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“We are extremely proud of this recognition,” said Scott Sutker, vice president of advanced learning systems at Wachovia. “Our company has always supported employee training development, and we will continue to rely on training as one way to deliver job specific knowledge and uncommon solutions to all our stakeholders.”

Wachovia, the nation’s fourth-largest bank holding company, has long recognized that employee development is critical to business success. The company has developed a comprehensive training program combining such varied elements as distance learning, virtual classrooms and mentoring as well as leader-led training.

Ranking for the Training Top 100 is based on factors such as:

• Financial investment in employee development,
• Type and scope of training and development programs provided,
• Quality of programs, and
• How closely development efforts are linked to business goals and objectives.

Wachovia employs more than 84,000 and provides an average of 31.5 hours of training to each employee per year. These hours typically are split between required job-skill-based training and self-initiated professional development.

One of the initiatives recognized by Training is Wachovia’s Virtual Classroom where employees receive live, interactive instruction on their desktops. The Virtual Campus project, initiated in April 2001, offers technology, business skills, and management training to all employees. Off-the-shelf courses from SkillSoft, a leading provider of business skills courseware, and SmartForce, a provider of IT skills training, are combined with proprietary training and virtual classroom activities.

“Wachovia is one of our most innovative clients,” said Jerry Nine, executive vice president of SkillSoft. “They recognized early on the advantages – both in terms of return on investment and competitive advantage – that e-learning could bring to their organization.”

Wachovia balances the importance of employee development with the most cost-effective delivery channels by placing increased emphasis on distance learning. Almost half of all Wachovia training was delivered through distance learning and other non-traditional means in 2001.

About Wachovia

Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB), created through the Sept. 1, 2001, merger of First Union and Wachovia, had assets of $330 billion at Dec. 31 and $28 billion in stockholders' equity. Wachovia is a leading provider of financial services throughout the East Coast and the nation. The company operates full-service banking offices under the First Union and Wachovia names in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C., and offers full-service brokerage with offices in 49 states and global services through more than 30 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services are available through wachovia.com and firstunion.com.