Workforce planning: banking’s next big challenge
Adam Rhodes, Principal Solution Consultant, Finance (UK&I) at Anaplan.
As individuals, the way we deal with our finances has changed immensely in recent years. Digital banking has become not just common, but ubiquitous, replacing many traditional, in-person interactions and analogue processes. The transition was of course accelerated by the pandemic, which forced many banks to re-evaluate their physical vs digital footprints. As a result, banks have had to close branches and redirect their staff from in-person services to more call-centre and site-driven interactions.
From a customer’s perspective, it’s certainly helpful to be able to bank from the comfort of our own home via a simple phone call or using an online chat service. For banks, however, making this digital-first customer experience a seamless one is not so simple. After decades of hiring and providing in-person tellers and face-to-face assistance, banks have had to adjust their understanding of what good customer service looks like. One key learning? Call centres must be adequately staffed at all times so that banks can keep abandonment rates – where customers leave before completing their desired task –low.
This is especially crucial at this time of economic challenge, when rising interest rates have put huge pressure on retail banks to minimise their costs and maximise revenues. They simply cannot afford to lose any customers to the competition: customer service must be absolutely flawless, and no contact channels can be understaffed.
These factors all point to one thing: workforce planning. Banks that execute a strategic workforce plan – optimising resources in a way that provides the best level of customer service, at the most effective cost – will be primed for success in this rapidly changing landscape. But those that fail run the risk of underperforming, wasting valuable resources, and losing revenues and customers, to the competition.
The challenge is that getting workforce planning right is an incredibly complex process that requires innovative, agile, and intelligent forecasting tools, an immense amount of data, and an ability to predict customer needs and trends.
Here are some tips that can help banks get a handle on workforce planning to ultimately deliver stronger customer success:
1. Say no to spreadsheets.
Workforce planning relies on a complex web of unique data. It weaves together aspects as diverse as hiring and compensation benefits, to location data, performance tracking, and information on skills and training times and content. This data is not just unique, but also constantly in flux and subject to change on a daily basis.
Static spreadsheets are highly unlikely to help you keep track of all these different data sets. Just think of the time it would take to update a spreadsheet every time an employee was hired, promoted, received a pay adjustment, or decided to leave or relocate. Now imagine that happening across multiple markets, with currency fluctuations and varying employment laws. Not only does this effort take valuable time – time that could be spent on strategic work – it makes it nearly impossible for banks to keep their workforce data up to date. And old, outdated data will only lead to inaccurate business decisions, especially in an environment that moves so quickly.
Instead, banks need a modern, automated, and cloud-based workforce planning solution, where data is stored in a single environment and updates are automatically reflected in real-time. This makes it easier for banks to contextualise their resources at any given time, which improves their ability to allocate the right people, to the right roles, at the right location and time.
2. Embrace the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning
Generative AI tools have been making headlines since the release of ChatGPT just a few months ago. Of course, such tools can be controversial, but they also have significant benefits when it comes to speeding up and streamlining planning processes. Similarly, advanced technologies like AI and ML can make workforce planning more precise by pulling in external signals and building forecasts that account for a wide range of potential variables, such as interest rate fluctuations or socio-cultural events that can drive a change in customer behaviour.
Take major sporting events, for instance. Data showsthat every time a large sporting event takes place, there is an increased risk of fraud and scam activity – whether that’s from rushed online ticket purchases or sports betting. As a result, call centre teams that manage fraud cases see higher call rates over a short period of time, which means those call centres need to be staffed appropriately to avoid the chaos of repeated scams and mounting losses that impact both the bank and the customer in question.
With AI and ML-driven forecasting, however, major sporting events can be automatically factored into workforce plans and strategies. These advanced intelligence capabilities can make informed predictions about call centre traffic in a given time period – based on the external factors analysed – and produce a number of different forecast models to help banks create staffing plans that will allow for optimal coverage at peak times throughout the year. With this data in hand, banks can allocate resources in a more effective way, feel more confident in their staffing strategies, and ideally deliver better value and support to customers – driving loyalty and investment.
3. Think about upskilling and re-skilling
Workforce planning is not just a numbers game. Yes, it’s important to have the right level of coverage, but banks also need to make sure they have the right people in the right roles to meet the needs of the customer. And with the rise of digital-first banking, the emphasis on roles and skills is even more critical to success.
For banks, this could mean ramping up hiring with an emphasis on specific roles, or identifying ways to upskill or reskill existing staff – like training in-person tellers to be call centre agents. Once again, an agile planning model, where planners can work out different staffing scenarios to ensure they have the right roles covered, both quantitatively and qualitatively, is key.
As the industry continues to shift, the investment in regular skills training is also important when it comes to talent retention. Workers want to feel invested in and empowered by their employers: research shows that the more recently an employee went through some form of training, the more satisfied they feel about their role and by extension, the less likely they are to want to switch jobs. According to Gartner data, having a strong employee value proposition (which training is a significant part of) can decrease turnover by almost 70% across an organisation.
Once again, the power of an integrated planning platform comes into play. Banks can leverage workforce data to model out the potential risk of attrition. Data on critical factors like manager turnover, benefits and comp, and organisational changes can be analysed and used to identify high-risk employees. Leaders can then leverage that data to ensure they are engaging with high-risk employees in an impactful way: for instance, by investing in training programmes that help employees feel motivated and engaged. This data will help banks minimise costly voluntary attrition and optimise their existing workforce for success.
The path to success
Just as consumer buying behaviours continue to shift, so do their banking habits – meaning banks must be ready to adapt and evolve in order to keep their customers happy. A big piece of that strategy involves workforce planning – ensuring the right people are in the right roles at the right locations and times to maintain the highest level of service, at the most effective cost rate. But workforce planning is a challenge, especially for complex financial institutions that may be more reticent to change. That’s why banks must take the steps to ditch static tools and spreadsheets and opt, instead, for intelligent and data-driven planning and forecasting solutions. With these tools in place, banks can create strategic workforce plans that meet the needs of their customers, maximise employee retention, mitigate risk, and help defy the difficult circumstances this financial year holds.
Uma Rajagopal has been managing the posting of content for multiple platforms since 2021, including Global Banking & Finance Review, Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune. Her role ensures that content is published accurately and efficiently across these diverse publications.