Unlocking the human opportunity Harnessing the power of a ... · career employees are ideal...

A study between

Toronto Finance

International

and PwC Canada

bringing together

insights across the

Toronto financial

services sector.

February 2019

Unlocking the human opportunity Harnessing the power of a mid-career workforce

2 Unlocking the human opportunity: Harnessing the power of a mid-career workforce

Preface

Talent is the engine that drives the Toronto Financial Centre, which employs (directly and indirectly) over 400,000 individuals, including a growing pool of technology professionals.1 As global competition intensifies, the ongoing ability to attract, develop and retain world-class talent will remain critical to both existing and prospective financial services firms. To that end, TFI leads sector-wide initiatives to grow and sustain Toronto’s long-term talent advantage.

We also execute and publish action-oriented research to inform the workforce planning, talent and skills development strategies of financial services employers, educators and government. In 2018, our members told us that it was difficult to obtain detailed data on the future skills needed in financial services. To meet this need, TFI partnered with PwC on research to better understand how key influencers of change across the financial services sector are impacting roles and skills.

The resulting report, Unlocking the human opportunity: Future-proof skills to move financial services forward, identified five key themes underpinning the changing nature of work in financial services. It proposed four categories of future-proof

skills that, when deployed, can help to ensure that organizations and their people are well positioned to succeed against a backdrop of technological innovation and evolving business practices.

The report concluded with a roadmap, ten practical and actionable recommendations for building the future financial services workforce, and a challenge for organizations to get started.

existing upskilling program, we hope that the insights and recommendations shared in this report will be helpful. And we encourage you to continue to share your experiences, best practices and critical success factors with your colleagues across the financial services sector, academic partners, and TFI so that, together, we can raise the bar on skill development in the sector and help ensure the ongoing success of our organizations.

Toronto Finance International (TFI) is a public-private partnership between Canada’s financial services institutions, academia and three levels of government, dedicated to driving the growth and competitiveness of Toronto’s financial services sector and establishing its prominence as a global financial centre.

To support this call to action, TFI is pleased to present our second report, Unlocking the human opportunity: Harnessing the power of a mid-career workforce. This report examines the business imperative behind upskilling and shares strategies focused on mid-career employees — a significant cohort of financial services talent — to help organizations develop the skills they need to remain competitive, innovative, and agile.

Using a similar methodology to our first report, we interviewed over 60 business, talent and academic leaders, in addition to a variety of subject matter specialists with deep knowledge in skill development, upskilling frameworks and best practices, who generously shared their expertise and experience.

Whether you are just getting started or are looking to enhance your organization’s

Our sincere thanks to TFI members and to our dedicated steering committee for sharing their time, expertise and insights, and for their enthusiastic contribution to this research.

Sashya D’SouzaSenior Vice President, Talent Initiatives Toronto Finance International

https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4372260/Talent/TFSA_PwC_Unlocking_human_opportunity_Future-proof_skills_2018_FF.pdf



4 Executive summary

6 Introduction

8 Upskilling mid-career talent

8 Dispelling the myth of job replacement

8 Recognizing that roles and skills are changing

9 Upskilling: An increasingly critical priority

9 The benefits of upskilling

10 Upskilling: Beyond an HR responsibility

10 Upskilling among mid-career professionals

11 Recommendations

11 Where to start: Actions employers can take

11 Make lifelong learning a priority for everyone

12 Identify critical future skills to drive both talent and business results

14 Apply a multi-faceted upskilling approach to develop critical skills

15 Empower people to embrace upskilling

16 Up the ante on experiential learning

18 Demonstrating upskilling in action

18 How to read the Upskilling Profiles

19 Upskilling Profiles

19 Risk management

20 Operations

21 Product development

22 Customer service and sales

23 Technology

24 Summary

25 Approach

26 References26 Endnotes

26 Bibliography

27 Contacts

3

Table of contents


In the financial services sector, organizations are experiencing significant disruption to talent requirements, with new skills gaining prominence and others evolving or becoming less necessary, due to key influencers such as the adoption of new technologies [i.e. robotic process automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)], and the increasing application of big data to drive customer solutions. In order to succeed over the long term, financial institutions need to empower and engage employees to embrace continuous learning so that they are future ready.

Acting now to develop and implement upskilling strategies, specifically for mid-career employees, can fast-track development of the future-proof skills needed to bridge the widening skills gap, creating a competitive advantage. To do so, leaders need to strategically invest in the tools, technologies, support structures, and employee experiences needed to foster and embed a lifelong learning culture within their organizations.

Leaders who make the right upskilling investments today, and create a growth mindset across their organization will be well prepared to succeed now and into the future.

Conducting upskilling researchThis report is based on insights gathered through interviews with over 60 business, talent, and academic leaders within the financial services sector in Toronto;

a review of a wide range of secondary research on talent development and upskilling; and a synthesis of the deep experience and knowledge of subject matter specialists in financial services and talent development across PwC’s global network.

Recognizing upskilling as a competitive advantageTalent is often an organization’s biggest competitive advantage. With Toronto’s low unemployment rate, the high cost of employee turnover, and the growing war for talent, upskilling is an effective, cost-efficient solution for organizations to future-proof their workforces. To get it right, financial services leaders need to commit to embedding a culture of continuous learning within their organization so that their people are well positioned for future growth.

While upskilling employees requires significant investment, the benefits are clear: upskilling digital skills, advanced cognitive skills, and emotional and social skills can lead to a more agile workforce and improve productivity, employee motivation and talent retention.

Focusing on mid-career employeesFinancial institutions can fast-track the development of their future-proof workforces by investing in the upskilling of their mid-career employees. Typically between 35 and 54 years of age, mid-career employees make up 87% of the

Canadian labour force3 and well over half of the workforce of Canadian financial institutions.4 They generally have extensive institutional knowledge, a demonstrated cultural fit, and a base level of future-proof skills upon which to build.

Contrary to negative biases that may exist, research demonstrates that mid-career employees are ideal upskilling candidates: many are prepared to embrace new technologies and are interested in skill development. Additionally, upskilling mid-career employees can help financial institutions retain specific functional knowledge and organizational expertise, ensuring continuity of service and operations.

Managing upskilling extends beyond HRAn upskilling strategy is most effective when it is treated not as a Human Resources (HR) initiative, but as a leadership priority. Business and talent leaders need to work collaboratively to align their business, talent development and future of work strategies, and to communicate business objectives and desired outcomes in ways that help employees recognize the value of upskilling. Research shows that implementing an upskilling strategy can help organizations address skills gaps, reduce the costs associated with employee turnover and new talent recruitment, and increase customer satisfaction as employees become equipped to deliver higher-value customer interactions.

As technology and innovation continue to reshape the business world, having the talent and skills required to remain relevant and competitive is a priority for executives. Globally, 80% of CEOs are worried about the availability of key skills; 76% are concerned about the lack of digital skills; and 91% agree that they need to strengthen their organization’s soft skills in addition to their digital skills.2

Executive summary

Human experience skills

• Emotional intelligence

• Communication

• Empathy

• Influencing

• Collaboration

• Teamwork

Implementing a fulsome upskilling strategy can be complex, but the benefits are compelling. Below we outline five actions that financial institutions might consider to support strong upskilling strategies. As each organization is unique, leaders should treat their upskilling strategy as a playbook — tailoring and refining it to achieve the best outcomes.

1. Make lifelong learning a priority for everyoneUpskilling requires executive-level commitment to lifelong learning, ideally with sponsorship from the CEO. Embed lifelong learning into your organizational culture and the day-to-day work that is done, and foster a growth mindset. To be most effective, an upskilling strategy should be inclusive and accessible for all, regardless of age, role, level or digital literacy.

2. Identify critical future skills to drive both talent and business resultsIdentify and prioritize the critical skills that your organization needs to succeed in the short and long term, and understand where gaps exist. We recommend using

objective assessment tools, data analytics technology, and HR data modelling capabilities to drive better decision-making related to upskilling activities.

3. Apply a multi-faceted approach to develop critical skillsInclude a multi-faceted approach based on the skills required and the scale with which upskilling is being deployed within your organization. A range of initiatives can be implemented to activities that raise the baseline level of skills across your workforce, target the needs of specific groups of employees (i.e. employees in specific functions or roles), and prioritize the critical employees who create, protect or enable the greatest proportion of organizational value or revenue.

4. Empower employees to embrace upskillingUpskilling is most successful when employees take ownership of their own learning. To support this, provide clarity on the value of upskilling both for the business and for employees themselves. Investing in digital and social learning tools and platforms can enable employees

to be in the driver’s seat of their upskilling experience. Yet technology is only one part of the equation. Financial institutions also need well-equipped people managers who can guide the design of upskilling paths, provide insights into mission-critical skills, advocate for meaningful upskilling experiences, and provide continual coaching and ongoing feedback on skills development.

