Getting the Banking Balance Right

When we hear about the work that FinTech Scotland facilitates, it excites us at Verimatrix. It wasn’t long ago that our Scottish operation was a start-up called Metaforic, trying to find its way into the ”“ then emerging ”“ world of Fintech. The community that FinTech Scotland is building would have been valuable to us then ”“ just as it is highly valuable now.

Of course, the Fintech community in Scotland isn’t just start-ups. We have a proud and established financial industry – the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) ranks Edinburgh 7^th in Europe and the top 30 globally.

It’s this mix, coupled with building the right community, that gives Scotland the right balance to build a strong and sustainable Fintech industry. Start-ups can learn from the experience and industry-reach of more established players. The established players ”“ now increasingly competing with the tech giants ”“ can benefit from the agility and fresh ideas developed on their doorsteps.

For Fintechs, another area to get the banking balance right is security. There’s no getting away from the need to secure your products and solutions.

When Fintech emerged as a sector in its own right, it had the luxury of playing on the edge of the financial space. That meant, in most cases, Fintechs were out of the scope of financial regulation. Over time, this has changed for two reasons:

Fintechs are increasingly seen as partners of established players;
Regulation has caught up with the evolving finance market.

So, what does working in partnership with banks and other established players mean for your security needs?

First, it means raised expectation levels. Services that are sold or resold by banks come with an implied trust associated with them. That trust has been hard won over centuries and is easily lost. As a partner of a bank, you gain some of that trust, but you are also expected to maintain it.

Second, it means being able to demonstrate that you’ve meet your new partners’ security “check boxes”. Through any procurement or partnership discussion with a bank or large financial institute, there will be security hoops to jump through. Being ready for these hoops not only makes the process easier, it also demonstrates to your new partner that you are a credible organisation.

What has changed with regulations and legislation?

The biggest changes are the new open banking regulations ”“ requiring banks to open up their platforms to third parties. We see this in Europe through PSD2, and similar changes are happening around the globe. These changes can be seen as legitimising Fintech.

Of course, with legitimacy comes responsibility and Fintechs increasingly come under the scope of financial services’ regulation. Though this can be seen as adding short-term burdens to Fintechs, these regulations also offer mid and long-term opportunities. The regulations aren’t in place just for fun, they exist to protect consumers. For Fintechs to become long-term sustainable and credible companies, this is something they need to be doing anyway.

The open banking regulations have emerged in parallel to tougher consumer privacy legislation. In Europe, GDPR is certainly the buzzword; and just as with open banking, we see similar trends around the world.

Open banking regulations aren’t something to be feared, and neither is consumer privacy legislation. These changes in regulation are all about doing the right thing. We’d argue that rather than be a burden, the legislation actually gives Fintechs a framework to guide their security thinking.

Where should you focus?

Balance is key. The security required by Fintechs shouldn’t become an overloading burden. It’s about taking sensible steps while allowing your organisation to focus on the fun stuff”” building exciting products.

Our first recommendation is to build a “security as usual” culture from day one. It’s hard to make the change later, so make it everyone’s responsibility from the start to consider security as you build your products and services. This makes it a low level, non-disruptive activity rather than something forced upon the organisation down the road.

The second recommendation is to choose the right security. Take the time to understand what your valuable assets are and then choose Friendly Security solutions to protect them. Friendly Security means security that is trustworthy, mature and proven; but is also low impact to implement.

This is where Verimatrix can help. Our Software Shielding products are designed to protect the code, data and services in any mobile app you develop, all the while being easy and straightforward for your development teams to apply. We take this to extremes with our recently launched ProtectMyApp service.

These are exciting times for the Scottish Fintech industry; and it is critical that the community Fintech Scotland is building up establishes the right balance for long-term success.

Scotland’s recruiters working with fintechs

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Scotland’s fintech scene is getting more and more exciting. The local fintech startups have been growing and multiplying at a fast pace, increasing the number of fintech businesses by 60% in numbers. Scotland is becoming a leader in the fintech industry, based not only on the number of fintech startups but their success rate and demand from the public for more fintech services. There is still a lot that can be done to help boost the industry across the nation and it seems like Scotland fintech scene’s big break is just around the corner.

The U. K’s fintech scene has been developing at the fastest across Europe, and now there are many prominent examples of highly successful fintech startups that are operating from the U.K. Just to cite an example, recently InsideTrade.co reported that Revolut has become the most valued fintech out there.

Core-Asset Consulting is now looking to expand its fintech offering, and it plans to do so by joining forces with the tech recruiters across the nation. Core-Asset Consulting is a firm that operates in Scotland’s finance, accountancy, asset management, and legal industries and has an impressive portfolio of clients. Over the last year, the company has become more proactive towards its approach to the fintech scene and has set out a goal to incorporate the industry as much as possible into its day-to-day activities.

