October 16, 2024
October 16, 2024
The financial services industry is facing significant disruptions, much like other sectors. For financial institutions (FIs), these disruptions are driven by several key factors:
- The rise of tech startups that are commoditizing traditional revenue streams, such as payments and forex trading.
- Increasing regulatory burdens stemming from past financial crises.
- The competitive pressure from technology companies, which not only attract high valuations but also talent.
As a result, FIs have been grappling with improving profitability and return on capital. The main strategies to achieve this include:
- Cutting costs by increasing workforce efficiency and productivity.
- Driving innovation to capture new revenue or defend market share from disruptors.
- Enhancing governance and compliance to prevent regulatory costs, which can be substantial.
An internal gig platform—a firm-wide tool for matching employees with short-term project needs—can support these goals in several ways.
Teams within FIs often face tight deadlines but lack critical resources due to high attrition or overworked employees. Instead of pausing a project to hire or train new team members, an internal gig platform allows teams to quickly source part-time help from across the organization. For instance, a risk analysis team can post a gig, and a colleague with relevant experience from another department can step in to keep the project on track.
Employees who engage in these gigs also benefit. Whether they are looking to develop new skills or simply interested in gaining experience in another department, these opportunities allow them to build cross-functional relationships while contributing to the firm’s success.
Innovation thrives in an agile environment. Internal gig platforms can provide a space for employees with new ideas—whether for a product or operational process—to post gigs and collaborate with others who share similar interests. For example, a product manager seeking a real-time dashboard for performance tracking might find it difficult to push this request through traditional change management. However, through the gig platform, a tech-savvy colleague could help build the dashboard as a side project, speeding up the process.
These platforms also encourage a "fail fast" culture, where employees can test ideas without long-term commitments. This can lead to a pipeline of small, incremental improvements across the organization.
Governance is critical in highly regulated industries like financial services. An internal gig platform can ensure that all projects adhere to governance standards by embedding compliance protocols into the gig-creation process. Teams can use pre-defined templates that cover regulatory requirements, ensuring that no crucial steps are missed. For example, marketing teams could use the platform to create gigs that automatically include the necessary legal approvals for new promotional materials, reducing compliance risks.
By integrating governance directly into gig workflows, organizations can streamline compliance while reducing the risk of regulatory breaches.
The fast-paced evolution of technology requires continuous learning. Internal gigs offer employees the chance to apply newly learned skills in real-world scenarios, complementing formal training. For example, after completing a course on AI in finance, an employee could take on a related gig to deepen their understanding and immediately contribute to the firm's technological advancements.
In today’s disruptive environment, internal gig platforms offer financial institutions a practical way to enhance efficiency, foster innovation, strengthen governance, and upskill employees—all crucial to improving profitability and return on capital.
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