How to Give Banking Training Successfully » Amrita Bazar

How to Teach Banking Successfully

Banks are facing a critical situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic as people have stopped visiting banks due to social distancing. In this scenario, banks had to learn how to offer remote banking services. Bank tellers must understand how to provide good customer service by remotely controlling financial advice and back-office operations. As banks had to move staff to handle these areas due to a new business need, retraining was necessary. Banks had to create separate teams for specific tasks and train more proactive staff to manage a multi-channel environment. All activities had to be digitized during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic phase. Therefore, banks need to think of ways to strategically capitalize on this change through services and products and re-skill the workforce for it through banking education.

What has been the impact of automation in banking?

Banking automation has evolved rapidly, so employees need to be trained to deal with these changes. With the need to focus less on office services, banks have been able to focus more on investment-based services. Automation in banking is used in many industries, such as money transfer and the purchase of travel insurance. The proliferation of smartphones has led to the creation of such ATMs, through which customers can make transfers anywhere via net banking. Bank customers can check their balance through the mobile app instead of going to the bank in person and checking through an assistant. Here are the implications of automation in banking:

1. Less work required

Since the demand for bank employees is not the same as customers do not use checks to transfer money, they had to move on to other roles. Also for withdrawals, customers use ATMs, eliminating the need for bank employees. With the use of software in banking, there is no room for error as it knows what data to use in the system. This prevents banks from making compliance mistakes because no customer data is overlooked. Thus, banks do not commit crimes like money laundering unknowingly. Indeed, with the help of software, banks can identify customers with high-risk profiles and be more attentive to their cash inflows and their transactions.

Bank customers can also be notified of any significant transactions, so they can check their source. They can monitor the source of funds and determine if they come from unscrupulous means. There is also a list of embargoes imposed by national and international organizations and governments, containing the names of people who are not allowed to transact in a country.

2. Compliance with compliance rules

Bots can filter all potential customers of a bank against a blacklist and ensure that none of them are allowed to transact. ATMs, too, have not completely replaced tellers in banks because someone can lose their card and ask the bank to block it, which requires human discretion.

When software is used to prevent money laundering, it detects large cash transfers and deposits. In this case, bank agents are notified by the program when transaction levels exceed the maximum. Bank agents know very well what to do in such situations, when they have received banking training.

Although banks may have laid off people due to the reduction in services provided during the pandemic, they have chosen to rehire them by offering them banking training. Also, laying off employees is not healthy for brand reputation. So banks need to qualify people, but how do they go about it?

• Carry out a needs analysis essential For effective banking training
  Before embarking on any conversion effort, banks should conduct a needs analysis. This will help them know what skills will be in demand in the future. For example, banks now need expertise in financial advice, as many of their customers want to save more than ever. Since remote financial advice is a common feature offered by banks, they need to train their staff for this purpose. When banks do not properly define their recovery objectives, their efforts will not be successful. Even employees in general positions need to learn other roles.

3. Proximity of skills

As far as the conversion is concerned, it must be timely, so that the banks do not lose customers. Therefore, they must reskill employees who have skills for the same roles that require the bank’s workforce. By assessing skill proximity, banks can find the best training resources and save time and money. In fact, such a revival requires a minimum of time (a day or two) and can bring brilliant results. It also saves the bank the cost of hiring new resources.

For example, during the pandemic, banks had to make a serious realignment of resources, as tellers had to act as representatives of customers. A cashier must learn how to handle customer calls regarding products. Bank tellers have also been trained to perform KYC verification when customers open bank accounts online. Banks can select individuals for the role of customer representative solely on the basis of a skills assessment.

4. Introduce a culture of learning

The next element of a successful bank training program is to foster a culture of learning. This can only be done by top level management. Employees should be notified of uploading content via notifications, even senior management can participate in such initiatives. For this, bank employees must receive the qualification message from the management.

When employees receive messages from senior management about banking training programs, it boosts morale [1]. Moreover, if bank managers confirm the need for talent development, employees take it seriously. Employees perceive that the entire organization is committed to promoting talent development within the organization.

Adapting employees to new roles is not easy, so continuous training is necessary. Banks need the help of various online training providers to deliver content through various channels including email, intranet, and webinars. L&D content should be evaluated based on the level of employee engagement to know if it is successful.

5. Involve HR professionals

HR also needs help, which can help a bank determine the talent it needs to grow. Banks need different skill sets to reach the right talent for their growth strategies. With the right help from HR, companies can also identify people who need training for future banking roles. HR specializes in tasks such as skill mapping. A banking education program needs to deploy the right subject matter experts to impart the right skills to the right people.

References:

[1] Do banks need a banking training program? If yes, why ?

Originally published on creativetechnologies.com.