Exploring the potential of fintech for Scotland

This is an important move for all fintech startups and those thinking of getting into this industry because this means that the well-established companies are now seeing the potential that the fintech industry holds and want to become a part of it as soon as possible. It will not only help to create more opportunities for the new startups but it will also help with establishing the industry as a legit source of growth and income that holds real potential for the future of finance.

Every major company in Scotland is either building a team of tech professionals or already has one up and going. Hundreds of new jobs might be appearing across Scotland, as the nation aims to become a tech hub.

Core-Asset’s move was no coincidence either. When speaking with the media, founder and managing director of the company, Betsy William pointed out that the recent changes to contracting law made the company a great fit for smaller recruiters. The changes will directly affect the areas where small specialist tech recruiters do the most work. Because of this update, the demand for companies like Core-Asset will be increasing, hence the requirement to take advantage of the opportunity to make the collaboration between Core-Asset and fintech much easier.

Another important development that made this decision easier for Core-Assets was the recently signed partnership between FinTech Alliance and Fintech Scotland, which will make making connections between different fintech across countries and within the U.K much easier.

It looks like Scotland is creating an environment where fintech can develop at a much faster pace and well-established companies are trying to help out newer ones along the way.

There is a lot of potential in this industry and it could become one of the main sources of income from Scotland.

Designing your Employee Experience

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Blog written by Puneet Sachdev, Human Capital Expert from Singularity Labs

These days everything needs to have an X’ in it, isn’t it, especially in the tech world! Not too long ago, you would have struggled to find too many words starting with the letter X’.Today, we see X pinned to any number of products and expressions as a sign of some undefined cachet!

EX in one word – Empathy

EX in one sentence – It is wider than employee engagement, it covers a wide range of activities that influence your employee’s perceptions of your company”“good or bad.

Airbnb

As the ex-Head of Employee Experience for Airbnb, it is Mark Levy who defined the expression ’employee experience’ and gave currency to the way we tend to emulate it today. He questioned “If Airbnb had a Customer Experience Group, why not create an Employee Experience Group?” And the rest is history! Mark has a background in Service Design that posits empathy and experimentation to arrive at innovative solutions. This was one of the key lenses that drove the employee experience philosophy. The internal experience of the employee will have a direct knock-on effect on the customer experience.

The context today

The Millennial mindset is permeating the entire workforce. As this latest generation has established itself in the workforce, its expectations for workforce flexibility, use of mobile tools and enhanced performance feedback have spread to other generations.

Employees are approaching the workplace as consumers. Individuals want the same experiences in the workplace that they have as consumers, such as having the use of simple, intuitive technology, the ability to rate and share opinions about products and services, and direct access to decision makers.

Today, the research has found that a number of factors shape employee experience, including: the formation and development of work-based connections and relationships, the design and ongoing use of employees’ physical work environments, and the tools and social platforms employees use to accomplish work-related activities

The components of an employee’s experience

Physical – the interaction employees have with their physical environment. The workspace they find themselves in and how inspiring that is. The design of the workplace can impact mental states.
Emotional – the interaction that employees have in the workplace setting and social settings with their colleagues, their line managers and the leadership. Feeling a sense of belonging within a community, being taken care of and respected are all important factors.
Mental – the quality of work, the mental stimulation, the flexibility to create and the caliber of peers makes up the mental component.

Eventually it will all have an emotional impact, we are talking about an experience’ after all. The actions you as an organization will take (or not take) will vote for one or the other – we value and respect you or we do not.

The aspects to consider in developing the employee experience

Employer Value Proposition (EVP) – Let’s start from the very beginning, a very good place to start, when you sing you begin with Do Re Mi and when you EX you begin with EVP!

The first expressions of employee experience begin when you define your Culture DNA – the vision / purpose, mission and values, values in particular as they set the tone for internal interactions. The employer value proposition is your people’ promise, and this shapes the employee experience your organization will deliver to your people. It is a key reason why you will attract the right people into your organization in the first place and will be the standard by which your employees and prospects will evaluate you as a leadership team and as an organization. You can read articles I have written about EVP here

On-Boarding – On-boarding is a high leverage opportunity to culturally integrate employees and set the standard for the employee experience new joiners will have. Making the new hires feel welcome and prepared for their jobs will create a lasting impression in their hearts and minds and setting them and the organization up for success. Organization’s with a robust onboarding process experience 62% greater new hire productivity, along with 50% greater new hire retention.

Nature and Quality of Work – a major component of employee experience is the extent to which individuals feel they can influence their work, build mastery and understand their work’s overall purpose. The sense of self-determination and autonomy. Employees want to know how the work they do fits into the team goals and how they contribute to the organization’s larger mission.

Possession of relevant knowledge or expertise, access to additional information or experts as needed, and availability of timely feedback ”“ either from managers or automated systems””can significantly shape the employee experience. Role specifications, performance management, career development, feedback loops, leadership communication all become key processes here.

Tools and Social Platforms – the design of the physical equipment that houses the software is key. Is it easy to access and use under daily work conditions? Software design can also have a lasting impact on satisfaction and productivity. Is there single sign-on? How may clicks does it take to get to the right screen? Employees expect intuitive and easy to use systems be it for booking leave or collaborating on a project.

