HSBC is one of the world’s oldest and largest banks, but to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry it sometimes needs to behave like a feisty startup.
With fintechs nipping at all banks’ heels — and at times winning the war for talent — established firms like HSBC are under pressure to speed up their decision-making, get new digital products to market quickly and make their workplaces more inviting to young, tech-savvy workers, said Diane Reyes, HSBC’s global head of liquidity and cash management.
Taking a cue from startups, Reyes recently implemented an off-site “scrum team” in which she pooled workers from a wide range of departments — engineers, product managers, business analysts and mobile developers, among others — and tasked the group with building a new type of mobile shopping app.
She also has strived to improve work-life balance by carving out time in employees’ workdays for webinars on issues such as financial planning and nutrition and by revamping workspaces to include areas for exercise and meditation.
And to send the message that all opinions are valued, Reyes has constructed various executive committees to include junior employees who often bring different perspectives than their more senior counterparts, particularly on matters related to technology.
Experience still counts, but Reyes said that if HSBC wants to avoid being disrupted by fintechs, then it must create a work environment that fosters creative thinking and welcomes ideas from across the organization.
“If you have a committee that’s focused on digital innovation and every person on that committee is over 50 years old," Reyes said, "then you are probably ... not hearing what younger customers are thinking about in the ways they want to engage with us."
She pointed out that it was millennial employees who pushed HSBC to become one of the first global banks to roll out facial recognition as a form of authentication. Younger workers also helped to drive its launch of a mobile person-to-person payments app in Hong Kong last year.
Reyes continues to explore new ways to engage with and learn from younger workers.
She is strongly considering setting up a reverse-mentoring program within her division that would give younger workers a chance to provide honest feedback to managers about their leadership styles and help them understand millennials better. Just as importantly, reverse-mentoring could give senior leaders greater insight into millennials’ social media habits and use of technology.
“The biggest disruption we are going through as a company is training the entire staff on what it means to be a digital company,” Reyes said. “Digital isn’t the tech department’s job, it’s all of our jobs.”
