Building a Resilient Workforce
The digital evolution is gaining momentum. As financial institutions revolutionise their digital infrastructure and processes, the transition from legacy systems will demand innovative operational and people risk management strategies.
Governance from regulatory bodies highlight the significance of operational resilience to ensure a sound financial system. Financial institutions must maintain a robust risk management strategy to address cyber risks (including system failures, attacks and breaches), fraud and execution risks, and third party exposures. The scope of the PRA’s position on operational resilience now extends to business models and staff skills. Financial institutions’ business models are evolving.
Firms must remain sensitive to their own employee engagement. The demands on the workforce are changing rapidly, and financial institutions have a duty to support their people as the firm transitions to an increasingly digitalised operating model.
With almost 90% of reputational crises triggered by human activity, supporting employees by addressing the challenges they are facing will be a core driver of future success, growth and resilience.
The demands on the workforce are changing rapidly, and financial institutions have a duty to support their people as the firm transitions to an increasingly digitalised operating model. Digital success is reliant on a workforce that will embrace change without compromising security. A reliance on digital platforms will elevate cyber risk, and employees will need training and support to manage the firm’s exposures.
Training is a Critical Risk Management Tool
How to Enhance the Culture of Resilience
in Financial Institutions
Increasing digitalisation will demand new skills from the workforce. Addressing the broadening digital skills gap is an organisational imperative, and firms must focus on building a sustainable talent strategy.
Financial institutions are focusing on two core talent initiatives:
Attracting and Retaining Digital Talent is the Way Forward
Explore the Findings
Navigating New Forms of Volatility
40%
Lorem Ipsum
30%
Lorem Ipsum
20%
Lorem Ipsum
10%
Contact Us
Website
Legal
Privacy
Cookie Notice
Despite the rapid evolution of technology and automation, financial institutions’ operations remain dependent on their most valuable asset, their people.
In a recent study, 77% of events which caused reputational damage were caused by failures in governance and poor business practices, with an additional 12% caused by financial irregularities.
Triggers of Reputational Damage for Financial Institutions
1 Pentland Analytics 2020
2 World Finance
3 Aon 2020 COVID-19 Survey
Solution Spotlight
Cyber Awareness Training - A digital online training program helps firms educate their employees on cyber risk and provide best practices designed to help reduce the chance of a breach due to human error.
If you would like to discuss any aspects of these insights, or to better understand our capabilities in this area, please do not hesitate to get in contact with our team.
Share the Insights
Regularly engaging with employees to help colleagues understand their own exposures and responsibilities to escalate transgressions will help firms build resilience against operational and people risk. Risk management strategies should look beyond traditional insurance coverage to encompass initiatives such as training programmes.
With regular and appropriate training on the cyber and other risks associated with new digital processes, firms can build a culture of resilience with individuals across the entire firm.
1.
2.
Reskilling the workforce: manual processes are dissolving as automation evolves, driving a sector-wide need to reskill the workforce as part of the digital transition. Although opportunities and resources available to reskill the workforce may be limited, firms can work strategically to identify areas for development and deploy initiatives in growth areas of the business. In reskilling existing talent, employees offered opportunities for professional development are more likely to feel empowered, motivated and engaged, potentially directly translating into longer-term tenure.
Hiring new talent: new technologies are typically intricately designed and require specialist skills to ensure they remain effective and efficient. Technology specialists, such as developers and data scientists, are in high demand and short supply. The transferrable skills and expertise are highly desirable not only for financial institutions, but for multiple other industries. Firms will need to evolve their benefits, rewards and performance strategies in order to compete with the glittering appeal of other industries such as technology giants in the Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile, the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to drive radical shifts in financial institutions’ operating models.
66% of respondents ranked executive leadership as ‘extremely important’ in driving how their organisation defines the future of work.
62% of financial-sector firms reported an increase in mental-health-related illness in the workplace in 2018 . This figure is predicted to increase exponentially in 2021 and beyond as the long-term impacts of prolonged social isolation and unprecedented national lockdowns throughout 2020 and 2021 continue to impact individuals globally. The nature of remote working limits the oversight that managers and colleagues would otherwise have in a physical office environment and isolated employees working remotely are at risk of burnout.
74% of participants surveyed in the financial services sector think their employer should be doing more to help the wellbeing of their employees1. Firms must take an active role in supporting people through these challenges by encouraging health-positive behaviours. By understanding that ‘health’ includes psychological, physical, social and financial aspects, firms can implement measures to support employees in a meaningful way.
Demonstrating a commitment to health-positive behaviours by implementing dedicated teams and driving initiatives from leadership levels will enable individual employees to engage in new habits and routines.
By supporting individuals, firms will be better prepared to navigate complex and volatile challenges of digitalisation with collective workplace resilience.
Supporting Employee Wellbeing is Critical
Daniel Butler
EMEA Head of Financial Institutions Industry Vertical
and Risk Advisory, Commercial Risk Solutions
United Kingdom
daniel.butler@aon.com
John McLaughlin
EMEA Chief Commercial Officer, Retirement Solutions, Human Capital Solutions
Ireland
john.mclaughlin@aon.com
The commercial world is changing, and rapidly. As financial institutions begin to navigate a post-pandemic world of economic upheaval, regulatory scrutiny and rapid technological development, it is perhaps unsurprising that 50% of leaders surveyed in the human resources community ranked ‘maximising workforce agility and resilience to address future disruptions or risks’ as ‘very important’ and 31% as ‘extremely important’ .
Leaders Will Need to Deliver Clarity and Purpose
Leadership will need to deliver clarity and purpose.
Building resilience begins with people, demanding a focus on culture and leadership. By engaging with employees and taking active measures to support their wellbeing, providing sufficient training and support, implementing controls, and ensuring robust reporting and escalation processes are in place, the risk of damage can be minimised by limiting the risk of an event occurring at all.
Building resilience demands a comprehensive risk management strategy which considers both people and operational risks.
Firms should be addressing key questions:
Closing Thoughts
Is your workforce prepared to react to change quickly and consistently?
Are there gaps in your workforce’s skillset which could drive a need to reskill or hire new talent?
How are your HR practices designed to support a resilient workforce?
Do you have assessments and rewards structures in place?
How ready is the workforce to support evolving business models?
Does your workforce have the tools and capabilities to perform remotely?
How do you compare to the market?
As the world continues to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial institutions’ people and operations continue to be challenged in new ways. The leading firms in this space are focused on the wellbeing of their people, creating a workplace environment that provides security, motivation, and support, while building the foundation to pursue growth in an uncertain world. They are rising, resilient.
Despite the rapid evolution of technology and automation, financial institutions’ operations remain dependent on their most valuable asset, their people.
Talk With Us
1
2
3
Website
Contact Us
Legal
Privacy
Cookie Notice
Home