Increasingly, companies are using social platforms internally to support organizational innovation, expertise location and knowledge sharing, and to help employees connect to others across in different time zones. These social platforms provide a common environment where employees can find relevant insights and identify hidden pockets of expertise or emerging employee issues. E.g. Slack, Jira etc.

The Environment – experts assert that configuration and design of individual and team workspaces are a critical component of employee experience. Physical workspace design can also impact employee wellness, as properly designed ergonomics can reduce employee stress and limit physical injury.

Social Impact – this is almost becoming a must have’ driven by the Millennial generation, and is a growing factor in considering and continuing work with employers. Not one to be overlooked. Installing ethical business practices and projects to impact the community organizations are a part and providing opportunities for employees to make a contribution impact this aspect. It enhances their sense of purpose and contribution adding to the employee experience they have.

Business Strategy and Culture – an organization must consider each of these facets of employee experience in light of overall business goals and culture. The business goals and objectives of a start-up may be quite different from a multi-national, from a hotel chain. For a hospitality company, the need to provide high-quality guest services may serve as a guiding principle in the design of employee experience; for an oil company, the emphasis may be on occupational safety. Clearly defining these underlying tenets is necessary to designing experiences that not only match the needs of the individual, but are aligned with organizational priorities.

Here is the thing, if you want to deliver world class to your customers, have your employees experience world class internally so they know what it feels like. Then delivering world-class will be the standard.

Your Purpose Partners’ in the delivery of Employee Experience in your organizations

The HR team of course. In addition, enter Line Managers or the people managers as they are being called in many of the growing tech companies we consult with. They have the keys to the organization i.e. manage the workforce, budgets and various other organizational resources. Three key things to bear in mind here:

1) Managers in your organization have an understanding of your employer value proposition, your employee experience philosophy and are empowered for it’s fulfilment.

2) Managers have complete clarity on their role and the expectations and especially in their responsibilities towards their team members. For example how do they best on-board new team members, how do they performance manage, how do they recognize their team etc.

3) Being educated and up-skilled on the different kinds of conversations they will be expected to have with their team and peers e.g. day one conversation, week one conversation, performance conversations etc. Manager conversations and behaviours are a critical factor that creates the experience of the rest of the workforce.

How can you design your Employee Experience:

Use Analytics – tune into the voice of customer’. The customers being your employees. You can turn to traditional HR surveys or any other semi-structured processes you have in place to gather and analyze data.

Create employee personas and map the journey – an employee persona is essentially a semi-fictional representation of a group of employees with similar traits, experiences and behaviors. They’re based on the data and insights you have into the individuals that make up your workforce and brings them to life by building a narrative around them.

Invest in key touch points where employee experience has the greatest impact – you have now created the personas and mapped the journey. Identify the moments that matter most to them through their lifecycle which will cover pre-joining, on-boarding, working as a part of a team, performance, career development, exit. Making changes to employee experience often requires investment. Use the data you have generated to prioritize and guide your decisions. Ask your employees, they will tell you.

Here is a good article by Qualtrics that covers employee personas and journey mapping.

Cross functional EX group – some organizations we have consulted for have used cross-functional employee groups very effectively to stay engaged with employees, to continue to generate insights via face to face conversations and other processes.

The employee experience is holistic. It covers a wide range of activities that influence your employee’s perceptions of your company”“good or bad. Mapping the experience of employees is a challenging task and requires a lot of effort. But the prize is too tempting for you not to care.

Ready or not? Questions worth asking yourself:

How does your current employee experience affect the attraction and retention of critical job roles within your organization?
How could improving your employee experience increase productivity within your organization?
To what extent does your employee experience influence your customer experience?
Who has primary responsibility for designing employee experience within your organization? How does a person or team bring others together to address employee experience issues?
What types of analytics are you using to evaluate the effectiveness of your employee experience?

This article has been an output based on my own experience, conversations and online research. IBM, Qualtrics and Deloitte have been very useful sources.

Me and my colleagues at Singularity Labs specialise in designing interventions that solve People and Culture challenges and help creating engaging and High Performing Environments. We have worked across multiple industries and geographies and more recently with growing tech companies such as Nucleus Financial (Fintech) and Craneware (Healthcare Tech).

Resources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2016/02/01/global-head-employee-experience-airbnb-rid-of-human-resources/#118986f77c4e – Mark Levy, Airbnb employee personas and journey mapping. – employee personas and journey mapping, Qualtrics

The Importance of Innovative Fintech in Smart Cities

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According to statistics from the UN, 55% of the world’s population lives within an urban environment. This is expected to spike to 68% by 2050 and most of these metropolitan residents will be under the age of 29.

It’s no secret that today’s population, youth or otherwise, live fast-paced, digital lives with a sense of urgency about their day-to-day, which is only expected to heighten in time.

The only way to tackle modern-day challenges such as ageing infrastructures and to keep up with the expected trajectory of our hurried digital lives is to develop these urban territories into Smart Cities.

