How To Maximise Your Learning At Work | As Seen in Forbes

Continuous learning is an essential component of the fintech industry. It is vital for all industries, and workplace upskilling has become a significant focus worldwide. The fintech sector has long noted the challenges of a talent shortage, skills gaps, and the need for employees with a growth mindset. With agility and adaptability as crucial traits across the industry, upskilling will become more commonplace. This is true for both well-established financial organizations and new startups who face similar talent demands. The impact of upskilling in the sector could boost the global GDP by as much as USD 263 million, according to a report by The Work Economic Forum and PWC.

Other reports are publishing similar examples. The Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC) and EY published a UK finance-specific example. It highlights the urgent need for upskilling, noting that at least 16% of this workforce needs immediate development. The report also reveals a growing demand for ‘highly skilled’ talent. 73% of roles in the sector are now considered ‘highly skilled,’ compared to 52% 20 years ago. EY said that employers must urgently address a significant “skills and capability gap”. This gives employees a unique opportunity to capitalise on the learning and coaching more and more firms will have to offer.

Diverse and Flexible Learning

Alan Smith, Senior Enterprise Sales Director, works at Seismic, and runs many client partnerships for sales enablement. He specializes in creating diverse and flexible learning methods that cater to those in client facing or sales roles. He strongly advocates modern learning approaches, explaining they should be interactive and similar to coaching. He seeks to create ways for varied, easy to consume micro training to be made easily accessible to everyone. Alan believes that to upskill yourself or your team effectively, it's vital to rethink traditional training methods. Empowering people to easily find relevant new knowledge they can absorb and apply in their role instantly helps develop a culture of proactive self-development. Crucially, he says, “learning must become more adaptable to individual needs.” Conventional training often relied on a one-size-fits-all approach. It focused on a single style of instruction for a large audience. According to Alan, this needs to change by incorporating various methods. These should include quizzes, mentoring, coaching, evaluations, and continuous feedback. This will engage people both on a personal level and across a broader audience. Group coaching, especially in areas like, digital assets and artificial intelligence, is becoming increasingly popular. The rapid changes in an already agile industry have set the culture up for upskilling. Professionals are realizing the necessity of continuous learning to remain competent and effective.

Continual Learning

As workplace demands evolve, corporate learning has undergone significant changes. Alex Baker, CTO of Orchard Group, is familiar with the need to adapt to the rapid pace of technological and financial change. He views upskilling as essential for all employees. He also highlights the importance of offering a balanced variety of learning methods for the best outcomes. When discussing recent successful approaches, he spoke of, “gamification, rankings, and competition.” One-off training is different for businesses that want to establish consistent daily workflows. These are imperative when setting up a broader culture of commitment to learning. To maintain expectations, teams need to ensure effective follow-up. Organizations should measure the impact of upskilling to remain committed to continual learning. This can be done by assessing employee performance, effectiveness, and overall company success. Only then will the business be able to commit to the long-term time and cost considerations.

Safe and Supportive Learning

Some firms underestimate the impact that ineffective managers can have on their entire staff. Many people are committed to continuous learning and believe that making mistakes is an integral part of the learning process. Theoretically, managers understand that mistakes allow individuals to improve and learn from what went wrong. In practice, companies must create an environment that supports this. With increased customer focus and evolving consumer demands, workplaces face new pressures. This makes it essential for employees to feel safe while learning and upskilling. A supportive environment where people can experiment and learn from their mistakes is the best for upskilling success. It encourages them to fully commit and achieve real progress.

Mastering new skills often gives people a stronger sense of achievement and confidence in their work. As a result, they are more likely to volunteer for new projects and seek out opportunities because they feel better prepared. Bronwen Gray, has spent over 20 years in sales for financial services. She notes that focusing on upskilling can lead to “diverse career paths and thought leaders across adjacent skillsets.” She advises leaders to encourage more people to commit to the industry long-term. People can “learn to strengthen their position in the future” through upskilling. Current debates about the future of work and generational attitudes include topics like portfolio careers and fractional positions. The CEO of LinkedIn recently remarked that traditional 9-5 jobs will be considered “relics” by 2034. With this in mind, the industry's future will depend on individuals being adaptable and able to contribute in changing times. To stay competitive and innovative, fintech companies need to adopt various learning strategies. A commitment to continuous learning will be the key factor for future success. This will end up distinguishing both individuals and organizations from their competitors.

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website. This article was first featured in Forbes on 29th August 2024 —view the article on Forbes here.