2018 promises to be an exciting year. We’re particularly excited because we believe that we will begin to transcend the efficiency and experiential benefits of technology and see tangible benefits of technology in relationship creation and building.
In 2017, we stated that banks in the digital age would do well to transform their culture to one that is in total alignment with the customer. As we can see, organization transformation depends on the idea of embracing change, innovation, customer-centricity, and continuous learning. We believe that in 2018, organizations must embrace this culture of change, innovation, customer-centricity to sustain their businesses.
For a truly customer centric organization banks need to build multidisciplinary teams that cut across functional silos. Progressive banks are introducing programs to train their employees to view customer journeys, to enable them to see realities differently, and to help them connect the dots for creative solutions to deliver value to their customers as well as the end consumer.
To upskill and cross-skill their employees, banks are discarding the traditional class-room training programs in favor of unconventional ways. Axis Bank in India has launched Axis Bank Academies partnering with renowned institutes like INSEAD, CRISIL, ISOFE, encouraging its employees to identify areas of specialization that will help them become future ready as digital bankers. In 2018, banks will also look to train employees on relevant analytical skills to fill the gap between business and technology.
Banks have traditionally been known to avoid risks, but to keep up with the pace of innovation in the age of open APIs, platforms and ‘digital’, banks must move from a risk averse culture to one that values innovation and collaboration. At DBS, with hackathons to encourage greater collaboration with start-ups, digital skilling programs, and workshops for human centered design and agile methodology, the bank is building a culture to enable every employee to contribute to digital innovation without the fear of failure.
Lastly, in 2018 banks will revisit their KPIs to instill the new culture of learning, collaboration and innovation. With KPIs and rewards programs designed to cultivate the desired culture of customer centricity, innovation, change, collaboration, banks can successfully bridge the gap between technology and business readiness for the new world or re-imagined banking.
Read the full report here – #ReimagineBanking – 10 Strategic and Technology Trends to Watch Out for in 2018
