Many senior bank executives fail to appreciate the importance of culture in the drive to digitise operations, argues Alexander Kalinovsky, director of engineering at Wipro Digital
Financial institutions (FIs) are aware that digital is the lifeblood to stay competitive, and that they need to either transform into a digitally centric business or risk becoming obsolete.
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Most modern leaders at FIs realise that digital transformation needs to be a strategic goal, however many still fail to recognise that a cultural transformation, to onboard digital effectively, is just as important. In any industry, it is often easier to change what people do than how they think – and this is undoubtedly the case in financial services.
In Gartner’s 2018 CIO Survey, 46% of CIOs named culture as the biggest barrier to digital transformation, with most approaching culture change with big transformation efforts that are unlikely to succeed. Instead, FIs should try to change culture with small and intuitive adjustments that alter the decision-making process, allowing a business to become more customercentric and provide competitive services.
Culture is the heart of every organisation. Unlike strategy, it is not something that is simply implemented; culture is the personality, the character, and by developing it organically, underlying values, ongoing interactions, innate behaviours and attitudes develop.
For some businesses, however, this is not necessarily always a good thing. Often in larger organisations – and occasionally FIs – tag lines or mottos that people say are adopted. However, unfortunately, when a culture is left alone to cultivate naturally, these negative mantras are heard and repeated throughout the organisation. As is often the case, the more people say something, the ‘truer’ it becomes.
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By GlobalDataThe biggest mistake organisations make is letting their workplace culture form naturally, without first defining what they want it to be. When considering IT operations and digital transformation, technology is repeatedly the focus in financial services, and the people who are leading this change – the drivers – are not a priority.
Changing culture to a digital one requires a working environment that not only embeds digital from the top down, but also ensures that employees are informed, engaged and – most importantly – empowered to help nurture and develop a digital mindset in-house.
Delivering change
Delivery of culture change within FIs is often undertaken with big transformation efforts across an entire organisation, such as overhauling enterprise architecture or the implementation of a new internal communication platform.
However, effective culture change is, in fact, done by making small strategic changes. To do this, FIs should undertake a phaseby- phase approach to allow staff to become open to opportunities available to them. This way the business can start new and positive conversations within the organisation.
The simplest and most effective changes provoke emotional responses, as these lever behavioural change. If FIs give power to employees, they will feel listened to, empowered and intrinsically involved in the business. FIs can do this by allowing team members to opt into a project, rather than being automatically obliged due to role or position.
FIs can also look to exploit a single point where culture is susceptible to deep change, particularly in instances where employees spend most of their time – for example in processes, projects and team meetings. A large part of digital transformation is around shifting the decision-making process away from leaders and executives to the people on the ground dealing with issues on a day-to-day basis.
These people have a better understanding of what is going wrong or where to make improvements, and – once listened to – feel empowered and engaged, not only in themselves but in the company. A positive workplace culture attracts talent, drives engagement, impacts happiness and satisfaction, and affects the performance of not only individual staff members, but also teams, management and, ultimately, the overall business strategy.
The majority of change begins with altering internal perceptions and triggering original thoughts in employees to get them engaged in a new and, more importantly, exciting ways. Rather than measuring success by the amount of processes or technology implemented, for example, it should be measured by a team’s health and excitement.
This excitement then has a ripple effect on the way of working. An ongoing conversation in financial services is hiring and retaining talent, as the industry’s current environment can be extremely tough and competitive. By making employees feel listened to, they are far more likely to not only stay, but want to develop and further their career in an organisation that cares about them. When scaling digital transformation within a traditional institution, FIs need people to engage in news ways of working as a part of this.
To flourish in the ever-evolving digital landscape, rather than dictating that technology is the solution, FIs must look at how it can use it to streamline and enable a seamless journey for its modern-day customer. However, to do this, any changes must be taken on inherently, pushed out and through the business via positive employees. FIs must remember that executing strategy begins primarily with staff, and continues with products and services.
The idea that digital is all-encompassing must permeate the organisation, and in financial services, this is particularly true for front-line staff. Cultivating an open culture that embraces collaboration and communication, using small strategic steps, results in increased productivity and innovation.
In the modern day, with digital at the top of the agenda, FIs now more than ever should work with employees at all levels to develop a digital mindset, as increasingly the most important assets are not financial ones, but openness to new ideas, ingenuity and creativity from employees throughout a business.