What is a Smart City?

Smart Cities were once a hot topic in the media, but despite the need for them becoming more prevalent, the media buzz and conversation has died down.

A Smart City utilises the latest innovations in IT and technology to enhance the efficiency and performance of modern metropolises, and improve the ease and quality of life for the inhabitants of the city.

The focus is on combatting the obstacles or downfalls that exist in modern society and urban environments as we know them. This includes using technological advances to better transportation, energy, utilities, waste management, resource consumption, public services, overall costs and much more.

The cost of implementing and enabling Smart Cities is expected to almost double within a four-year window. The International Data Corporation estimated Smart City costs in 2018 at US$81 billion, and this is set to drastically rise to US$158 billion by 2022.

What is the Vital Role of Fintech in Smart Cities?

Some of the best Fintech innovations were purposely designed to simplify procedures that have become unnecessarily complex over time – such as banking – or services that no longer satisfy consumer demands or needs; online shopping and international money transfers, for example.

Fintech start-ups always have the same end goal in mind. That is to provide consumers with a product or service that allows them to achieve the same outcome, but in less time, with fewer steps, for cheaper and with more transparency than previous solutions.

Whilst there are many benefits of Fintech in a Smart City, two standouts are quicker and simpler payments make for happier residents, and better international transfers and banking broadens the city’s access to a global market.

How Some Cities are Using Fintech

London

The most glaringly obvious entry route into Fintech for the city of London is with their transport systems.

Transport for London (TFL) had a full digital shift across all transport systems in July 2014, and the organisation has been a cashless operation ever since. Since the switch to contactless payments only, TFL has become more efficient with far fewer delays, cheaper journeys and made the process of boarding much faster for passengers.

Singapore

Fintech is central to Singapore’s ambitions to become a Smart Nation with a “Smart Financial Centre” at its heart. Part of the country’s continued efforts to achieve a Smart Financial Centre includes using innovative technology to create new opportunities, increase efficiency and better manage the country’s financial risks. Singapore also strives to eventually become a cashless nation.

Estonia

Estonia is possibly the most forward-thinking in their approach to becoming a Smart City thus far. They have abandoned traditional methods of identification and they now offer government-supported digital identities. The E-Estonia movement has been linked to many of the country’s financial institutions and companies to provide easy and convenient banking services to residents.

While we still might be some years away from our first fully Smart City, many are definitely making waves and on the right path to becoming truly smart.

A common thread between each advanced city that is leading the way for others is their use of Fintech. Incorporating innovative Fintech is a must in order to become a Smart City, it enables easy international business, makes daily life more convenient for residents and encourages the efficient, economical and eco-friendly operation of a nation.

About The Organisation

ESA Space Solutions offers investment in space research and satellite-based technologies for worldwide benefit. Fundraising opportunities and guidance tips are available to commercialise your space-connected business ideas with a two-year incubation programme. For more information on how to apply, head over to the application page.

Cybercrime ”“ protecting the weakest links

Blog written by Anthony Rafferty, Managing Director at Origo

“The FBI say that cyber criminals are deliberately targeting financial services firms. They reckon that has increased by over 100% in the last year. Given that these criminals are operating all over the world, if you think they are only going to target the US, then you need to think again.”

This was the opening statement from Ian McKenna, Managing Director of the Financial Technology & Research Centre (FT&RC) for a session on cybercrime at the centre’s recent Empowering Advice Through Technology 2020 event in London.

The size of people’s pension pots and investment portfolios make pension providers, savings and investment companies and platforms, and financial advice firms ”“ amongst others ”“ prime targets for criminals’ tactics, such as Identity Substitution Theft.

Ian pointed out that over 60% of the FCA’s business plan for 2020 was focussed on cybercrime. Likewise, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is focussing on firms where “significant risk” exists, “which is going to be within financial services firms.”

Ian was introducing a panel session including myself and Paul Holland, CEO and founder of Beyond Encryption, to talk about the dangers of cybercrime for the financial services sector, in particular, that section of the sector relating to provision of financial advice and planning.

Cybercrime has been raised as one of the top concerns for financial advice businesses in 2020. Keeping client data safe within a firm is not the problem. It is the passing of information, invariably personal and confidential in nature, between client, adviser, platforms and providers, i.e. where the information moves outside of a company’s security systems, which invariably is the weak point that cyber criminals exploit.

Emails are a case in point. Quite often sensitive information is emailed within the body of an email or in an attachment. Yet sending an email is like sending a postcard through the post ”“ it can be easily read and altered. We hear too many stories about emails being intercepted and data stolen and then used to commit cybercrime. Personal data accessed in this way can be used to scam payments and commit identity fraud, sending of false invoices, requests for passwords and carrying out malware attacks being just a few examples.

Paul Holland flagged the example where conveyancing solicitors’ emails asking clients for final payment on property sales have been intercepted and the bank account details changed. The client’s money is sent but never received because it has been syphoned off by the criminals.