5. Up the ante on experiential learningApplication and experience drive deeper learning and provide ways for employees to practise new skills until they become habits and behaviours. To that end, encourage talent mobility across your business and invest in talent market systems that can help drive organizational agility and flexibility, and provide people with more meaningful career experiences. An effective way to test new and innovative upskilling approaches is to pilot and scale opportunities such as gig assignments, hackathons, or external rotations that can give employees unique skills development opportunities.

1. Make lifelong learning a priority for everyone

2. Identify critical future skills

3. Apply a multi-faceted approach to develop critical skills

4. Empower people to embrace upskilling

5. Up the ante on experiential learning Futu

re-p

roof

skill

ed w

orkf

orce

Busi

ness

perf

orm

ance

Continuous learning culture

Meaningful career exp

erie

nce

sLea

rnin

g to

ols

and

tech

nolo

gy

Reimagination skills

• Business acumen

• Curiosity

• Creativity

• Critical thinking

• Problem-solving

Pivoting skills

• Change leadership

• Adaptability

• Learning agility

• Coping skills

• Resilience

Future currency skills

• Data acumen

• Digital acumen

Skills that will prepare today’s workforce for the futureIn our previous talent report, Unlocking the human opportunity: Future-proof skills to move financial services forward, we identified four categories of future-proof skills that support the future of work and foster agility and adaptability in talent. In this report, we focused on these four skill categories as a basis for developing upskilling strategies and initiatives.

5

Recommendations on where to start



Introduction

With the world changing rapidly, financial leaders are rethinking how they approach business strategy, understanding the need to integrate agility into their long-term plans in order to respond effectively to opportunities as they arise. To support this shift, organizations need to identify new ways to develop their talent so that employees are able to adapt to new ways of thinking, and working.

New technologies, increasing competition, shifting demographics, evolving regulations — challenges faced by the most competitive financial institutions worldwide, including our own here in Canada. As the financial services sector continues to transform, leaders understand the need to focus on their talent. When change is constant, people can be a company’s greatest competitive advantage.

Unlocking the human opportunity — Findings from Phase 1 of our future skills researchIn 2018, TFI released a talent report entitled, Unlocking the human opportunity: Future-proof skills to move financial services forward, which detailed how Canadian financial institutions are evolving in order to respond to new market trends, and how in-demand roles and skills within their organizations are expected to change as a result.




7

Taking the next step: Cultivating future-proof skillsTo help financial institutions take the next step towards addressing their future talent needs, this report provides a deep dive into the Develop phase of the talent life cycle, showcasing how to cultivate future-proof skills.

When developing talent, it helps to start with where you are. That is why this report focuses on upskilling — a key talent development strategy. We explore how organizations can support their mid-career talent, by sharing upskilling best practices and providing practical recommendations for action. To be most relevant to our stakeholders, and aligned to the insights provided in our Phase 1 report, we tackle upskilling strategies across five key

functional areas that are common in most financial institutions, and that are expected to experience significant shifts in skill demand over the next three to five years: customer service and sales, product development, technology, operations, and control functions.

Our researchThis report includes insights gathered from one-on-one interviews and focus groups with over 60 executives from the Toronto region’s financial services sector, academia, and leaders in other industries and regions outside of Toronto. Our findings were supplemented by secondary research and the deep expertise of financial services specialists across PwC’s global network. See Approach on page 25 for more details.

One major theme that emerged from that research is the importance of the human opportunity, at a time when technologies like automation and AI are viewed as game changers. We proposed that people are the real game changers. Only by focusing on people — both employees and customers — can financial institutions harness the real value offered by innovative technologies.

To help organizations unlock the human opportunity, we identified four categories of future-proof skills needed to build the workforce of tomorrow. We outlined actions companies could take across the talent life cycle now, to develop future talent strategies, and illustrated these actions and the future-proof skills they would help to build.

The unique talent needs of Toronto’s financial services sectorToronto is the second largest financial centre in North America, directly and indirectly employing over 400,000 people.1 With the exception of Luxembourg, Toronto has the highest concentration of metro area employment in the financial sector, globally. Over the last five years, employment in Toronto’s Financial Services sector rose by 25%. Toronto is the ninth most important financial centre globally.5 Toronto is also home to North America’s fastest-growing large technology market, which has seen its labour pool increase by 51.5% over the past five years — creating more tech jobs than the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Washington.6

Toronto is recognized as a great source of diverse and highly skilled talent. The city is home to world-class academic institutions and is known as a growing hub for innovation. However, we also have rapidly growing businesses and a historically low unemployment rate (6.3%).3

In our Phase 1 report, we outlined how Toronto’s financial institutions are creating new, emerging roles and, as a result, increasingly require professionals with skills that have not traditionally been associated with financial services, such as Data Scientists and Scrum Masters. To that end, financial institutions are not only competing against each other to fill these roles, but are now also competing with other sectors for this same talent pool. The challenge: financial services is not a common career destination for the type of in-demand talent that we now seek. To ensure they have the right talent for tomorrow, financial services institutions need to act today.

Human experience skills

• Emotional intelligence

• Communication

• Empathy

• Influencing

• Collaboration

• Teamwork

Reimagination skills

• Business acumen

• Curiosity

• Creativity

• Critical thinking

• Problem-solving

Pivoting skills

• Change leadership

• Adaptability

• Learning agility

• Coping skills

• Resilience


• Data acumen

• Digital acumen

Future-proof skills


Upskilling mid-career talent

Dispelling the myth of job replacementA common misconception about technology adoption is that it leads to tremendous job losses. In many sectors, including financial services, this conclusion is one-sided, as productivity applications such as automation and AI are also expected to create new jobs — in many cases, more jobs than they replace. For example, Gartner predicts that by 2020, AI will become a positive net job creator, generating 2.3 million jobs while eliminating 1.8 million.7

One of the most significant benefits of productivity solutions in general is that they can remove repetitive tasks from roles, freeing up employees up to focus on “higher-value” activities: these are tasks that currently and in the foreseeable future can only be performed effectively by humans, as they require advanced “human” skills such as critical thinking, empathy and creativity. By allowing employees to focus on these higher-value activities, innovative technologies can help financial institutions drive stronger customer relationships and long-term business growth.

Recognizing that roles and skills are changingAs innovative technologies replace repetitive and transactional activities, the day-to-day roles of many employees in financial services will shift. Over the next few years, roles such as tellers, financial analysts and brokerage clerks will likely decline, while technology and higher-value customer-interfacing roles will grow. On the skills front, while there will likely be a decreasing demand for people with data input and processing skills, there will be an increasing demand for people with coding, advanced technology, social and emotional skills.8

Leaders of Toronto-based financial institutions recognize that there is a gap between the skills their people have today and the skills their organizations will need in the future. 85% of the executives we surveyed last year said that at least 20% of their organization’s roles will change over the next three to five years. Almost half said that at least 40% of their workforce will need retraining in order to perform their roles.9

While financial institutions recognize that roles and skills are changing, few have been able to unlock the value of human-machine collaboration. In part, this is because few institutions have prioritized addressing the skills gaps. For example, while bank executives believe that, on average, only one in four of their employees is ready to work with AI, only 3% are planning to significantly increase their investment in upskilling over the next three years.10

Similar to its counterparts around the world, Canada’s financial services sector is experiencing change at a pace and on a scale not witnessed to date.

New technological advances such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and robotics process automation (RPA) are being deployed within financial institutions to increase efficiency and improve the customer experience; for example, chatbots are facilitating credit card payments, while RPA is being used for data entry and verification in mortgage lending.

Financial institutions require a workforce that can leverage these advancements, and those to come, successfully. Roles and in-demand skills are changing. How do we build on the talent within our current workforce, and upskill for the future?

How do we define upskilling and reskilling?Upskilling and reskilling can be defined in various ways, depending on context and need. For the purposes of this report, we define upskilling as the development of skills an employee will need to perform their same role in the future, while reskilling refers to the development of skills an employee will need to perform a different or new role within their organization in the future.

9

Upskilling: An increasingly critical priorityTwo intertwined strategies that are critical for addressing the future skills gap are upskilling and reskilling. As work evolves, employees and their skill sets must remain relevant and effective.

Upskilling is a significant priority globally: over 60% of executives say that they will need to retrain or replace more than a quarter of their workforce between now and 2030 as a result of automation and digitization.11

Showcasing upskilling’s return on investmentIBM: Provides a 40-hour allotment per year dedicated to various forms of education, at the discretion of the employee and manager through the consumption of personalized, curated content in digital format (videos, PDFs, websites, etc.). IBM launched its digital upskilling program in 2015, with 750,000 badges earned by employees to date (100,000 badges achieved for IBM’s “Development for AI” program).

