Emerging Trends... The Banking Sector (IV)

In continuation of our on-going conversation, as we follow the trends in our banking sector, kindly observe that there is yawning gap in skilled man power that bedevils our labor market. To tackle the gap in skilled manpower in the financial sector, our regulatory authorities are not

falling back on our educational infrastructure to fill the gap, as this will take a long time to rebuild those specific needs, rather they are now falling back on professional bodies like; Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Financial Analysts, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Stoke Brokers, etc. to churn out the level of professionals that will suit the manpower needs and skills of the banks.

So you have regulations that require that for you to head certain levels of responsibility in the banks or other aspects of the financial sector, you must possess some professional qualifications. This is because it is expected that professional qualifications would give you the skill sets and the necessary knowledge base to be able to deal with the attendant increase in the skills requirement of any average banker. The banking sector is becoming more specialized and more career specific.

It is noteworthy however, that the global economic meltdown with its attendant effects on banks in 

Nigeria has necessitated a lot of down-sizing in the industry. Every financial Institution is trying to find out its optimum efficient operating capacity. What is the exact manpower that is needed to deliver on expected targets? Once that manpower is bloated and cannot deliver efficiently on expected growth and profit, the first causalities will be those who have been rendered redundant by automation.

Where you have more banks deploying more ATM to dispense cash, the more people have cards in their hands, the more the people make ATM their choice in handling cash, the more efficient automation becomes. The more dependable, the more efficient it becomes and the more acceptable automation becomes, the more it is going to put the job of the man behind the counter in the banking hall, whose job it is to handle cash at risk. 

Regulatory actions are pushing the automation process such that there are talks on cashless economy, where the expectation is to have less cash in circulation, less cash based transactions and less cash mode of settling payment issues. The more successful both the automation process and policies are, the job of the person who deals with cash is becomes an endangered specie. The truth of the matter is that we cannot escape change, however, the good news is that there is a way out.

Some of these persons affected are already in the system so they have that advantage. All they need is to up their skills, get additional qualifications to move from where they are right now to where the industry is going. At the end of the day it is not about automation or policy but the choice of the man, behind the counter. So make the best of change by positioning yourself in a place of advantage by up skilling via certification. Whatever you need to do to make yourself relevant for where the industry is going.