Article: Core job skill-sets that are set to dominate the BFSI sector in 2020

Skilling

Core job skill-sets that are set to dominate the BFSI sector in 2020

A report by the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has alluded to the fact that the Banking Financial Services and Insurance sector in India is estimated to generate around 1.6 million jobs.
Core job skill-sets that are set to dominate the BFSI sector in 2020

The Banking Financial Services Insurance (BFSI) sector in India is changing at an exponential pace and the transformation has the potential to redefine in customer experience, partnership & alliances, technology and analytics-led business and revenue generation streams, et al. A report by the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has alluded to the fact that the (BFSI sector in India is estimated to generate around 1.6 million jobs. These jobs, however, will assume a new avatar in 2020.

Key regulatory reforms and tech-driven innovations are disrupting the organizational landscape of the Indian BFSIs and creating new jobs within the sector. This will necessitate HR departments of BFSI organizations to recalibrate their talent acquisition strategies to deploy agile, tech-savvy profiles that are a part of mid-to-long term play for the organizations.

Emergence of tech-driven careers

Emerging digital technologies and new-age intelligent automation tools are changing the operational frameworks of BFSI institutions and redefining customer experiences. Jobs in the banks and financial services industry of tomorrow will be split into three broad categories - data analytics, risk management and alliances. These are the jobs that will create USP, IP and differential edge for the organizations.  

As the Indian BFSI sector struggles to increase business volumes and improve profit margins, leveraging big data will be central to BFSIs for steering their business on a high growth trajectory. The sector is anticipated to witness a substantial rise in the demand for skilled data scientists and business analysts.

As complex as the term may sound, blockchain technology is a key fintech tool which is easy to implement and holds the potential to simplify core transactional processes. A large number of BFSI organizations are fast realizing the user-friendly attributes of a blockchain database and its high-value utility in data security and scalability, ensuring asset protection.

A key characteristic of blockchain infrastructure is a decentralized customer database with a high level of transparency. In concurrent times, the BFSI sector is highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks such as malware which raises the risk of fraud and data theft. Blockchain can provide a complete security cover and be used to boost cyber security across the shared system network of BFSI organizations. The rising possibility of industry-wide adoption of blockchain in BFSI will require the specialized services of skilled blockchain engineers. These technically qualified professionals will specialize in devising online encryptions to allow only authorized account holders to access account information to ensure secure online transactions.

A high-quality book will be the best measure of a successful BFSI. Hence, seasoned Risk Management Professionals who are agile and can adapt to basing risk management and credit decisioning on data as against traditional look-n-feel model will be in high demand. They will be the core when it comes to bringing stability to the organization.

Gone are the days when the core BD team was required to generate new business and revenue. Striking effective, meaningful alliances and partnerships that complement the strengths of each partner will be key to bringing newer avenues to the organization. Profiles that understand emerging marketplaces, have strong networks, know how to leverage tech to bring effectiveness and scale to alliance will be in demand always.

Jobs that will stay but will be non-core and automated at Godspeed

Operational framework is anticipated to become increasingly tech-driven and dynamic. Handling voluminous levels of data, mining it intelligently to deliver trends that impact and revolutionise internal processes and business approaches will be key to staying operationally relevant in a highly competitive environment. Jobs that will stay essential, will be largely outsourced, if not, at best will grow till middle management level of the organizations. Such jobs are related to simple operations, document collection, records management, etc.

Upskilling and Reskilling

As technological innovations and automated solutions are largely integrated into mainstream BFSI operations, skill redundancies will prove to be a tough operational challenge for the sector. Organizations in the BFSI sector will need to make substantial investments in reskilling and upskilling their employees. There is an urgent need to plug the widening skill gap in the sector and enhance employee capability as BFSI organizations transit to a highly tech-driven ecosystem.

Skills and Career Progression

Future workforces aspiring for a long-term career in the expanding BFSI domain will need to develop key soft skills along with technological and sector-specific knowledge competencies. Employees will need to be agile and flexible to develop cross-functional expertise to remain at the top of their curve in their areas of specialization. They need to become team builders to build trust and confidence among their colleagues and create a collaborative work environment. 

True Test for 2020?

Unless for core-expert jobs like data scientists, breadth of skill will be as critical as the depth of skills for generic jobs and jobs that are on the verge of automation. However, the moot question is - do you have cross-functional expertise e.g. can you do under-writing as effectively and vice versa? If you are in underwriting, can you enhance the revenue pool for the organization and don the Business Development hat? If you are good at cross-functional synergies, chances that you will not just survive but thrive are far higher in 2020.

Read full story

Topics: Skilling, #Outlook2020

Did you find this story helpful?

Author

QUICK POLL

How do you envision AI transforming your work?