SAP and AT&T: A significant investment in upskilling resulted in workers twice as likely to be hired into newer, mission-critical jobs — and four times more likely to make a career advancement.8

Discover Financial Services: Achieved a 144% return on its investment in a $7.4 million tuition assistance program. This return came, in part, as a result of avoided costs related to turnover and recruitment.8

Organizations across sectors, including financial services, currently tend to overlook the value of upskilling. A recent report proposed that “Financial institutions’ lack of commitment to upskilling employees to learn how to collaborate with intelligent technologies will significantly hinder their ability to deploy and benefit from them.”10

However, that need not be the case. Financial institutions that embrace innovative upskilling strategies for their existing workforces will thrive over the long term.

The benefits of upskillingWhile upskilling employees can have significant costs, the benefits are manifold. For example, in a world where technologies are changing rapidly and customers are becoming more demanding, investing in employees’ customer service skills can help a financial institution to create a competitive advantage.

of executives see addressing potential skills gaps related to automation/digitization within their workforces as one of their top ten priorities — while nearly 30% rank it among their top five.10

66% Employees are willing to spend up to 2 days per month to upgrade digital skills — a median response of 15 hours each month.12

Research also shows that upskilling related to digital skills, advanced cognitive skills, and some social and emotional skills leads to a substantial boost in productivity, and a more mobile and agile workforce. Other positive impacts associated with upskilling include improvements to employee motivation, productivity, and retention.8

By addressing the lack of opportunities to grow and learn — the number one reason employees would leave their jobs13 — financial institutions can begin to address skills gaps, reduce the costs associated with employee turnover, and also increase customer satisfaction as employees learn to provide higher-value customer interactions. Upskilling mid-career employees in particular can also help financial institutions retain the specific functional knowledge and organizational expertise needed to ensure continuity of service and operations.

Finally, good talent development programs can help financial institutions attract and retain new talent, particularly talent with highly innovative skills who prefer high-growth learning environments.


Upskilling: Beyond an HR responsibilityThe potential of upskilling strategies is unleashed most effectively when upskilling is an organizational priority — not just a Human Resources (HR) objective. Indeed, it is a “critical driver of value creation and performance and a never-ending process that requires complete commitment and participation of top management.”11

To gain the most value from their efforts, executives need to work collaboratively with HR to align their business strategy, talent development strategy, and future of work strategies. As the financial services sector continues to evolve, this collaboration will allow financial institutions to stay on top of changes and make agile adjustments to their approach for the benefit of their customers, their employees, and their organization.

Business performance

Future of work strategy

Upskillingstrategy

Talent development

strategy

Where upskilling fits within strategy

Upskilling among mid-career professionals

How is a mid-career workforce defined, and why focus on them?

Mid-career employees are typically people aged 35 to 54 years old (i.e. who generally have between 12 to 30 years of experience). This age group makes up 87% of the Canadian labour force14 — and well over half of the workforce of Canadian financial institutions.4

Mid-career employees typically have extensive institutional knowledge, have demonstrated a cultural fit with the organization, and have a minimum base level of human experience, reimagination and pivoting skills — the skills that we identified in the first phase of our future skills research as “future-proof.”

Most mid-career employees are prepared to embrace new technologies and focus on skill development. Roughly 67% expect intelligent technologies to improve their work-life balance, while 57% expect it will expand their career prospects.10

What do they want?

More opportunities to try new things. Better ways to balance their work responsibilities, family and personal life.

Real meaning and value from the work they do.15

What challenges do they face?

Work overload30% of mid-career employees work 50+ hours per week.15

TimeMany are significantly constrained by the demands of their work and personal lives — the average employee has only 24 minutes a week for “formal learning.”14

FearEmployees who are more senior may hesitate to take risks or admit what they don’t know.

AgeismThe bias that older workers are “not worth the investment” exists — despite the fact that people are working much longer, and Canada’s population on average is aging.8

11

Recommendations

Where to start: Actions employers can takeWhile disruption often instills feelings of fear and uncertainty across organizations, it can also act as a spark to think strategically about how to embrace it. Today’s talent leaders have access to more sophisticated technologies than ever before. With the right information and tools at their fingertips, leaders can inspire excitement for change and prompt the


Top-performing companies have 73% of their employees updating skills every six months, while 44% have employees update skills continuously.13

Indeed, most successful, high-growth and digitally-enabled companies foster a lifelong learning culture in their workplaces that encourages and enables employees to constantly enhance their skills to improve their performance and remain relevant.

Recommendations for a successful upskilling strategy

In the evolving financial services sector, the unrelenting pace of change and disruption makes upskilling mid-career employees a business imperative. Instilling a culture of continuous learning is essential for supporting upskilling and the development of a future-proof workforce.


2. Identify critical future skills

3. Apply a multi-faceted approach to develop critical skills


5. Up the ante on experiential learning Futu

re-p

roof

skill

ed w

orkf

orce

Busi

ness

perf

orm

ance

Continuous learning culture

Meaningful career exp

erie

nce

s

Learn

ing

tool

s an

d te

chno

logy

development of the skills, behaviours, and mindsets their employees will need moving forward.

But change is rarely simple. In this section, we outline a number of actions that leaders might consider when developing, tailoring and expanding their upskilling strategies, to meet the unique needs of their organizations.

Making lifelong learning a priority may seem challenging, particularly when it comes to mid-career employees, given the negative bias that often exists regarding their willingness to change and their ability to develop a growth mindset. However, behavioural science research shows that while humans may be inherently resistant to change, it is possible to cultivate a growth mindset by giving people the right conditions and opportunities.

The only skill that will be important in the 21st century

is the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will

become obsolete over time. – Peter Drucker 16


What can financial institutions do?Make lifelong learning a leadership priority Change starts at the top, with an executive-level champion. If a CEO embeds lifelong learning into the organization’s overall business strategy, for example, it demonstrates both its value and its contribution to the achievement of strategic objectives. This can help employees buy into learning opportunities.

To further underscore its importance, leaders should model positive upskilling behaviours, showcase their own efforts to learn and develop skills, and actively encourage their employees’ learning by making time for it.

Embed lifelong learning into organizational cultureMaking lifelong learning an integral part of the culture of an organization also requires fostering a growth mindset and ingraining learning into the daily workflow.

This can be done by establishing habits and routines for individuals and teams that spark curiosity encourage questions, and foster excitement about learning. For example, incorporating lessons learned into review meetings, providing job shadowing opportunities, or facilitating ”lunch and learn” sessions on a regular basis can help foster a growth-focused culture.

Providing opportunities is only one part of embedding lifelong learning into organizational culture. Leaders should also establish complementary policies, and find ways to support key “change agents” — the influencers and enablers of culture change.

One tactic is to integrate upskilling expectations and behaviours into individual goals and performance plans. For example, “Consistently hold ‘lessons learned’ meetings with my team at the end of each month” or “Spend ‘x’ hours on job shadowing to observe executive communication or storytelling.”

Any policies created should be consistent with and supportive of lifelong learning. Metrics should be clear and well communicated by leadership, and employees should be given accountability for their learning.

Invite everyone alongAn upskilling strategy should be inclusive of all employees, regardless of role, tenure or age, and not simply focused on digital natives or reserved for employees in high-growth areas. By making sure no one is left behind when it comes to lifelong learning, leaders can inspire a positive people experience and a culture of engagement and collaboration.17

As an example, RBC hosts a live event and podcast series called “RBC Disruptors” which delivers new insights through monthly conversations with guests from a range of industries about disruption, innovation, and how technology is changing the world around us. RBC Disruptors events and podcast episodes are available to all RBC employees and have created a real following, sparking energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity among RBC employees to learn about the value and impact of innovation and technology. While the information in every episode might not be immediately applicable to a given listener’s work, RBC believes that expanding knowledge and thinking is relevant to everything people do.

2. Identify critical future skills to drive both talent and business results

Many of the executives with whom we spoke highlighted the value of identifying and prioritizing key skills that will be required in the future. They emphasized the importance of gaining consensus across both business and talent leaders regarding the in-demand skills needed to drive both business and talent results.

As a starting point, business and talent leaders need to work together to understand how skill requirements are changing and what skills will be needed most both in the short and long term. From there, they can determine where the most significant gaps exist between their current capabilities and their future needs, in order to develop appropriate upskilling strategies.

What can financial institutions do?Identify skills needed for the futureTo develop an appropriate upskilling strategy, leaders need to identify new skill requirements, changes to existing skills, and skills that are becoming obsolete. This process does not need to be perfectly accurate as skill requirements will continue to change. Leaders should look at this step as a method for mobilizing their organizations to move forward with developing an upskilling strategy — one that will need to evolve as new skills and requirements are identified.

An organization’s individual functional areas may have different future skill requirements and priorities. As a result, it is important for leaders to consider both functional- and organization-level requirements. Likewise, it is equally important for financial institutions to be honest and realistic about their current capabilities (e.g. talent, skills, data, technology) so that any strategies they develop have a better chance to succeed.

Our Phase 1 report, Unlocking the human opportunity: Future-proof skills to move financial services forward, provides a good starting point for identifying skills that are becoming increasingly critical across common functions within financial services.



