Financial services industry firms are learning essential lessons on how to manage crises and plan for contingencies during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms have started relying on institutional memory, creativity, and lots of hard work to ensure that their workforce is safe, and that daily business is going on. Nonetheless, a few trends can help the firms rebuild to continue playing a huge role in economic re-growth. These trends include:
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Digitalization
As a result of lockdown, people have embraced services such as online banking to help reduce the spread of the virus. The pandemic has diminished the traditional customer-centered operation due to the lockdown. Therefore, firms have had to guarantee the same level of support and services as they shift to digital tools.
The lockdown has increased mobile and online banking use, and traditional customers are requesting phone and video-call support. Ultimately, this will increase investments in remote and digital abilities, particularly regarding commercial banks.
Agile Workforce
The pandemic has reduced old models of crowded spaces in the office significantly. Working from home helps the productivity in teams to increase or remain stable, as the employees have the flexibility to work while doing other tasks. However, there are several challenges in the management of teams, and there’s a high demand for new skills. Relationship managers use video calls to engage with customers, and trading experts use online platforms to manage deal flows.
Through his financial service industry firm, Cane Bay Partners CEO recently launched the transitioning of employees to work from home, which helps build a more agile workforce. The move has helped to keep the crew safe while meeting business needs. If more companies joined in such a move, the firms would record increased productivity, thus more sales.
Employees prefer a flexible working environment, a critical motivator to their productivity. Employees say that they get fewer distractions and short breaks while working remotely. Therefore, they enjoy the added perks, including the flexibility to take care of their families. An agile workforce can also reduce the cost of office space and improve the ability to access a geographically diversified talent pool.
Flexible Innovation Approach
Some companies still believe that the pandemic will pass, and they can move back to their pre-COVID world. With this solid fidelity to traditional business practices, a company may miss the opportunity to transform their reimaging infrastructure, workforce organization, rethinking products, and offering services. Companies that embrace the new digital solutions have a safe approach to innovation and will be more ready for an uncertain future.
Firms can use contingency planning to outline a sequential course of action. Contingency plans work together with crisis management plans, explaining a firm’s process to respond to and manage the crisis.
As society reopens, the real-time experience of this worldwide pandemic has made organizations understand how to evaluate and enhance their capabilities. There is an increased need to improve the existing resilience plans in a company by having better plan coordination, regular simulation exercises, and a lot of comprehensive documentation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the decisions that firms make regarding their workforce, work patterns, and locations. Most CEOs believe that the benefits include increased access to a diverse talent pool as there are no restrictions to a single office location. Although companies are responding differently to the crisis, many organizations globally are joining hands and innovating to reduce the impact on public health and limit the interruptions to the economy and supply chains.