. Response by State and Region The following map presents the percent of survey responses received from each state. n=2,684

AR 3.7%

CO 1.6% IL

4.8%

IN 10.3%

IA 22.2%

KS 5.4% KY

1.8% MI

3.0% MN

2.8%

MO 6.9%

NE 3.8%

ND 4.9%

OH 1.3%

OK 1.9%

SD 1.6%

TX 8.2%

WI 15.7%

Cross Financial Group, Lincoln, Nebraska www.crossfinancial.com

Survey responses by state were combined to produce average ratings and index scores for designated regional areas. The following map shows the geographic boundaries for the core regions along with the percent of survey responses from each region.

Demographic Profile of Respondents The following charts provide a visual representation of respondent demographics. The size of each response group is included with each chart.

Tenure in Banking Industry, n=2,548

Job Responsibilities, n=2,467

Less than Five Years

7%

5 to 10 Years 13%

10 to 20 Years 24%

More than 20 Years 56%

Supervisor 10%

Officer 38%

Senior Management

24%

Executive Management

(EVP and Above)

28%

Cross Financial Group, Lincoln, Nebraska www.crossfinancial.com

Bank Asset Size, n=2,507

Learning Formats and Professional Development Survey participants were asked two questions about education and learning environments. The first question examined effectiveness ratings for learning formats. The second question examined importance ratings for education resources. The overall results are presented in the following charts. Effectiveness of Learning Format, n=2,761 1 – Not At All Effective, 10 – Very Effective

Less than $100 million 18%

$100 million to $250 million 29% $250 million to $500

million 24%

$500 million to $1 billion 12%

$1 billion to $5 billion 13%

$5 billion to $10 billion 2%

Over $10 billion 2%

8.53

7.89

6.74

6.18

Classroom instruction

Conference presentations

Online seminars

Video training

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Cross Financial Group, Lincoln, Nebraska www.crossfinancial.com

Importance of Education Resources, n=2,684 1 – Not At All Important, 10 – Very Important

Survey Highlights and Observations The survey results presented in the previous charts and illustrations provide clear representations of the perceptions related to professional development resources for leaders and managers at financial institutions located predominantly in Midwestern states.

• 56% of responses were from bankers with industry tenure over 20 years. • 52% of responses were from individuals with job responsibilities described as senior management

(24%) or executive management (28%). Another 38% reported they were officers of the organization.

• 7 out of 10 responses were from individuals working at banks with total assets under $500 million. • Classroom instruction received the highest effectiveness rating (8.53), while video training rated

lowest (6.18), using a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 was very effective. • Respondents rated the importance of state banking association seminars and conferences highest

among eight education resources. State banking association schools ranked second and in-house training sessions led by bank personnel ranked third.

• The most important criteria when selecting a graduate school of banking included reputation of the school, curriculum focus, faculty and recommendation from a manager or colleague.

If you have questions about the Professional Development Resources survey, please contact.

Kyle Hershberger Senior Vice President Cross Financial Group 6940 O Street, Suite 310 Lincoln, NE 68510 kyle@crossfinancial.com 800-566-3491 www.crossfinancial.com twitter@crossfin

8.09

7.86

7.63

7.33

7.15

6.99

6.39

6.38

State banking association seminars and conferences

State banking association schools

In-house training sessions led by bank personnel

Graduate schools of banking

In-house training sessions led by outside professionals

Video and online training classes

College and university courses

National banking schools

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