13

Determine the largest skill gapsOnce the critical skills needed to remain successful in the future have been identified, the next step is to determine where the largest gaps exist between current capabilities and future needs, so that upskilling activities within each functional area can be prioritized. This is not a simple task. In one study, 40% of Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) said that they were either “ineffective” or “neither effective nor ineffective” in assessing the capabilities and gaps of employees.18

When it comes to assessing skills and skills gaps, it helps to look beyond employees’ resumes or internal talent profiles to capture additional skills gained outside of work — through volunteer positions, hobbies, or external educational courses, for instance. Additionally, looking beyond existing job descriptions can be particularly important for mid-career employees, who may have been in one role for a significant length of time but gained skills and experience over and above those required for their current role.

Objective assessments are one way that companies can assess skill gaps internally and relative to industry peers so they can design appropriate upskilling opportunities. However, financial institutions should approach skill assessments with caution, especially for mid-career employees who may be hesitant to reveal what they don’t know for fear that it will be used against them.

Organizations might consider ways to position skills gap assessments more beneficially to these employees, such as by highlighting learning opportunities as part of the assessment process.

Two forms of assessments that companies can use to assess skill gaps include:

Digital self-assessments for data and digital acumen: Self-assessments provide employees with an opportunity to increase their self-awareness of learning needs, which can help break down resistance to learning. While self-assessments are easy to administer and can be used to benchmark an entire organization, self-reporting tools can lead to biases where employees answer questions too positively. One way to overcome this is to make results anonymous, individual yet “not-attributed.” Companies can motivate people to complete assessments in a number of ways, such as by providing information to them in return (e.g. individual rating compared to peers).

Peer-to-peer assessments for soft skills: Assessing soft skills like learning agility, curiosity, and empathy can be difficult as these skills are typically demonstrated through behaviours. Financial institutions can use peer-to-peer assessments to measure relevant behaviours on actual projects and to gain a third-party view of an employee’s skills within a performance context. These types

of reviews should be completed immediately after a project is finished and specific questions should focus on identified future-proof skills, rather than on generic capabilities.

For example, instead of asking “How empathetic is Jane?”, try rephrasing the question to: “Thinking of a time when a colleague was having trouble, to what degree was Jane able to offer help and show support?”

Instead of “Is Jane resilient?”, ask: “Thinking of a time when there was an issue, to what degree did Jane contribute and help the team to resolve it?”

Invest more in data analytics tools and capabilities for HR While most financial institutions recognize the value of using data to provide a critical edge for HR talent planning, many could enhance how they use data analytics to identify upskilling needs and to drive better talent decision-making.17

Consider increasing the investment in HR talent with data modelling skills and implementing a range of data analytics tools, particularly predictive analytics, algorithms, and AI, to more effectively identify and assess employee skill gaps as input to upskilling efforts.

IBM enhancing skills development with AIIBM provides its employees with access to “Your Learning” — a rich, personalized digital learning marketplace driven by AI. Accessed by approximately 98% of IBMers every quarter, individuals can see the learning modules most popular among their peers, sign up for targeted learning channels, and explore the skills and badges they need to prepare for key roles within the company.

IBM also uses AI to identify individuals who have skills that are in declining demand to provide them with individualized learning roadmaps to increase their skill sets. Similarly, by using individual data points related to career history, training, and social eminence, the tool can provide employees with a report of roles at IBM that match their skill set or with upskilling options that will give them the skills needed for a particular role. As a result, 70% of IBM employees today have the skills they need for the future compared to just 40% five years ago.


3. Apply a multi-faceted upskilling approach to develop critical skills

Once a financial institution identifies its critical future skills and existing gaps, it can design upskilling activities that will have the most impact. Leaders should develop a multi-faceted approach based on the unique needs of their employees, the degree of required skills development, and how quickly they need to scale upskilling across their organization.

What can financial institutions do?Raise the water levelA “raising of the water level” approach to upskilling focuses on enhancing the baseline level of skills across an entire organization. Many financial institutions are already using this approach to “level-up” the core data and digital literacy skills of their workforces essential to working in the digital age. To accelerate and scale learning using this approach, leverage technology and digital tools to provide frictionless access to relevant, curated content so that employees can learn when and how they want.

Conduct targeted upskillingFinancial institutions will need to balance inclusive upskilling strategies with the need to differentiate the upskilling experience for specific groups of people (e.g. by function or role) to make learning activities more relevant and valuable. As a starting point, organizations can focus on developing higher levels of proficiency for prioritized skills based on the changing nature of work. For example, a company could focus on helping employees who are performing reporting roles improve how they use data to tell a compelling story that enables more informed business decision-making. Alternatively, employees in product development roles could be offered behavioural insights (BI) and analytical skills training.

A targeted approach can also be effective for addressing the needs of individuals or groups that require reskilling because of

Invest in the critical fewEvery organization has individuals who are critical to success — individuals who create, protect, or enable the greatest proportion of revenue or value for the organization. These employees should be targeted in upskilling strategies. For example, one of the ways in which Thomson Reuters is approaching upskilling is by focusing on the critical value-driving roles. The organization is in the process of identifying the critical skills and capabilities required for these roles, and determining the focus areas for their development.

Financial institutions should also focus on individuals critical to positively maintaining the culture of their organizations, as these employees can help to champion upskilling and continuous learning. For example, this might include people active in corporate social networks who know how to spread information and how to get things done, and to whom newcomers turn for advice.

potential job displacement. Reskilling can help individuals pivot, gain new skills and experiences, and prepare for potential career shifts.

To address targeted skills, several financial institutions have partnered with continuing education institutions to curate specific content and credentials for mid-career employees. Talent and business leaders might consider working together with academia on long-term strategies to help mid-career employees bridge shifting skill gaps.

Technology can be an excellent way to provide accessible upskilling opportunities, especially for mid-career employees who might not have the time to commit to long-term or in-person upskilling programs. Virtual and remote training programs continue to gain a significant amount of traction among financial institutions for this reason.

Micro-credentialing is also becoming increasingly attractive to organizations as it allows employees to upgrade skills in more manageable pieces.

Multi-faceted approach to upskilling

The critical fewInvesting in the people/roles who drive the greatest revenue or value

Targeted upskillingDeveloping pockets of proficiencies (expertise and mastery)

Raising the water levelBaseline skill level (digital literacy)

15


In order to get the most value from upskilling programs, organizations need to empower their employees to embrace learning and upskilling opportunities. As a starting point, provide clear communications with respect to overarching business goals, where and how emerging technologies will be used to automate or augment work, the key skills needed for the future, and the value of employee upskilling activities to both organizational objectives and employee outcomes. When employees understand the value and benefits of learning, they are more likely to embrace new ways of working.

To enhance the potential for success, provide appropriate supports to employees so that they can take ownership over their individual learning and growth activities.

What can financial institutions do?Enable employees to curate their upskilling experiencesAllowing employees to choose learning programs based on their specific needs rather than providing one-size-fits-all programs can significantly improve employee perception of, motivation for, and commitment to upskilling. As a part of this process, employees, with appropriate guidance from their manager, can learn how their work is likely to shift in the future, what skills they need to develop, and how best to build their own upskilling training plan.

To help bring upskilling of future-proof skills to life, we provide sample Upskilling Profiles for employees across five functional areas within financial services on pages 19–23.

Empower managers to become learning championsPeople managers can be critical to the success of a financial institution’s upskilling activities. Organizations need to empower and remove any barriers for their people managers to become learning

champions so they can proactively role model and guide their team members along upskilling paths. As learning champions, managers can identify critical skills needed on their teams, foster a growth mindset, and provide ongoing feedback on the development of critical skills and behaviours.

While people managers can be critical learning champions, it is important to remember that change champions can be found at all levels within organizations. Financial institutions should encourage all their employees to help each other learn, as everyone can have a positive impact on the learning experience of others. By encouraging employees to share their knowledge, skills and learning, organizations can foster a robust lifelong learning culture.

Invest in digital and social learning toolsLearning experience platforms such as Degreed or EdCast, or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) such as Udacity or LinkedIn Learning, can help organizations evolve their learning approach from a traditional classroom or eLearn-based model to a more personal, anywhere and everywhere model that provides individualized learning opportunities at an employee’s fingertips.

Many of these platforms leverage AI and analytics to deliver easy-to-access, personalized content in bite-size formats, often using gamification and social elements. Individuals can choose courses that interest them or that can help them obtain the skills they need to take on new roles. Employees can also earn badges or digital credentials in order to gain internal, and even external, recognition of their upskilling efforts.

For example, TD Bank recently introduced TD Thrive, an upskilling initiative leveraging the Degreed platform, to provide its employees with access to curated learning content from a variety of sources (i.e. internally developed, partner-curated, freeware). Within TD Thrive, an employee can develop a unique profile,

assess their skills and experience based on proficiency levels, and easily search for learning content relevant to their needs or interests. The platform also includes learning paths to support upskilling and, when needed, a prescriptive reskilling curriculum to support employee movement from existing roles to new roles. TD Thrive also acts as a community to connect employees to content, peers, leaders and subject matter experts in the marketplace.

