The Delphi Survey: Information and Further Clarifications about Round 2

3.2. The Delphi Survey: Information and Further Clarifications about Round 2

In the second round of the Delphi (⁴⁵) survey, some of the aspects investigated in the first stage of analysis were examined in more detail. Thanks to the itera-tion process, almost all of the experts agreed that a correlaitera-tion exists between the technological factor and the changes to the organisational model – i.e. the two drivers of change identified in Round 1.

Technological innovation thus has an effect on the work organisation model, impacting work and operational processes. An example of this is the move en-abling customers to carry out operations previously performed by bank work-ers (e.g. through home banking). It is against this backdrop that providing staff with digital skills has become a key aspect. While in Round 1 experts had been asked to identify the most important digital skills that workers should have,

sors will no longer be needed as the app will take this over. 3. private bankers will use more and more info from the internet 4. the use of e-intelligence/data analysis for making better offers to (possible) clients”; “front office staff, commercial managers”; “bank tellers; back office employees and employees with the lack of soft & relational skills”.

(⁴³) These are the three options selected by the panel.

(⁴⁴) These are the three options selected by the panel.

(⁴⁵) Round 2 of the survey consisted in the following sections: Section 1, Preliminary Consid-erations/Feedback; Section 2, Digitalisation & Skills Disruption; Section 3, Focus on Soft Skills;

Section 4, Age Management and Intergenerational Solidarity; Section 5, Social Partners & Best Prac-tices.

Round 2 was concerned with assessing their relevance (⁴⁶). Relevant skills in-cluded those related to ‘data analytics’, followed by ‘digital marketing and social media management’. Furthermore, the panel consisting of privileged observers stated that back office functions and accountancy tasks face the highest risk of becoming automated (⁴⁷). Private bankers and sales managers are less likely to lose their job because of digitalisation, while divergent views regarded financial and mortgage advisors’ future occupational prospects. A need was voiced to increase workers’ willingness to widen their soft skill set in order to meet the needs of the financial sector. Decisive soft skills included ‘data reliability and confidentiality’, ‘willingness to learn’, ‘flexibility at work’, ‘problem solving’,

‘team working’, ‘communication skills’ e ‘compliance with the code of ethics’.

In Round 1, the experts attributed the lack of soft skills of newly-hired workers with certain characteristics in terms of age, gender, and seniority to issues relat-ed to the induction phase. Some 50% of the panel members said that new staff is usually “thrown into the deep end” and “has to deal with tasks on its own”, while 1/3 of them agreed that “a newly hired employee should join an inter-generational team, which includes employees of all ages”. For this reason, it seems that a number of initiatives encouraging skills transfer and intergenera-tional solidarity are already in place, though they are not established yet and sometimes fail to promote dialogue between workers of different age. As for the drivers of change – technology, organisational models, and products and services - and the importance of developing training schemes, experts were asked to evaluate the effectiveness of some training approaches based on adap-tation in the financial sector. On this aspect, group learning was regarded as a valuable strategy (⁴⁸), while different views were recorded as regards training provided under the supervision of a mentor or a senior worker. This heteroge-neity might be caused by doubts about the effectiveness of a top-down ap-proach for skills transfer. Preference was given to strategies like “e-learning, with digital tools used to transfer knowledge remotely. It is possible to use the platform in real time, interacting with the instructor and other participants at a convenient time” and to “methods based on temporary changes of workers’

positions, which enable one to develop more qualifications, and raise motiva-tion by lowering monotony” (⁴⁹). Those respondents that in Round 1 had

(⁴⁶) Respondents were asked to value the digital skills regarded as fundamental ones in Round 1. A 5-level Likert scale was used.

(⁴⁷) Respondents were asked to reply to the following question: “The expert panel has iden-tified the following jobs as those facing the highest risk of automation. Do you agree?”. A 5-level Likert scale was used (ranging from 1. ‘Strongly disagree’ to 5. ‘Strongly agree’).

(⁴⁸) This learning technique consists in grouping people – usually from different organisa-tional units – who share the same professional interests and, informally, the same knowledge (so-called communities of practice).