The risks to businesses can be huge. Not only could they be subject to public censure, fines and costs but it can be highly damaging to consumer trust in the business.

We recognise that financial services companies are becoming more aware of their regulatory and compliance obligations, particularly under GDPR, MIFID II and the recently introduced Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) legislation, which make the individual accountable for decisions in the firm. In this regulatory environment, deploying email security into any organisation is vital to reduce business and senior management risk as well as to build and maintain trust with clients.

The same applies for B2B companies. Would you prefer to do business with a company where its emails are secured or one with non-secured emails? Which would give you more confidence that they are handling your data and that of your clients’ in a secure and responsible manner?

With firms able to be fined heavily for data breaches, and as cybercriminals become ever more sophisticated in their methods, we believe protecting client data will be an even greater focus for financial services companies in 2020, with businesses of all sizes looking to greater protect their email communications.

Origo has worked with Beyond Encryption to launch a new secure email messaging system, Unipass Mailock, for financial advisers, investment and savings platforms, providers and consumers. It enables users to securely communicate sensitive personal, financial, medical or policy information to their clients efficiently and securely ”“ using military-grade encryption and unique identity authentication capabilities ”“ safe in the knowledge that only the intended recipient can read and reply to the message.

We are making the solution available to over 45,000 financial advisers already using the Unipass Identity service, as well as millions of consumers. By de-risking the industry’s communications our aim is to help protect consumer data as well as business reputations.I’m also delighted to say that Unipass Mailock picked up the Best in Class’ award at the FT&RC technology conference.

4 Ways Content Marketing Benefits FinTechs

Did you know that 91% of B2B brands use content marketing to reach their customers?

With over 4 billion people using the Internet daily, it’s not surprising that so many brands are turning to content marketing.

Content marketing helps all companies boost brand awareness, connect with new customers and retain existing ones.

Fintechs, especially those in early growth stages, can leverage content marketing to stand out from the crowd. Content marketing plays a unique role in helping FinTech brands overcome many of the challenges associated with emerging into a new market and launching the brand from the startup stage.

Keep reading to discover the top four ways Fintechs can benefit from building an online presence and creating quality content.

1) Communicating Complex Tech in Simple Language

Most Fintech solutions are based on complicated technology, like Blockchain. But despite complex underlying technology, most Fintechs target customers with little or no understanding of the tech.

For example, Fintech Blockchain adoption rates are expected to grow by 75.2% by 2023. Yet, customers’ understanding largely hasn’t kept up ”” an HSBC survey shows that 59% of customers don’t understand Blockchain.

Without this fundamental understanding, Fintech solutions can seem risky or scary, which can prevent brands from reaching mainstream adoption. Yet, overcoming this information gap and helping customers understand the tech can significantly change the game.

Good content marketing helps you achieve this aim by ditching the jargon, breaking down complex topics and explaining sophisticated technology in a way the average consumer can understand.

2) Brand Equity: Starting From the Ground Up

Creating brand awareness is crucial for building trust, reaching new customers and driving sales. So much so, that 77% of B2B marketing managers say branding is vital for growth.

Traditional financial providers can fall back on their brand name. After all, they’re a household name.

But, Fintechs face an entirely different situation as most startup brand names aren’t known. Successfully attracting customers and establishing yourself on the market requires you to quickly build brand equity and awareness.

“A brand does not exist within a company or organisation. A brand exists in the minds of your customers. A brand is the sum total of impressions a customer has, based on every interaction they have had with you, your company, and your products.”

Content marketing incorporates many aspects of your online presence to create one, unified brand. So your customer has a consistent and reliable interaction with your company whether they’re engaging with you via social media, emails or on your website.

3) Communicating Founders’ Mission & Values

Most Fintech founders are driven by impressive and admirable visions of how they can improve business owners or customers’ lives and relationships with finances.

Whether it’s creating fairer lending or helping people make smarter budgets, Fintech companies are founded for a reason.

But, this mission and value need to be communicated and shared with the world to attract customers and build brand loyalty.

Accenture calls purpose-led branding the movement from me to we’. Their research shows that customers increasingly choose to work with brands with a strong purpose or mission. So much so that 52% of customers would rather use the services or products of a brand that serves for something bigger and aligns with their clear personal value.

Content marketing can help you bring your visions and missions to light. Think founder interviews, a kickass about page on your website or even social media videos explaining your fundamental values. Sharing this type of content with prospective and current customers boosts brand loyalty and drives growth.

4) Employer Branding

As a Fintech company, you need to find employees with the right skills and mindset. Developers, data scientists and other tech professionals are often in short supply. As technology continues to evolve, this skills gap will only worsen.

FinTechs also have to overcome the additional challenge of attracting developers and data scientists to a new company. Prospective employees could worry about the insecurity of joining a startup or entering a relatively new market.

Employer branding can play an essential part in helping you attract the industry’s best and brightest. Capturing your values and unique selling point on your website and through thought-leadership articles improves your credibility and shows your company as an exciting place to work.