Give people an environment to learn;

promote and reward development; reward

experts and leaders for teaching others.13

Organizations can also leverage innovative technologies to teach soft skills. For example, Sun Life recently piloted the use of virtual reality to create emotional connections through client experiences. Virtual reality can be an effective way to provide immersive situational training experiences that feels realistic and allows the learner to demonstrate varying degrees of concern and empathy through their responses. Organizations have also used virtual reality successfully to provide customer service training or to correct for unconscious biases in the industry.


The science of learning: Why experiential learning is critical to upskillingMemory is made up of two systems. The first system, known as “working memory,” manages short-term information, like where an individual puts their keys or the name of a person they just met. The second system, known as “long-term memory,” is responsible for uploading this short-term information into a person’s mental model of how the world works. It is through this updating mechanism that people are able to learn. The stronger the connection between the two systems, the easier it is for a person to perform a new action, to remember the next step in a process, or to avoid repeating a mistake.

5. Up the ante on experiential learning

Experiential learning can help individuals retain learning more effectively by providing them with opportunities to practise skills and embed behaviours into their day-to-day activities. Consider providing employees with greater access to experiential and safe learning environments, whether internally and externally, in order to spark their curiosity, ability to practise and deepen skills. For example, experiential learning could include activities like job rotations, gig assignments, or hackathons. When developing experiential learning, financial services leaders should consider the unique needs of employees with diverse backgrounds or career experiences.

What can financial institutions do?Leverage insights from neuroscienceFinancial institutions can leverage insights from research in cognitive and behavioural science to design evidence-based experiential learning opportunities that lead to stronger learning and development of new skills. Examples include experiential and scenario-based learning modules, team competitions, and fun rewards like badges can be used to encourage employees to change their behaviour and incorporate new skills into their day-to-day. Critically, these programs are designed to integrate within the context of what employees already know well in order to reduce the perceived amount of effort. Several learning experience platforms embed tactics like nudges into their design, which can increase motivation and encourage more positive behaviour changes as they relate to learning and upskilling.

For learning programs to be effective in sustainably changing behaviour, however, persistent practice and reinforcement is required. Ongoing monitoring and measuring of performance, rewarding change champions, and timely bite-sized learning modules will ensure that the new behaviours become habit.

Remove barriers to talent mobilityFinancial services leaders can enhance talent mobility and agility within their organizations. To do this, focus on removing barriers faced by employees — for example, by investing in talent marketplace systems that match talent and skill demand with need. For this to happen, leaders need to think differently about employee utilization, develop practices that encourage talent sharing, and become more open to talent movement across their organization.

Some financial institutions are already doing this by investing in the Agile methodology and by applying Agile principles to internal projects. Agile-based thinking typically provides employees with greater cross-functional exposure, allowing them to gain a wider variety of knowledge that can accelerate their individual learning, while also speeding up organizational decision-making cycles.

In order to reduce organizational risks, leaders can conduct pilot projects related to talent mobility initiatives in order to trial different approaches within low-risk and short-term projects. They can then scale successful initiatives they deem best aligned with their overarching business objectives and upskilling strategy.

Offer different and meaningful learning experiencesExperiential learning does not need to be limited to job rotations, job shadowing, or secondments. Think creatively about the different kinds of meaningful career experiences that can be offered to employees.

For example, some financial institutions have started holding hackathons — events where groups of employees focus on a clearly defined problem and work together to develop viable solutions within a focused amount of time. Taken from the start-up world, this style of problem-solving can be a great way to spark employee interest in innovation while providing individuals with unique learning experiences. Other innovative options might include external rotations (e.g. having a bank employee work at a start-up for six months), skill-based volunteering opportunities, or leaves-of-absence and sabbaticals that allow employees to broaden their experience.

17

PwC’s Digital Accelerators ProgramPwC’s leadership is firmly committed to distributing advanced digital skills throughout its organization as part of its upskilling agenda for all employees. One of the ways PwC is demonstrating its overall commitment to upskilling is by offering various fast-track programs in addition to the broad upskilling agenda. One example is an internal Digital Accelerators Program. This program, currently piloted in the US and Mexico, enables employees to accelerate their skills development to become “Digital Accelerators.” As Digital Accelerators demonstrate progressive mastery of knowledge and skills, they also earn recognition through PwC’s Digital Badges program, something that is being scaled across the entire firm.

In 2018, approximately 3,500 employees applied for the first 1,000 spots in PwC’s Digital Accelerators Program — over 1,000 were selected across all parts of the business. Each selected participant is provided with flexible, forward-thinking learning experiences, which started with a 3-day in-person onboarding and a personalized development path. The program recognizes the need for selected individuals to rapidly apply learning; as a result, the firm has released individuals from their “traditional” work for approximately a two-year period so they can rapidly apply learned skills and champion organization-wide changes.

To date, PwC’s Digital Accelerators have already used intelligent and robotics process/desktop automation to improve processes significantly, such as by reducing work that previously took thousands of hours to minutes or seconds. This has allowed both PwC employees and their clients to focus on higher-value work.

Embrace gig assignmentsIncreasingly, financial institutions are embracing a “gig” mindset — the use of short-term, outcome-specific assignments — because of the flexibility, learning, and agility they offer. Companies can also use short-term “gig assignments” as opportunities to increase internal talent mobility across their operations, accelerate employee learning, and create more meaningful career experiences. For example, BMO has been piloting a program called #HelpWanted, a virtual community job board that enables employees to jump into short-term opportunities where resources are needed across the company — and BMO is now moving to test it at scale across the organization. #HelpWanted enables leaders to form fast teams for new projects, priorities and emerging business needs, while employees gain career experiences in gigs that help them develop future-focused skills, build broader networks and work in cross-functional teams without formally leaving their existing jobs.

While roles and skill demands are changing rapidly, so too are the nature of different careers. In our earlier report, we highlighted the need for leaders to develop a “career lattice” for their employees rather than thinking of advancement simply as a “career ladder.” Further research suggests leaders need to go even further, moving from a “career lattice” model to one focused on creating meaningful “career experiences.” When people are empowered to take on different roles, they can challenge themselves to gain new experiences, learn new skills, and broaden their capabilities.

For example, Cisco embraces a “one company, many careers” approach. The company critically evaluates the skill sets of its employees and identifies gaps related to potential roles. To address specific gaps or develop desired skills, employees can find short-term “stretch assignments” or longer-term rotation assignments in Cisco’s Talent Marketplace.19

Demonstrating upskilling in action


In this section, we provide sample Upskilling Profiles to showcase potential learning pathways and to illustrate the upskilling recommendations in action.

Each Upskilling Profile provides an example of a mid-career employee across five functional areas common to financial services, outlining how their work is changing, the critical future-proof skills they will require, and an upskilling experience journey.

How to read the Upskilling ProfilesPart 1 of each profile outlines the current state of the learner. This section provides context into the learner’s key attributes and motivators, in addition to sharing how the learner’s work is changing and the future-proof skills they will need in the future.

Part 2 of each profile provides a forward-thinking, personalized upskilling plan for the learner, offering a mix of learning opportunities to upskill for the future-proof skills identified in Part 1.

Upskilling Profile

Sara is comfortable with the way she has always worked with the Risk Capital and Model Development team at the bank. She has a routine for completing her data analysis, data documentation, and risk reporting, and she knows what models and validation processes to apply, and when. Sara spends her days (and nights) making sure she understands ongoing changes to regulations by reading industry reports, and enjoys following the news to understand what is happening in the market. It takes time to develop the “core knowledge” of risks in banking that she has, so Sara is not very concerned about her role changing too much in the future, and doesn’t see why she needs to alter how she does her work. Sara needs to understand the value and benefits of upskilling before she invests time and effort into learning something new.

Sara can complete an online course on visualization tools (eg. Tableau) available on the bank’s Learning Portal. A combination of webcasts and short quizzes are examples of internally curated content that Sara can use to learn the fundamentals of data visualization technology.

Applying knowledge of new data and analysis tools will result in more time for Sara to focus on higher-value strategic tasks such as extracting and sharing insights with leadership. Sara can also watch Ted Talks on the power of storytelling and public speaking to improve her communication and influencing skills.

Once every member of Sara’s team has finished the online curriculum, a practice tool will become available. A “mock report” can be generated, so Sara can practice using new technology in a test environment, while collaborating with her team. She will be able to receive feedback from an assigned coach on her application of the new tools.

This will help Sara apply her learning to a business scenario, discover the usefulness of new tools compared to her current routine, and allow her to start thinking more critically and creatively about next steps, without the fear of errors impacting the bank.

Opportunities to present the practice report to leaders, including a Risk Management Executive, will enhance Sara’s communication and critical thinking skills.