(⁴⁹) Some disagreement emerged concerning “the use of precise and well-formed descrip-tions of the situadescrip-tions which can take place in a corporation. These descripdescrip-tions can help

stressed the existence of barriers to the implementation of age management and intergenerational solidarity, specified that these included “lack of manage-ment’s trust in the effectiveness of age management and intergenerational soli-darity”. Respondents also referred to some additional problems at the time of implementing these measures, namely: a) the involvement of the organisation in these projects, which usually steps in to solve unexpected problems and not as a result of long-term planning b) the reluctance of management to put for-ward age management policies on the assumption that they are costly for the organization c) the resistance of workers to join training programmes. The fol-lowing solutions were mentioned to overcome the barriers previously referred to: “showing best practice examples of age management”; “promoting better social dialogue” “sharing best practices, and HR training”; “making policy ben-eficial for all: workers aged 55 and older, young workers, management and the company”; “promoting more cooperation, and intergenerational information”;

“I do not know”; “giving digital learning options”; “promoting collective bar-gaining on this subject”. In Round 2 it was also clear that experts are not fully aware of the good practices set in motion through the involvement of the so-cial partners on age management, knowledge transfer and intergenerational sol-idarity, as they were only able to refer to generic tools to deal with this issue and match demand and supply for labour (⁵⁰).

4. Conclusions

The impact of digitalisation and demographic changes (e.g. the ageing of popu-lation) on the banking system is increasingly felt worldwide, although differ-ences exist among countries. The effects on the financial system are there for all to see, with new competitors entering the market and the need to review the business models currently in place. These dynamics are producing “positive ef-fects on work organisation flexibility”. Specifically, “there has been an increase in the number of staff engaged in sales activities, specialised consultancy and

participants solve them, make decisions and evaluations”. Conversely, the panel agreed on the utility of “outdoor activities. This method is based on open-air training in difficult natu-ral circumstances. Participants do sport activities and outdoor games”.

(⁵⁰) The following are the answers provided by respondents about age management strate-gies in their organization: “I am not aware of any best practice in this field”; “no project knowledge in this field”; “1. working time to learn/improve (new) skills, 2. Fund for chang-ing/improving skills, 3. Policies laid down in collective agreements, 4. Support to find fu-ture roles for individuals, 5. Internships, inside and outside the company, to try new roles, 6. Support for employees to find other jobs outside the sector, 7. Reduced working time for workers aged 55 and older, combined with additional working time for younger work-ers, 8. Mentorship roles held by workers aged 55 and older”; “information sharing and more cooperation”; “lifelong learning”.

customer service; a concurrent decrease in the number of staff performing back office work or operating in local branches; the creation of alternative forms of customer interaction, which also takes place remotely through online communication tools” (⁵¹). The banking system is undergoing a veritable cul-tural revolution, and some time might be needed to adapt to it and to new business models. Research carried out for this project has showed that this new organisation will necessarily need a transition phase, in order to retrain human capital with more suitable skills. Yet the information collected leads one to be-lieve that this process needs to be supported. It has been found that there is lit-tle awareness of the good practices the social partners could develop to deal with the issues referred to above. Likewise, limited research has been carried out providing indications and case studies. This might be put down to the fact that it is a relatively new area of study, so no established strategies are available yet. There is a need for a joint effort to come up with new solutions in order to cope with changes to demography, employment, organisational models and learning strategies. In this respect, it should be noted that there exist many ob-stacles hampering the implementation of intergenerational solidarity strategies, both from management and employees. Collective bargaining and social dia-logue might help share good practices and promote new forms of cooperation – also with institutions – to develop targeted programmes increasing competi-tiveness and employability for the benefit of all those concerned.

(⁵¹) ABI, Rapporto 2017 sul mercato del lavoro nell’industria finanziaria, 2018, n. 24. The report points out that the banking sector is likely to be among the most affected by digitalisation, especially because there will be non-bank operators offering services without any limita-tions, also in regulatory terms.

Chapter 5.