National Skills Academy for Financial Services Skills & Apprenticeships Conference insights

Last month, I attended the National Skills Academy for Financial Services (NSAFS) Skills & Apprenticeships Conference. NOCN is approved to deliver End Point Assessment (EPA) for a range of Financial Services apprenticeship standards including Credit Controller/Collector, Financial Adviser, Financial Services Customer Adviser, Senior Compliance/Risk Specialist, and Advanced Credit Controller, and we have worked with employers from large banks to SMEs in the sector so this is an area of great interest for me and NOCN.

The changing face of financial services

The financial services sector in the UK is facing more turbulent times than ever before with continuing economic and political uncertainty (particularly posed by Brexit), the rise of ‘challenger banks’ and rapid advancements in fintech. This is resulting in skills shortages and a changing recruitment environment. Many roles are predicted to be replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and fintech solutions. Considering future needs and diversification will be key to maintaining market position.

With this change comes huge opportunity. The sector’s workforce is becoming more diverse (although 40% of City workers are still privately educated, they only make up a small percentage of the 2.2 million working in the sector across the UK) and the barriers to entry are slowing eroding with employers recognising the need for fresh ideas.

A key theme of the conference was about the need for a culture change in financial services to make learning and development more holistic and long-term, and to focus on social purpose over purely commercial gain. With research showing that fewer people than ever want to work in Financial Services, being a responsible employer is more important than ever.

Are reformed apprenticeships fit for financial services start-ups?

Anthony Thomson of challenger bank Atom said: “Financial services is not homogenous. There is a big difference between the skillset required by a start-up and the skillset required by a mature business.” We know that the well-established big banks like Barclays are embracing apprenticeships and making best use of the Apprenticeship Levy, but it remains to be seen whether financial services start-ups and SMEs will follow suit. It would certainly make sense for them to since they can claim from the ‘Levy pot’ even if they’re not yet eligible to pay into it.

The newly reformed Financial Services apprenticeship standards are designed to be employer-led with much of the input from the big well-established players, are they fit for start-ups like fintech developers and challenger banks? Although some of the standards have elements of things such as face-to-face customer interaction in ‘branches’, they also include foundation skills that are vital for working in a heavily regulated environment, which no Financial Services start-up or SME can avoid. Because the standards are designed to be as practical and work-based as possible while offering a quality qualification that improves the learners employability and social mobility, they offer start-ups and SMEs a low cost way of attracting new talent from outside of the pool of ‘usual suspects’ which more established firms may find it difficult to move away from.

Leadership and management skills in financial services

Looking beyond apprenticeships, there was also a lot of discussion at the conference about the growing need for better leadership and management skills in a rapidly changing environment where the customer is now well and truly king. Changing culture and values is not easy and this needs to be reflected in more sector-generic qualifications which bring learnings from other sectors. The Financial Services sector can no longer afford to be so ‘inward looking’ and career-long learning and development is a must.

If your business operates in the Finance Services sector and you want to develop a workforce that is ‘fit for the future, engagement with the apprenticeship system will help to improve productivity, increase diversity, and attract/train/retain new talent. NOCN is at the forefront of apprenticeships reforms, offering clear and concise consultancy, End Point Assessment, and a supportive approach to developing tomorrow’s workforce. Feel free to contact me on [email protected]  to discuss your needs.