This will provide recognition for her efforts, and real-time feedback to integrate into the next quarter’s risk report.

Current attributes How Sara’s work is changing

The bank is currently investing in implementing data visualization tools, such as Tableau and Power BI, and programs that can quickly create reports based on inputs. This would automate data mining processes and the validation cycle and would require Sara to learn how to use the new tools. There will be a greater expectation for analysis and effective communication of value-added insights and recommendations.

Upskilling motivators

Intrinsic

Personal Growth

Sense of accomplishment

Opportunities to experiment

Enjoys being challenged

Extrinsic

Recognition

Career development

Support & feedback

Job security

Critical skills for the future of Sara’s work

Future currency skills: Sara needs to develop deep data visualization, presentation, and storytelling skills, all of which, when combined with her knowledge of the risk industry and capabilities, will make her effective a communicating the bigger picture to stakeholders.

Reimagination skills: Sara needs to think critically and creatively to optimize her time, leveraging new tools for data prep, statistical analysis and visualizations so she can spend more time on providing value-added insights and recommendations versus manipulating and validating data inputs.

Barriers to Sara’s development

Regulation constraints: Risk reporting and modeling is complex and it’s a challenge to stay current with changing regulatory requirements. With the focus on compliance and regulation, Sara believes her job doesn’t allow for much creativity. As a result, Sara’s learning has to be on her own because she has no time during the day.

Unfamiliarity with the tool: There are nuances and exceptions of which Sara is aware, which have already been embedded in the models she uses when she creates risk reports, and validates data. She finds it difficult to trust that new tools will produce accurate data, when she knows her existing model works.

What are Sara’s career impacts?After completing her upskilling, Sara will be able to work with new tools which will eliminate tactical tasks that she has been performing, creating capacity for Sara’s role to become more strategic and more closely with leadership.

Future opportunities:Office of the Chief Risk Officer

What are Sara’s learning enablers?1. Provide clear communication

on the value of upskilling as an investment in her growth.

2. Support from her coach in preparation for the practice report presentation.

Risk management

Sara’s upskilling path

Confidence in digital aptitude

Propensity to experiment with new technology

Importance of person-to-person interactions

Advocacy for change

19

Name: Sara

Age: 49

Risk management experience: 15 years

Current role: Risk Data Manager

“Show me how this will make my job easier”

Ups

killi

ng p

rogr

essi

on

Curated learning• Online courses• Online videos

Experiential practice• Practice report• Feedback

Experiential practice• Executive presentation• Feedback


Reimaginationskills

Critical skills for the future of Kenneth’s work

Reimagination skills: Kenneth needs to be a problem-solver as technology increasingly manages straight-forward processes. For example, his role must shift towards ideation (forming ideas or concepts) and creative as new technology identifies more potentially fraudulent transactions.

Pivoting skills: Kenneth has been successful as a mortgage adjudication specialist. Now, he needs to shift how he and his team work, leveraging their knowledge to enable new technology. Kenneth also needs to learn to demonstrate change leadership, providing guidance to his team members to help them improve efficiencies and manage transition-related issues.

Barriers to Kenneth’s development

A focus on metrics: Monthly targets and expectations for completion set by Head Office are increasing. Kenneth finds it difficult to focus on his personal development, and his team’s development, while he prioritizes his queue of approved, declined, and active applications.

Specialist roles: Kenneth understands the importance of being a specialist, since the concentration of his work is focused on complex deals. He needs guidance to find opportunities to develop more leadership skills, which will help him to mentally prepare for a different way of working.

Operations

Kenneth’s upskilling path

20

Upskilling Profile

Kenneth has worked with different processes within Operations for more than a decade at the bank. He is dedicated to his work and teams, and is great with details and “getting the deal done”. Over the years, he has gained experience with credit card, personal loan, and auto loan applications. Now that he is the lead for the mortgage adjudication team, he is excited that his work will involve integrating technology into what has traditionally been a very manual process that involves reviewing documents, and working with the front line to get the right information. He is also excited to leverage technology to help identify fraud. However, given his current experience, he is not sure where to start.

Name: Kenneth

Age: 42

Operations experience: 12 years

Current role: Mortgage Adjudicator Specialist

“Show me how I can keep improving”

How Kenneth’s work is changing

The bank is beginning to re-engineer the mortgage adjudication process by integrating robotic process automation (RPA) into the document verification process. This results in less time spent reviewing documents; and increases the identification rate of suspected fraudulent transactions. This can lead to more interesting work for Kenneth and his team, as they will be able to focus on exceptions and more complex transactions.


Intrinsic

Personal Growth




Extrinsic

Recognition

Career development

Support & feedback

Job security

Current attributes




Advocacy for change

Kenneth can refer to the bank’s internal Learning Portal to explore technology concepts and training, including Blue Prism tutorial videos to learn the fundamentals of RPA. In addition to this, he can complete courses to learn how to create process maps leveraging software programs (e.g. Microsoft Visio).

Upon completion of online courses, Kenneth will have the opportunity to earn badges to provide greater recognition of his new skills, both internally and externally.

Internal weekly stand-ups (short meetings held while standing with other teams) will provide an opportunity to share experiences using new technologies and quick tips for using RPA. They provide an opportunity to learn from teams that interact with technology more regularly, and to collaborate to reimagine new ways of working. For example, discussing current events in the news and potential impacts to the bank will help Kenneth and his team think critically about their current work and potential sources of fraud.

Identifying individuals during stand-ups who are comfortable using technology and who can act as “change champions” will provide a peer-to-peer support network to answer questions.

As both finding new ways to use technology to create efficiencies and leading people to adopt these changes become increasingly important in Kenneth’s role, opportunities to shadow those with change leadership experience implementing automation will be invaluable. He can learn about emerging processes and roles at the bank, and how to continue developing the appropriate skills.

Shadowing others will provide Kenneth with a perspective into how other people learn, and how to leverage new technology to optimize current work.

What are Kenneth’s career impacts?Having the chance to learn from others will give Kenneth perspective on how to work differently and practice ideating, rather than executing.

Future opportunities:Process Analyst, Commercial Lending Work

What are Kenneth’s learning enablers?1. Encourage him to complete

courses and collect badges to help track his progress.

2. Give him the flexibility to try new work, without it impacting his metrics or rewards.

Curated learning• Online courses• Badging

Learning network• Stand-ups• Change champions

Learning network• Shadowing

Ups

killi

ng p

rogr

essi

on

Reimaginationskills

Pivotingskills

Product development

Upskilling Profile

21

Ellen is a Payments Product Manager for Business and Corporate Banking. Ellen has had a linear career path. She started her career with the bank as a Help Desk Agent supporting Business and Corporate Cash Management clients, and spent fifteen years in a product support role before being promoted to Product Manager. The product portfolio she currently manages is comprised of electronic payable products, such as Interac e-Transfer and AFT wire payments. During her time as a Product Manager, Ellen has been instrumental in building Interac e-Transfer for business and corporate clients and transitioning paper-based bill payment reconciliation to an electronic process. She is known for her deep technical product expertise and knowledge of bank systems, and is a “go-to” resource for more junior members of the team.

As part of payments modernization, Ellen will need to work collaboratively with her peers to create meaningful customer products using human-centred design (HCD).

Ellen will enroll in an external immersive human-centred design course, which allows her to read through materials at her own pace, as well as meet with the coworkers in her group (also enrolled in the course), to complete team exercises throughout the design cycle to solve real-world customer issues. This will give her the opportunity to work with others, and deepen her cross-functional knowledge.

As part of a pilot, a group of high-performing agile and technology experts will be assigned to coach Ellen’s team. During this time, the team will be focused on bringing a specific product from strategy to development, leveraging agile methodology and predictive analytics from customer social media data.

This experience will show Ellen and her team how to apply agile methodology and data analytics within the product development cycle. She will learn how to adapt to a new rhythm, quickly pivot and iterate solutions in an effort to reduce product development time.

As part of the bank’s push to generate greater cross-functional exposure and learning, Ellen can apply for and participate in a rotational program within another product group at the bank.

For 3 months, Ellen will work directly with the mortgages product team who are already using both agile methodology and HCD, increasing her breadth of knowledge and relationship management skills. Using her newly expanded understanding of HCD and agile, she can apply new ways of working to different products, and can coach her teams to use new methodologies.

Current attributes How Ellen’s work is changing

Payments Modernization is an industry initiative that will transform the bank’s payment infrastructure to enable real time payments and the electronic exchange of standardized data, while reinventing the customer experience to make it easier and faster for businesses to send and receive money. As part of this, Ellen needs to work collaboratively with her technology and digital counterparts, understand customers’ pain points, and deliver a frictionless customer experience.


Intrinsic

Personal Growth




Extrinsic

Recognition

Career development

Support & feedback

Job security

Critical skills for the future of Ellen’s work

Human experience skills: Ellen needs to leverage strong business acumen and relationship management skills to access resources that will expand her cross-functional knowledge of other product lines and help her to demonstrate more breadth across her Product function for future career opportunities.