Note: Kathryn is the CEO at Copy House, they specialise in helping Fintechs bring their brand to life and create a strong online presence with SEO optimised websites, thought-leadership content and social media. Find out more about Copy House by scheduling a call or visiting their website.

Diversity in Recruitment ”“ FinTech can make it Happen

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I recently handed in my notice to my current employer and I now face not only the challenge of finding a new job but of also whether to declare my disability or not in the application process.

My current employer, Meraki Talent, is a disability confident and a member of ENEI (Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion), so they are fully supportive of me, as they understand I need a new challenge and even offered to help me in my search, as I look to take my career in a new direction.

Despite my own disability, having dwarfism, I have successfully worked in recruitment for over 9 years but even I am fallible to unconscious bias (Unconscious biases are learned stereotypes that are automatic, unintentional, deeply ingrained, universal, and able to influence behaviour) when identifying suitable candidates, so I do understand the recruiters need to fill jobs. That is how they build relationships and make commission.

The unconscious bias is sometimes referred to as the Halo Effect. The Halo Effect is a type of cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about his or her character. With these biases will my disability stop me even getting through the door?

Having also been on the candidate side in the past, I have declared my disability, as part of the application process a number of times. In doing so this is claimed to guarantee you an interview, if you meet the essential criteria. However, I am yet to receive an interview through these means in my working career. Despite being proud of who I am, I have had a lot more success when I don’t mention that I am disabled. Am I bypassing the biases? This then means the interviewers are put in a difficult position when it reaches interview! They have to judge me on my abilities, rather than my disability.

It does make you question why it is so difficult to recruit people from these groups. Could it be that that people with disabilities or from diverse backgrounds won’t fit in or would need more time or resources?

If an effort was made, to create jobs for people from these groups, perhaps people like myself would be more encouraged to apply?

So, if we truly want to be more inclusive, have greater variety in gender, age, ethnicity, social background, sexual orientation, education, religion, and disability then we must change our mindset and resist the temptation to stereotype. Also, if there is a desire to recruit people from these groups, the expectations of what is essential has to be counter balanced with the benefits it would bring.

Not only does it look great for brand, it means there is a greater variety of perspectives, increased creativity, productivity and people feel more included. Recently, I have been to Diversity & Inclusion events and I am keen for these great ideas to be a reality rather than a PR exercise and feel FinTech companies have a massive opportunity to do so.

FinTech companies are already admired with their culture – agile, flexible working, unlimited holidays, day off on your birthday, social events etc. FinTech organisations have a massive opportunity to take the lead in making their workforce a truer and fairer reflection of society.

In order to attract these candidates, we have to change the level of acceptability and I would encourage FinTech’s to take the lead, work with recruiters and create jobs for these minority groups.

How to create a meaningful Employer Value Proposition

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Blog written by Puneet Sachdev, Human Capital Expert from Singularity Labs

Note: This is he continuation of the EVP conversation we started here

1. Understand your EVP preferences

Try a top-down and a bottom-up approach. Top-down as in the person responsible for people and culture’ i.e. your people leader and the leadership of the organisation discussing and debating the EVP. Ideally the people leader creates a baseline document / template, circulates it in advance and the leadership gets together to have a conversation around it. And bottom-up as in a listening exercise with your employees. Ask them what they find great about working for your organisation and what can be done to make further improvements.

2. Design your EVP

Gather data from important sources and competitors to inform your EVP design. Use the internal and the external data you have gathered, design your bespoke EVP. Use the five core elements of a robust EVP to structure your proposition. (link to previous article on the core elements of the EVP).

3. Segment the communication

You have the sound bites by now. Here you will think about how this will be communicated to the different types of talent you want to attract into the organisation (engineers, customer service advisors) as different language will appeal to these different mindsets. Think about how you want to communicate this internally. You can consider a video message by the Head of People and some existing employees. And consider using a good copywriter.

4. Create your employer brand

A strong employer brand needs a clear value proposition, which by now you have created. Now is the packaging and positioning. You can use your internal branding team to create this or use the same people you used to help create your organisation’s brand. You can also consider creating a boilerplate’ i.e. your EVP in a tweet and text, in a sentence – strapline, in a paragraph and in a page. Some organisations create well crafted infographics for exhibitions, conferences and other events to promote their brand. Also consider some guiding principles like what L’Oreal has done.

Here is L’Oreal’s: Strapline – “Lead the future of Beauty. When you love your work and the people you work with, amazing things can happen.”

Their employer value proposition is broken down into three pillars:

A thrilling experience ”“ a truly global business with a clear purpose and vision will ensure that candidates can see how they would fit this into their own trajectory

An environment that will inspire you ”“ with the amount of science, corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices, there will be something to inspire most employees

A school of excellence ”“ world leading brands and products would attract the best people and skills, as a candidate you could be attracted to that environment for your career growth.

This is what Hubspot has – “We’re building a company people love. A company that will stand the test of time, so we invest in our people and optimize for your long-term happiness.”

