The future of skills in a VUCA world

Financial services firms are currently experiencing acute skills shortages impacting the entire sector. In their most recent report , the Financial Services Skills Commission reported that the lack of talent is affecting the ability of financial services companies to innovate. While some organisations are forging ahead because they have the right technical and behavioural skills, others are stagnating, unable to transform because of a shortage of talent.

In the research, 42% of respondents say they have not initiated a digital transformation because of issues with sourcing talent. And it’s not just other financial services firms they are competing with for expertise. Most industries are after the same restricted talent pool and this means that acquiring skilled talent is becoming increasingly costly. The size of the problem is immense. In 2021, nearly all financial services firms (92%) struggled to fill vacancies.

The impact on financial services organisations

As AI becomes a foundational part of the HR landscape and increasingly influential on the employee experience, HR teams are facing increasing scrutiny about how, where, when and why AI is used and whether it is working as it should. There are real concerns about machine learnt bias, hard wired discrimination, and the mystery of a black box of algorithms to do . . . who knows what.

So, as much as HR looks to embrace innovation and AI – some HR managers are also worried about becoming the ‘beta testers of AI functionality’ and are wary of being the early adopters .