Alpha Bank: ‘New technologies help unleash talent and leverage bank employees’

The changes that the new technologies bring to the work, the working environment and the operating model of the banks, but also to the way in which Alpha Bank and its people respond to this “cosmogony”, were mentioned, among others, by the Chief Human Resources Officer of Alpha Bank Frangiski Melissa, from the panel “In the era of Digital Transformation – The case of Banks” at the 25th Human Resources Symposium of KPMG.

Artificial intelligence and robotics technologies in banks

Describing the context of the drastic changes that artificial intelligence technologies are bringing to banking and the way banks’ human resources work, Ms. Melissa noted that they are used in document processing, risk modeling and fraud detection, allowing organizations to process huge amounts of data. data in a short time and without the need for a huge number of people.

“Let’s think about how critical it is to process large volumes of data in a short amount of time, especially when we are talking about a globally interconnected financial system but also fraudsters who are constantly developing new methods, as artificial intelligence algorithms allow analysis. “Cost – financial or time – would be prohibitive if human processing of the available data was required.” As for robotics, he noted that they are used by banks to automate repetitive banking processes, which leads to their simplification and homogenization, reduces bureaucracy and frees up fruitful and creative time for employees. He stressed: “Robotics helps to release talent, freeing staff from mechanical and repetitive tasks, allowing them to showcase their skills in positions that require critical thinking.”

Career opportunities for bank employees due to new technologies

However, as Alpha Bank’s Chief Human Resources Officer emphatically put it, “banking can never be replaced by machines and algorithms, as it is aimed at people and, ultimately, critical decisions are made by people,” explaining that there is a reduction in the need for low-skilled workforce and increasing needs for highly skilled personnel who plan and handle new technologies, but that is where new opportunities for human resources emerge:

“It is now possible for Alpha Bank, employees who leave the old jobs that are automated with the help of technology, to be upskilled, that is, to upgrade their skills through our training academies, which allows them to learn to use the new technologies to create further automation, utilizing the knowledge they possess in the traditional part of banking processes.This leads to further mobility within the Bank, as employees who have studied in new technologies and have an inherent interest in them, move where there is demand”. Therefore, as he pointed out, “People are not lost, they develop their careers in new positions of greater value to the Bank, having been trained by us in basic principles and methodologies of lean & agile, so that they can contribute substantially to the establishment of a culture of continuous improvement.” and automation “.

The digital transformation is part of the wider transformation and our strategy at a rate of over 60-70%

Answering a question about how the Bank supports these changes through the transformation program, Ms. Melissa underlined that Alpha Bank has started its digital transformation several years ago by investing accordingly in functional models that support this change but also in hiring a specialist. staff.

“What is different from previous eras is that today we are trying to focus much more on digital transformation. We have set up a Transformation Office that handles all the different Transformation projects that are in line with the bank’s strategy and a 60 -70% of the transformation program concerns digital transformation projects, which have to do with the way we offer our services to the customer, individual and Business, but also with the way we structure the back office Addresses in order to serve as much as possible. these services “, he noted, while adding that the Bank proceeds to the centralization of processing processes and their digitization, as a result of which a lot of time is freed up in the physical channels for more contact with the customer.

“We now provide services that customers can enjoy with one click, and we are rapidly changing the way infrastructure supports this digital journey,” he added. The decongestion of physical channels, the transition of support services, but also customer service to the digital world, helps us focus on changing models and operating modes, front office and back office, and emphasizing to the customer experience “he stressed to add:” At the same time in the last two years we are starting the launch of new academies that have to do with both digital and agile and the change of culture, with the encouragement of our people to participate to a much greater degree than in the past “.