Recently 2015 CSR Report for Chinese Banking Industry was released by China Banking Association. IB was acclaimed as “Best Employer” by the media for its per capita training investment. “Best Employer” is not easy to achieve. In a context of competition among so many traditional banks and Internet finance enterprises, to attract and retain talents and to add value to employee’s career call for skills. Our journalist interviewed IB’s HR Department.
Seize the main points to forge “leadership” and “professionalism”
Alongside the economy enters into the new normal, interest rate liberalization picks up pace, financial supervision is strengthened, and mobile Internet technology brings changes in financial ecology, the banking industry is confronted with growing challenges.
"On the one hand, the original business model, product and technology need transformation. On the other hand, the professional structure, knowledge structure and quality structure of the staff need to be constantly updated. Against this backdrop, improving the efficiency of training resource investment, continuing to reform and make innovation, pushing the bank forward with "active learning and transformation”, and providing services and support for strategy of transformation and business development, are important topics in the training for human resources." The personnel in charge of IB’s HR Department said that, it is a logical choice to strengthen training and enhance endogenous motivation under the pressure of transformation in the new situation.
At the beginning of 2012, IB clearly put forward the policy to accelerate transformation. Accordingly, “establishing a new training system” was also on the agenda and “leadership”and “professionalism” became focuses of IB’s training system.
The matrix “leadership” training system covers high-level, middle-level, grass-roots and reserve management cadres cultivated according to their aptitude in a targeted way. For the training for high and middle-level leaders, IB mainly cooperates with top universities at home and abroad. It also involves cutting-edge theoretical research and learning from the developed countries' market experience. training for high-level cadres is to broaden their horizons, enhance their theoretical knowledge and strengthen their ability to adapt to the transformation and upgrading of the bank; training for middle-level cadres adopts forms of teaching and practice, shares cutting-edge knowledge, taps collective wisdom and makes business and product innovations, and the focus is to cultivate professional ability and leadership; training for grass-roots cadres goes vigorously. In 2016, the bank upheld the principle of identifying position of management, realizing function transformation, cultivating managerial skills and consolidating the foundation of development”, centered on widely applicable “Yilan Shanyao - training for grassroots management staff” program that met needs of talent development, and gained “Best Program for Learning among Chinese Enterprises” award for its prominent characteristics and effect.
“Professionalism” training system covering core posts includes “Ruilan Yuanhang” training program toward directors of business departments, “Jinglan Huicui” training program toward wealth managers and “Biaogan Dongli” training program toward counter staff. Based on Post Competency Model, these programs adopt blended learning, take forms of face-to-face training, simulation exercises, cross-border communication and community learning, and provide personalized training for different posts.
Currently IB has a number of agencies across China, but it makes great investment in intensive training with the purpose that new staff can make a transition from students to qualified employees and incorporate themselves into the corporate culture more quickly. “Qinglan Feiyang” training program toward new staff consists of online course, business knowledge and skills training, training camp for new staff and guide to a tutor. It is a comprehensive and systematic training system for new staff.
Center upon transformation and be practical to push business development
The journalist found that the most prominent feature of IB’s training is a close link with basic business. One of the standpoints of training made by HR Department is to cooperate with departments of basic businesses, offer consulting services, build brand training projects together, promote IB’s strategic transformation and launch businesses.
Client manager is hailed as a bridge between bank and clients. In 2012, IB launched “Zhuolan Zhanfang - training program for client managers”, the first rotation training program across the bank taught by internal lecturer. The idea of “standard R&D, gap narrowing and targeted training” helps achieve the goal of “disordered cultivation” and “ordered improvement". After receiving training, daily average deposit performance of staff in some branches increased by more than 30%, thus the program gained “Best Program for Learning among Chinese Enterprises” in 2015.
In order to build core competence for staff in bank outlets and enhance overall performance, in 2013, IB made an effort to promote retail business and launched “outlet power - improve ability of service and marketing in outlets” program. The program employed methods of customizing and developing outlet power scanner, O2O learning throughout the process and UGC content output, started with changing way of thinking and habits of outlet staff, and ameliorated integrated service and marketing ability of outlets. It made remarkable achievements and got “Best Practice Award” of the 9th session of E-Business Review in 2015.
“Since the implementation of the outlet power program, all retail outlets have made rational planning of circulation layout, hall staff has turned on a new look, marketing consciousness and skills have been improved significantly, and average production capacity has increased by more than 30%.” said a personnel in charge of retail business in Chengdu Branch and also undertaking one of tasks in implementing the outlet power program.
Since 2015, IB has been vigorously promoting group development and comprehensive development. The combination of games and training became an innovative training method, namely, taking professional ability and business objectives as the content of competition, introducing high-quality courses, motivating staff, helping staff ameliorate performance through outstanding competition results and providing a stage where talents can stand out during competition.
For instance, in order to strengthen integrated team function of corporate finance client, product and risk manager”, IB launched “corporate star-corporate finance innovative marketing contest training program”. Through this program, IB facilitated business linkage between its headquarter and branch banks and experience exchanges among outlets, integrated forward-looking businesses, and researched into and launched dozens of innovative businesses including investment and loan linkage of Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, Shanghai and IPO cross-border linkage of overseas clients through practice. All these businesses have been popularized in the bank.
Light learning, embrace mobile Internet
The journalist found that both banking and training programs of banks embrace mobile Internet and multiple forms of e-learning thrive. IB guides the staff to learn independently via “Suixingxue” APP and Wechat learning biosphere and presses ahead with “light” learning.
Mobile learning platform “Suixingxue” enables users to learn anytime and anywhere by means of a variety of functions including targeted launch, micro courses and theme games. Wechat, one of the most popular social networking services, is also a platform for IB to conduct staff training. With the help of Wechat groups, the bank is committed to set up characteristics theme learning groups, such as “IB Partners” focusing on key groups toward training administrators, “IB Lecturers” toward internal lecturers, “Action Power” toward practice motivation teachers and “Political Energy” toward macroscopic economic analysts, so as to tap tacit knowledge, connect staff, share wisdom and make progress together. They are well received by the staff.
A personnel in charge of IB’s HR Department said that IB will take its next step to face new challenges and opportunities, center upon strategic transformation and business development, propel the establishment of a light and efficient corporate-style university, build a platform to cultivate talents, share knowledge and solve problems, and give impetus to the development of a comprehensive financial service group.