Employees in the retail banking sector need to possess a vast range of skills in order to succeed in a market where millions of people are looking for an efficient service on a continual basis.
With so much to learn for employees at all levels, it can be difficult for leaders to create a retail banking training programme that will both engage individuals and develop the commercial skills necessary to remain competitive.
Fortunately, experiential learning methods can be utilised to ensure that retail banking training programmes are as effective as possible for employees at all levels of seniority.
What skills are required to succeed in retail banking?
The retail banking sector can be extremely challenging for employees, as the industry is always evolving. The rapid development of FinTech and other innovative areas of banking means that consumer expectations are at an all-time high.
In addition, compared to corporate banking, the retail industry is much more personal and relies on key relationships to secure repeat business.
Every company will prioritise different skills when it comes to their retail banking training courses in order to aid employee development. There are, however, a number of core skills that workers need to master in this customer-facing sector. These are:
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Collaboration
- Commercial awareness
- Problem-solving
All of these skills require active engagement to make real improvements. This means that traditional, outdated methods of learning like lectures and seminars can prove to be ineffective in developing skills on an organisational scale.
How can experiential learning improve retail banking training?
To keep up-to-date with the demands that retail banking promises to pose for businesses now and in the future, leaders should be looking to implement experiential learning methods into their training programmes.
Experiential learning allows employees to ‘learn by doing’, and typically has a higher retention rate compared to traditional methods - particularly among millennials, who have grown up alongside the development of technology, newer training methods can be crucial to success.
According to a survey conducted by Compdata, the Banking & Finance industry has an 18.6 percent turnover rate, which is typically much higher than the average professional sector. Furthermore, the survey revealed that only 10% of millennials in this sector planned to stay in their roles long term.
By adopting the right experiential learning methods, such as business simulations, e-learning and collaborative workshops, leaders can begin to see real results from their workplace training programmes, which in turn will aid wider business progression.
MDA Training’s approach
Here at MDA Training, we specialise in constructing experiential retail banking training programmes that truly motivate and engage employees. Matched to the specific goals and KPIs of our clients, we are able to deliver a significant return on investment.
For more information on our work in this sector, please visit our banking section here.
Ultimately, in an industry where employees are required to be proactive and adaptive to sudden changes and developments, it makes sense that training programmes should follow in the same suit. To gain a true reflection of how to approach various challenges, employees need to be actively attempting relevant activities, making experiential learning the perfect long term solution.