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When going through a digital transformation programme, talent is as important as technology in ensuring success.

One of the key attributes of many firms I’ve talked to about implementing a digital transformation programme is that, while there are bound to be lay-offs, many banks are putting a lot of effort into supporting their staff through a change in careers and achieving a better customer experience as a result.

There may be mass redundancies ahead for banks, particularly for those who are heavily branch-orientated, as reducing the number of branch staff is clearly on the agenda. However, generally, the banks I have spoken to try to retain people wherever possible. After all, they recognise that these people have invested their careers in the bank and have years, sometimes decades, of experience, as well as a strong knowledge of the bank’s culture and operations. The banks will want to keep and encourage these people, not just lay them off.

Customer experience

This is because the digital transformation programme is not only about getting rid of staff, but more about improving the customer experience — and doing this means bringing people with you on that journey. Creating happy customers requires happy staff. Colleagues being made redundant and fearing for their job does not lead to happy staff. How can you create a motivated work environment when there’s blood on the floor?

These are challenging questions, but a consistent theme that is emerging is that they don’t start by getting rid of staff; instead, they reskill them. They turn traders into coders and customer service staff into social media experts.

A good example was in one institution where all staff were encouraged to visit the bank’s innovation lab. Here, they were able to see all the new ideas being developed, while being offered the chance to reskill. This is smorgasbord of opportunity, from learning to code in Python to being trained in how to best respond to customers on Facebook and Twitter.

If an employee takes that opportunity, then they have to commit as much as two hours a day for some courses. But the bank is keen to allow staff to change career direction and is supporting that change, not just laying people off because they are surplus to requirements.

Global shift

Now this is challenging, as I’ve seen some dramatic changes during in the past two years in the banking industry. For example, it is estimated that JPMorgan Chase has made almost a third of its staff redundant since 2020, and I’ve witnessed similar trends at many other banks. To put that into context, a football stadium-sized chunk of people has been taken out of the business.

Undoubtedly, jobs are being disrupted by technology. I think that John Cryan, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, hit the nail on the head when speaking at a conference three years ago: “In our bank, we have people doing work like robots,” he said. “Tomorrow we will have robots behaving like people. It doesn’t matter if we, as a bank, will participate in these changes or not, it is going to happen, [and if you] spend a lot of time basically being an abacus [then your job will disappear].”

That said, there is a great opportunity to foster a workforce that can adapt to the changing environment. Effectively, the people leaving the bank should be those who cannot or will not reskill.

The important lesson that banks need to learn is that the ones that are succeeding in digital transformation are those who motivate and support their people to reskill. I’m not suggesting that these banks are acting like charitable institutions and keeping everyone around even if they’re not needed. But they are the banks that are making hard choices, supporting people who want to reskill, and showing the door to those who don’t.

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