Suggested channels of communication

On your careers page
Intranet website
Glassdoor
LinkedIn page
Social channels used
Welcome packs

The investment – and if you are thinking about the cost of doing all this work, which you probably are, consider the opportunity cost of not getting all this accurately aligned to the impact it can potentially have on the acquisition of key talent at the different levels in your organisation. If you want to attract A’ players and top on-demand talent, then you want to create an A’ grade EVP. Like attracts like. Here is an article by SAGE People on the impact on Employer Brand on talent acquisition.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or clarifications.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/puneetsachdevpro/

Employer Value Proposition: your ticket to attracting and retaining top talent

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Blog by Puneet Sachdev, Human Capital Expert from Singularity Labs

The Context

The number of innovative fintech SMEs based in Scotland has grown by over 60% from 72 to 119 over the last twelve months. Add to this the explosion of Fintech in London and the ease of workforce mobility, you have a people’ challenge at hand. And this is not withstanding the number of tech companies that are continuing to grow in verticals like digital healthcare, retail etc.

What was inside is now outside. Now, Glassdoor lets any employee publicly rate their CEO, LinkedIn allows your competitors to pillage your top talent, and news outlets regularly publish stories exposing the internal workings of companies. In such a context, the culture of the organisation becomes one of the key sources of competitive advantage.

The Employer Value Proposition

One of the first steps is to get clear on who you are as an employer and your value proposition to potential and existing employees. In HR jargon, you create an Employer Value Proposition (EVP). It is the dating profile’ of your company to attract the right people and then keep the talent you have agonised to acquire. Easier said than done and easily side stepped as soft’ and fuzzy’. Not only does this soft’ and fuzzy’ have a quantified impact on performance but it is powering the growth of organisations. Here is a slightly dated (2016) Deloitte human trends report on culture but the tenants still hold true.

The EVP is the complete experience of working in your organisation. It’s the summarisation of the culture and values you embody, what employees can expect from you – such as learning, career opportunities, benefits, recognition etc. It is the why’ you are creating to attract and retain talent at every level of the organisation. It is the core of your employer brand that defines your positioning, what you stand for as an and the source code for the work environment that you will build internally. Your dating profile!

Gartner says: When you invest in developing and delivering a strong EVP, you can attract significant talent and boost employee engagement. For example, your organisation can reduce the compensation premium by 50% and reach 50% deeper into the labor market when candidates view an EVP as attractive. Organisations that effectively deliver on their EVP can decrease annual employee turnover by just under 70% and increase new hire commitment by nearly 30%’

Here are five main areas to consider as part of developing your employer value proposition. There can be more, but here is what I believe are core:

1.The culture – how things get done in your company. In this guide, you articulate various things about your company for e.g. who you are as an organisation i.e. your vision and mission, your exponential purpose, the journey so far, the team, values, your development philosophy, testimonials from employees, and so much more. You can start with your elevator pitch of why your company matters, and why they should be excited to be a part of it.

Think about this as your illustrated storybook that an employee can read and get a good sense of a) what it’s like to work at your company b) how to integrate themselves into the company in their early days c) behavioural do’s and don’ts guidelines i.e. the code of conduct / values d) what does success look like e) rituals and practices. This should instill pride and inspiration into the hearts of those who read it for the first time or the 100th time.

2. Development Opportunities – a major driver for keeping the workforce motivated, especially the top talent. Here you can include the a) your development philosophy b) skills development opportunities employees have be it access to online learning, events etc. c) career development opportunities i.e. future career options that employees may have with you as you continue to grow e.g. movement from product development to customer success etc.

3. Rewards and Recognition – this will cover the financial and non-financial compensation / benefits as well as the practices you have in place for recognising employees for the great work they do. Here you can think of including a) the competitiveness of your compensation package, health benefits, vacation b) other benefits such as onsite yoga, vouchers for different services etc. c) recognition such as best team performance’, extra miler’, display of organisational values’ etc. d) employee referral scheme if you have one.

4.The Quality of Work – here you define elements that are intrinsically baked into the nature of the work at your organisation, such as a) the ability to innovate on the job b) getting to work on interesting projects c) balancing work with non-work priorities and flexible working / remote working d) whether the work environment is collaborative and team orientated e) the quality and approachability of the company’s management f) the quality of the other employees within the company.

5.Social Impact – the current workforce is getting more and more concerned about the ethical profile of companies they consider working for or are working for. They are concerned about sustainability and employment practices. Social impact or CSR (corporate social responsibility) as it is also known, is now an important aspect of the employer brand. This is worth considering.

At the simplest level companies tend to have VTO’s i.e volunteer time off, create an internal CSR group driven by employees who choose a cause to get behind for the year and then find ways to support the cause. You get as creative with this as you want to. The 2019 Deloitte Human Trends review makes a clear case for the social enterprise

Suggested: what is not often spoken about, but if done right, I believe add to the competitive advantage in attracting the right talent – the explicit communication of Employee Data protection policies and practices. As companies embrace people analytics and AI based applications, a lot more employee data will be generated. And with GDPR growing in its veracity and statutory impact, employees will have greater awareness of data and the mishandling impact. It is worth considering your approach to employee data.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or clarifications.