Pivoting skills: Ellen needs to adopt agile development skills that will allow her to connect frequently across digital, technology, and sales partners. Creating feedback loops will allow her to pivot easily and confidently, and iterate and adjust solutions based on customer input, and industry and market direction.

Barriers to Ellen’s development

Siloed teams: Ellen is accustomed to working in silos with clear hand-off points. She needs to shift her working style to collaborate with new people and teams in order to deliver competitive customer-centric solutions.

Loss of credibility: Ellen has relied on her technical expertise to develop her career and she hasn’t been “close to the customer” since her time on the Help Desk. She is worried about losing credibility with her peers and not having the right skills and capabilities to design human-centric products.

What are Ellen’s career impacts?Working in agile teams provides greater cross-functional exposure and ability to iterate, reducing Ellen’s development time.

Future opportunities:Some payments roles are at risk to be outsourced to FinTechs. As a result, Ellen may seek out strategic partnership roles with Third Party Service Providers, or Product Development in other areas, such as Mortgages and Lending.

What are Ellen’s learning enablers?1. Provide one-on-one coaching

and feedback on how to lead an agile team through the product development cycle.

2. Hold career conversations and provide clarity on what options are available to her.

Ellen’s upskilling path




Advocacy for change

Name: Ellen

Age: 38

Product experience: 15 years

Current role: Product Manager

“Show me how to solve problems differently”

Curated content• Human-centred design

Experiential practice• Agile pilot & coaching

Cross-functional exposure• Rotational program

Ups

killi

ng p

rogr

essi

on

Humanexperience skills

Pivotingskills

22

Customer service and sales

Upskilling Profile

Ben likes helping people, and works as a recovery specialist supporting long-term disability claimants at a life insurance company. Not every conversation Ben has with claimants goes smoothly, and not every document is perfect. While he is very thorough in his analysis, he knows he needs to be more proactive in serving his (many) claimants to make sure they are getting the right treatments, and the right benefits. Ben’s sister is currently on long-term disability, so he understands the importance of his role in supporting each claimant’s recovery. Recently, there has been talk about the insurance company transitioning to become more “digital and customer-centric”. Ben is excited to improve claimants’ experiences and help them return to work, but doesn’t specifically understand how that will change his role.

Roadshows with executives will be conducted to communicate the company’s strategy; explain what being “digital and customer-centric” means for future initiatives and how roles will change; and demonstrate how leadership will support specialists’ development.

Executives will encourage all team members to embrace new tools and technologies to provide a care-based recovery journey for claimants. This will help Ben understand the importance of communication and empathy skills to better meet claimants’ needs.

Workshops on new technology, processes and tools will introduce Ben to the company’s specific customer-centric goals, including simplifying language and technical jargon. Ben will attend short workshops that focus on new scripts, surveys, and email templates, to help Ben become comfortable with these tools.

Providing opportunities to participate during the workshops, role play, and receive feedback, will help Ben develop digital acumen in working with new tools and applying to new processes in real time.

To prepare for work on more complex, long-term disability cases, Ben can take advantage of the company’s advanced claims simulation. Supported by virtual reality, the simulation allows Ben to practice interacting with a complex disability “claimant” in a test environment. Each simulated phone call presents a unique claimant concern.

The virtual reality tool will allow Ben to practice his empathy skills when interacting with a claimant, who is likely experiencing a difficult and emotional situation, in a safe way. He can learn different ways of handling conversations, testing his responses to claimant experiences. Supported by his coach, Ben can then apply his learning on a real claimant call.

Current attributes How Ben’s work is changing

The insurance company is beginning to enhance its capabilities by implementing a centralized workflow with simplified communications to replace its legacy systems. This provides one portal and interface for claimants, recovery specialists, employers, doctors, and service providers to use as a record of each claimant’s journey. Using technology to manage data will enable specialists to focus on supporting claimants through a care-based recovery journey.


Intrinsic

Personal Growth




Extrinsic

Recognition

Career development

Support & feedback

Job security

Critical skills for the future of Ben’s work

Future currency skills: Ben needs to learn how to improve his digital acumen and work with new technologies, so he can use multiple channels of interactions (including chat boxes, email, and mobile apps) to access claimant information and communicate.

Human experience skills: As technology minimizes his administrative tasks and paperwork, Ben has more capacity to proactively respond to claimants’ needs. He can focus on being empathetic by having more touchpoints with claimants to respond to their needs.

Barriers to Ben’s development

Information overload: It’s hard for Ben to learn to navigate the new system, and know where to find the documents he needs based on what a claimant is telling him. He hasn’t had to learn a new system in 10 years, and it will take time for him to understand how to balance using new tools efficiently, while providing a “seamless” experience for the claimant.

Lack of support: Ben wants to be sure that he understands all of a technology’s functionalities, and needs a go-to resource such as a coach or peer support on-the-fly to continue to support claimants in this new world of work.

What are Ben’s career impacts?Upskilling will enable Ben to be more efficient in his role and add greater consistency and value to his interactions with claimants.

Future opportunities:Digital Enablement and Customer Experience roles as the company pursues its customer-centric goals.

What are Ben’s learning enablers?1. Clarify the business objectives

so Ben understands the changes and how those changes will impact his role.

2. Involve Ben when updates to the system are made, so he can provide insight from a user perspective on pain points and improvements.

Ben’s upskilling path




Advocacy for change

Name: Ben

Age: 52

Customer service experience: 10 years

Current role: Recovery Specialist

“Show me how I can improve the claimant experience”

Raising awareness• Roadshows

Experiential practice• Workshops• Role play

Experiential practice• Virtual reality• Coaching

Ups

killi

ng p

rogr

essi

on



Technology

Upskilling Profile

23

Prior to joining the bank, Alisha had worked as a software engineer for another company in the retail industry. In her current role, Alisha’s projects have been limited to working within the Technology & Operations group, and she has not had much exposure to working with other functions within the bank. The bank is investing in new platforms including online portals and mobile apps, and is looking for ways to effectively utilize the data collected to drive a more personalized customer experience. Alisha is excited to explore new ways of programming and would like to work with big data and machine learning, to apply this new technology to business solutions. She wants to be challenged and would like the opportunity to be involved in this new area of work.

As a starting point, Alisha compiles use cases for leveraging emerging technology to solve meaningful business problems, and provide innovative examples of how other industries integrate consumer preferences to enable the customer experience through technology.

Through discussions with her coach, they discuss the opportunity for Alisha to leverage her network within the bank to speak with peers in the wealth management area and learn more about the business and its objectives.

After discussing her interests with her coach, Alisha can enroll in a machine learning course offered by LinkedIn Learning. This will build on her technology expertise, and allow her to bring new approaches to working with her team to build the personal investment portal.

The course provides the option to complete assignments online at her own pace, which gives her the flexibility to fit training into her schedule. In addition, the bank is providing Alisha with dedicated time to focus on learning. This creates an environment that allows her to balance completing tasks with upskilling activities.

Before beginning to code the new portal, team members will be paired with an advisor from the Wealth Management arm of the bank. This will allow developers, like Alisha, to collaborate with and learn from colleagues with business and subject matter expertise.

To deepen her learning, Alisha can complete a short gig assignment working with a cross-functional agile team on another new product development project to expand her business acumen and application of agile development methodology.

How Alisha’s work is changing

As customer interaction channels become more digital, technology teams will need a deep understanding of customer expectations to build customer centric solutions, such as a new direct to consumer online personal investment portal that the bank is piloting. The goal is to help customers make investment decisions from the comfort of their home. A new application using machine learning would help enable this. Accordingly, knowledge of advanced analytics and machine learning, and working in agile teams will be essential for Alisha’s success.


Intrinsic

Personal Growth




Extrinsic

Recognition

Career development

Support & feedback

Job security

Critical skills for the future of Alisha’s work

Reimagination skills: Alisha’s curiosity and strong interest in learning about emerging tools and technologies such as AI, machine learning, cloud, etc. that can help meet new customer needs will continue to serve her well.

Human experience skills: Alisha also needs strong collaboration skills to work effectively in diverse, agile teams that include people from other lines of business and functions. In additional, she will need to understand the business context (including customer and advisor needs), to effectively apply her technology expertise to business challenges, and positively impact user experience.

Barriers to Alisha’s development

Siloed communication platforms: While the bank is in the process of replacing legacy technologies, communication platforms are out of date. Alisha wishes she could connect more easily and effectively with other individuals and teams to support her in her role.

Time constraints: Alisha is excited to experiment and work with new technologies, but it’s hard for her to find time in the day to both learn new things and finish her assigned work.

What are Alisha’s career impacts?Working in agile teams will allow Alisha to step away from the computer to work with others to effect change.

