Most business commentators agree that we’re living in a transformational age. Staying relevant to customers and the rapidly changing market environment – as individuals, companies and entire industries – is a major challenge. Here we look at some steps the financial services industry (and those who work in it) can take to keep business models relevant and skills well and truly up to the task of delivering value over the long (and we mean long) term.
Staying relevant in a changing world is the hot topic of discussion at this year’s annual Amplify Festival, currently being held in Sydney. Hosted by AMP, it features an impressive program of international speakers: entrepreneurs, researchers, trendspotters, academics and authors.
BlueChip is fortunate to be there gaining insight into what the future might hold for the financial services and wealth management industry. We’ll be reporting on key issues and conclusions from Amplify throughout June – so stay tuned. But first up:
A reality check for the workforce
Silicon Valley's Woman of the Year 2012 and owner of some fierce black leather boots, Dr Tracey Wilen-Daugenti's presentation was a reality check for the workforce. The prediction that the current generation, with its anticipated lifespan of 100-years-plus, will need a suite of new skills to stay in the workforce for an estimated 50-70 years, calls for future proofing one’s career. So if you want to be gainfully employed in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time, here are the top five competencies you – and the industry – need to develop.
1. Sense making: the ability to interpret information and overlay data
In financial services, this means we can increasingly use data to personalise customer interactions to meet their needs, habits and preferences, in so doing increasing customer engagement. We’ve seen the retail environment start using loyalty card data to do this well. Dr Wilen-Daugenti cites US department store Nordstrom as an impressive case study, while at BlueChip we note that UBank’s app PeopleLikeU, is emerging in this space in Australia.
2. The new media ecology requires new media literacy
We'll need to be able to use multi-media as a communication tool and articulate our expertise across many channels, not just one. As communications specialists, we’ve been taking a stand against public relations being perceived as simply media relations. The ability to understand and tap into a variety of channels comes from being in the thick of it; having a Twitter account and staying social as well as knowing which of many channels can deliver the content needed to stay on top of – or lead – trends.
3. Cross cultural competence
With the vast range of technology available to communicate and collaborate, we need to shift our traditional face-to-face project management skills to apply just as well in the virtual world. For Gen Y and newer generations, I think this will be straightforward. Calls will be made using Facetime and Skype, and cloud-based technology will facilitate and streamline document sharing. It reminds me of the film Up In The Air, where George Clooney’s character fought against the dehumanising effect of life-altering communication. Being a huge fan of efficiency however, I think that as with everything, there’s a right time and place for it. In our industry, this means the difference between a transactional interaction such as a global M&A compared to an organisation-wide a brand change in which success relies on employees being engaged and involved in the cultural shift.
4. Novel and adaptive thinking
This will encourage us to overlay technology such as artificial intelligence with human expertise. Dr Wilen-Daugenti quoted a case study in which ‘the smartest computer in the world’ was asked to find a cure for cancer. Unsurprisingly, it couldn’t. But, augmented by the nuances and intuition of human knowledge, a team of humans working with the computer is making headway. In financial services, we already see analytics providing insights into how our customers are responding to the way we communicate with them. And one of the purposes of Amplify is to identify the innovators that could help us lift our gaze and improve our game. But more on those later this month.
5. Better Cognitive Load Management
Dr Wilen-Daugenti hypothesises that we now try to absorb the equivalent of 174 newspapers per day. It’s a vast load of information, but she also says that there’s nothing to suggest that we can’t learn to prioritise it. In fact, being able to do so is a vital skill for future success. As one perceptive tweeter pointed out, small wonder that we are starting to feel tired! Yes, it is overwhelming, it can be scary but it is also exciting, stimulating and laden with new possibility.
The upshot for building a bullet proof career – and industry – in the face of this change? Dr Wilen-Daugenti advocates planning, planning and more planning. Think of your own skills and what they can bring to this industry as a business: decade by decade, they will have to be upgraded so they stay in demand.