The Socio-economic Impact of the Adoption of AI in Financial Services

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) present new approaches to doing business, with potential to trigger innovation and the growth and productivity improvements needed to gain a competitive edge in today’s modern, disruptive, digital economy.

A key change from previous industrial revolutions is that AI goes beyond automation of simple, mechanical, rote tasks to transformation of underlying business models, processes and the legacy technology stacks business increasingly relies on. Further, the scope of AI is increasing, with growing capability to carry out non-deterministic, knowledge-based tasks, as technology rapidly advances.

A number of viewpoints exist on merit for business, the economy and wider society, influenced by differences in understanding and application of the technology, and historical evidence of socio-economic impact of previous industrial revolutions.

Successfully harnessing AI and RPA requires fundamental transformation to legacy systems, models and processes, supported by long-term investment in rare, highly-skilled technology capability and strategic change leaders. Success requires also change to mindsets. This allows implementing organisations to adapt to new, agile ways of working across big data, to gain insight into customers, the market and the wider environment. Evidence shows that market leaders obtain real gains from improved process and risk management, and conversion of insight into effective design and delivery of high-quality, value-added services. An added benefit is organisational reputations that foster trust, aiding customer retention.

At the same time AI and RPA are set to disrupt the workforce with skill-biased technical change. Individuals possessing skills that both complement and support AI technology stand to gain. The agility that accompanies transformation to AI in the workplace augments task completion and supports flexible working practices. Further, because such roles require skills that are both difficult to acquire and require constant updating, such talent is highly sought and highly paid.
At the other end of the spectrum, significant advances in the technology increase potential to substitute digital capital for human labour. To remain relevant individuals must reskill, or risk redundancy or a move to lower-skill, low wage employment.
The resulting skill and income polarisation and potential for significant, long-term unemployment in a growth economy risks further disruption.

The study, for a dissertation for an Executive MBA at Edinburgh University’s Business School, examined the wider socio-economic impact of adoption of AI/RPA, using the financial services sector as a case study, to determine:

the scenario for changes in roles and skills within the workforce, and
item potential wider socio-economic impact of adoption.

A mixed methods approach was used, employing, primarily, in-depth interviews with subject matter experts across financial services, technology provision and consulting and advisory roles. The study sought to identify challenges faced in transitioning to the new ways of doing business AI/RPA adoption requires, and to explore different perspectives on formulating strategy to manage the transformation process. Considering both opportunities and threats that the technology poses within the workplace and the wider environment in which the sector exists, the study examined also what other institutions and actions are necessary to prevent socio-economic disruption.

The findings highlight tradeoff between business profit and societal gain.
A number of recommendations were made for formulating strategy for adoption of AI/RPA that lessens the threat of disruption, working instead toward benefit of all stakeholders — business, employees and the wider socio-economic environment.

Key Findings & Recommendations

AI/RPA present opportunities for business transformation that:

leads to more effective, efficient operations
fosters innovation that benefits customers, employees and other stakeholders.

AI/RPA pose threat of disruption

at significant levels to employees whose skills are rendered redundant
with repercussions beyond the business, that cascade to the wider socio-economic environment.

Current adoption of AI/RPA is typically hindered by:

sandboxed experimentation that does not harness the full potential of the technology, in what is often seen to be vanity projects
bolt-ons on incompatible and/or poorly designed technology stacks
strategy that alienates employees by focusing predominantly on cost-cutting as a means to generate gains for the business and investors.

Successful adoption of AI/RPA however requires:

alignment of strategic technology transformation with overall organisational strategy
fundamental transformation of legacy systems, models and processes, along with mindsets
effective investment and application to real business cases, to enable real return on investment
long-term investment in human capital, technology and other relevant resources.

It is acknowledged that AI/RPA adoption will transform the workplace and workforce. While gains are clear, there is a risk these are eclipsed by negative consequences within and beyond the business. Responsibility for managing individual impact was seen to lie predominantly with the individual, supported by employers, government, civil society and education.

Strategies for managing the technology transformation start from the premise that business does not exist within a vacuum, nor is it sustainable outside wider society. Further, AI technologies rely on large data stores built using customer and other environmental data. Policy arguments are therefore being made at levels such as the EU to mandate fairer share of gains between business and wider society, through schemes such as digital taxation and the monetisation of data.

Collaboration or at least co-opetition between industry, government, education and R&D is seen to provide a strong base from which to advance AI (and other related) technology to the point where it enables productivity gains that relieve humans to seek new ways of working with technology or other employment, without sacrificing income.

Extending this further is a viewpoint that suggests decoupling leadership from a focus purely on economic gain. This requires moving to visionary thought leadership and strategy that focuses on the long-term and considers alternative, more inclusive metrics for measuring value, and that centres humans within the digital transformation process.