Future opportunities:Senior Manager, Application Development or Senior Manager, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

What are Alisha’s learning enablers?1. Provide a space that allows her

to experiment freely, and test her thinking.

2. Support her curiosity by providing her with new opportunities to work with others on large projects.

Alisha’s upskilling path

Current attributes




Advocacy for change

Name: Alisha

Age: 35

Technology experience: 9 years

Current role: Senior Software Developer

“Show me that I can make a difference”

Work-integrated learning• Paired learning• Gig assignment

Self-identification• Use cases• Discussions with coach

Curated content• Specialized courses

Ups

killi

ng p

rogr

essi

on

Reimaginationskills



Summary

We hope that the research findings and recommendations in this report help you to start or continue conversations within your organization, and provide practical ideas and insights to support your organization on its upskilling journey.

While upskilling is a major undertaking, it is a business imperative for financial institutions to empower their employees to develop the skills needed to compete in the future of work. However, successful upskilling strategies go beyond the development of specific skills. They create an organizational culture that fosters curiosity, cultivates a growth mindset and supports employees with the leadership, meaningful experiences, tools and other enablers needed to inspire a commitment to lifelong learning. Which in turn, will drive business value.

25

Approach

Financial services executives that took part in this research included:

• Senior level leaders (VP+) with lines of sight to organizational, talent, and learning strategies

• Leaders representing a cross-section of areas, including customer service and sales, product development, technology, operations, and control functions

• Representatives from banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and pension investment management organizations

• Canadian-based executives, supplemented by executives from the U.S. and Australia who shared insights into global market practices

Insights for this report were gathered using primary and secondary research, including interviews with over 60 executives from across financial services, academia, and talent development providers, supported by interviews with global subject matter specialists.

Creation of this report would not have been possible without the generous support and contributions of individuals from a large number of organizations, including:

Thank you to the following steering committee members who shared their extensive knowledge and expertise, and who helped shape the direction of this report:

Thank you to the following PwC subject matter specialists for their contributions:

Academic representatives and talent development providers that took part in this research included:

• Academic leaders focused on developing continuing education program curriculums at universities and colleges

• Representatives of learning experience platform providers (in Canada and globally), focused on creating new content for learning, and building platforms for collaboration between employers, employees, and post-secondary institutions

Aviva

BMO Financial Group

CIBC

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Freedom 55 Financial

George Brown College

G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Ryerson University

Humber College

IBM Canada

Fred AngerThe G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Ryerson UniversityExecutive Director, Financial Planning & Strategy

Madeleine BarkerRoyal Bank of CanadaSenior Director, Strategic Workforce Initiatives

Canadian Financial Services

Bruce Choy

Biswajit Das

Keegan Iles

Matthew Lawrence

Special thanks

Susan Sharp

Melaina Vinski

Joanna Yu

Content Development

Alexandra Bulat

With thanks to our funding partner: Sasan Parhizgari

Jonathan Riva

Yair Weisblum

Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning

Ewan Clarkson

Carrie Duarte

Julie Gordon

Sarah McEneaney

Penny Partridge

Carolyn Rush

Bhushan Sethi

Mark Spratt

Jake Hirsch-AllenLinkedInEconomic Graph and Learning Solutions for Higher Education and Workforce Development Lead, Canada

Andre GonthierSun Life FinancialDirector, Talent Acquisition

Gina JenerouxBMO Financial GroupChief Learning Officer

David McDonaldManulife Financial CorporationAVP, Global Talent

Matthew SmithOntario Teachers’ Pension PlanVice President, Talent Management

LinkedIn

Manulife Financial Corporation

Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto

OMERS

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship

Riipen

Royal Bank of Canada

Schulich Executive Education Centre, Schulich School of Business

Seneca College

Sun Life Financial

TD Bank Group

Thomson Reuters

TMX Group

University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies


ReferencesEndnotes

1. Toronto on the Global Stage: 2018 Report Card on Canada and Toronto’s Financial Services Sector. The Conference Board of Canada.

2. 21st CEO Survey. The Talent Challenge: Rebalancing Skills for the Digital Age. PwC 2018.

3. Statistics Canada, Toronto Unemployment Rate. October 2018.

4. PwC FY16 Custom Banking Annual Survey Benchmark Report.

5. London Fights Off Resurgent New York. Pavoni, Silvia.The Banker. July 2, 2018.

6. 2018 Annual Tech Talent Report. CBRE. 2018.

7. Predicts 2018: AI and the Future of Work. Gartner. November 2017.

8. Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. McKinsey Global Institute. May 2018. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce

9. Unlocking the Human Opportunity: Future-proof Skills to Move Financial Services Forward. PwC. February 2018. http://tfsa.ca/pwc/TFSA_PwC_Unlocking_the_human_opportunity_2018.pdf

10. Future Workforce Survey – Banking: Realizing the Full Value of AI. Accenture 2018.

11. Talent Wins. Charan, Barton, Carey. 2018.

12. Our Status with Tech at Work: It’s Complicated. PwC. October 2018.

13. New Research Shows “Heavy Learners” More Confident, Successful, and Happy at Work. Bersin, Josh. 2018. https://joshbersin.com/2018/11/corporate-learning-does-drive-happiness-productivity-too/

14. Statistics Canada, Labour Force (October 2018).

15. HBR Managing Middlescence. Harvard Business Review. March 2006. https://hbr.org/2006/03/managing-middlescence

16. Managing for the Future, Drucker, Peter. 1992.

17. Preparing for Tomorrow’s Workforce, Today. PwC. 2018. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/publications/preparing-for-tomorrows-workforce-today.html

18. Learning at the speed of business. McKinsey Quarterly. May 2016. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/learning-at-the-speed-of-business

19. At Cisco, We’re Trying to Create our Own “Gig Economy” for Employees. Larson, Jill. May 2017. https://www.ere.net/at-cisco-were-trying-to-create-our-own-gig-economy-for-employees

Bibliography

Retraining and Reskilling workers in the age of automation. McKinsey Global Institute. January 2018.

Understanding the Talent Gap: Lessons & opportunities for Canada. Brookfield Institute. March 2018. https://brookfieldinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/BrookfieldInstitute_Understanding-the-Talent-Gap-1.pdf

Financial Services Technology 2020 and Beyond: Embracing Disruption. PwC. 2016. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/financial-services/assets/pdf/technology2020-and-beyond.pdf

Shifting Demands, Competing Priorities: Adjusting to the New Talent Realities in Financial Services. PwC. 2016. https://www.pwc.se/sv/pdf-reports/19th-annual-global-ceo-survey-financial-services.pdf

The Future of Work: People and Automation – Optimizing Your Human and Digital Workforce in Financial Services. PwC. 2017. https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/consulting/assets/20170713-optimizing-your-human-and-digital-workforce.pdf

The Power to Perform: Human Capital 2020 and beyond. PwC. 2016. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/assets/pwc-people-strategy.pdf

How We Teach Digital Skills at PwC. Harvard Business Review. 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/10/how-we-teach-digital-skills-at-pwc

How learning works: Seven research based principles for smart teaching. Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. 2010.

A CEO’s Guide to Learning in the Digital Age. BCG. September 2018. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/ceo-guide-leading-learning-digital-age.aspx

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce

http://tfsa.ca/pwc/TFSA_PwC_Unlocking_the_human_opportunity_2018.pdf

https://joshbersin.com/2018/11/corporate-learning-does-drive-happiness-productivity-too/

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/publications/preparing-for-tomorrows-workforce-today.html

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/learning-at-the-speed-of-business

https://www.ere.net/at-cisco-were-trying-to-create-our-own-gig-economy-for-employees

https://brookfieldinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/BrookfieldInstitute_Understanding-the-Talent-Gap-1.pdf

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/financial-services/assets/pdf/technology2020-and-beyond.pdf

https://www.pwc.se/sv/pdf-reports/19th-annual-global-ceo-survey-financial-services.pdf

https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/consulting/assets/20170713-optimizing-your-human-and-digital-workforce.pdf

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/assets/pwc-people-strategy.pdf

https://hbr.org/2018/10/how-we-teach-digital-skills-at-pwc

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/ceo-guide-leading-learning-digital-age.aspx

Contacts

Sashya D’SouzaSenior Vice President, Talent InitiativesToronto Finance International+1 (416) [email protected]

Julie BryskiDirector, Talent Initiatives, Toronto Finance International+1 (416) [email protected]

Kim Vander AerschotPartner, Financial Services ConsultingPwC+1 (416) [email protected]

Trish ShaheenManager, People & Organization ConsultingPwC+1 (416) [email protected]

Toronto Finance International PwC

27

www.pwc.com/ca/

© 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.

PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. 0218

Disclaimer: This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.

www.pwc.com/ca/

http://www.pwc.com/structure

Unlocking the human opportunity Harnessing the power of a ... · career employees are ideal...

Documents

Transcript of Unlocking the human opportunity Harnessing the power of a ... · career employees are ideal...