Independent Banker - January 2023 - 21

Next: What compliance changes are coming? 
" They would utilize their caregiver
personalities, and that parlayed
into behaviors for the customer
service experience. "
The caregivers' ability to empathize
with customers turned out to be
a boon for MCT, especially when
dealing with emotionally difficult
issues. " We've seen an amazing uptick
in fraud, " she adds. " So, the patience
a caregiver would have to sit with
someone who's experiencing issues
and work through those dynamics,
that's a different personality set, or
critical skill set, than you would have
in a traditional banker.
" The traditional banker might say,
'OK, let's close your checking account
down, let's suspend your debit and
credit cards.' The caregiver is going
to say, 'This must be devastating for
you. How can we further support the
family?' Coghlan continues. " Being
a community bank, our customers
are our neighbors. So, we need to
be cognizant of what else we can
do to support them, other than the
mechanical step A, step B, step C. "
This led to MCT launching new
training initiatives. If candidates
didn't come from a traditional
banking background, the community
bank knew it needed to provide
a solid knowledge base for them,
while thinking more creatively about
its leadership development and
career ladder opportunities. As a
result, it now provides progressive
advancement levels within multiple
departments, creating crossfunctional
opportunities and
expanding employees' knowledge
base by tapping into their critical
thinking skills.
The ability to think critically and
use intuition comes into play when
identifying fraud, a skill set Coghlan
believes goes beyond the required
training on topics like phishing scams,
and one that's essential for futureproofing
banks and their customers.
That critical skill set, she explains,
helps bankers ask questions, " while
not being nosy, not being belligerent,
not being intrusive, but being savvy
enough to think, 'Wait a minute,
that's not a typical transaction for
you, let's investigate this a little
bit further.' "
Coghlan encourages other bank
leaders to follow suit by tapping
into skill sets from other industries
and to reexamine " the preset notion
that you have to have preexisting
banking experience. "
" You still need the ability to crunch
numbers, you still need to have your
basic credits and debits, or your
accounting basics, but that can be
taught, " she says. " With the market
the way it is, I would say, broaden this
perspective, take off the traditional
blinders, and take a look at things
that may come as a surprise. "
Roshan McArthur is a writer
in California.
10 power skills
to encourage
in your staff
McKinsey Global Institute
has identified certain
foundational skills
that improve workers'
chances of employment
and job satisfaction.
They include:
1. Critical thinking
2. Communication
3. Planning
4. Mental flexibility
5. Fostering inclusiveness
6. Inspiring trust
7. Showing empathy
8. Self-awareness
9. Risk-taking
10. Decisiveness
Training for success
Ensuring that your existing employees develop power skills is key
to building teams that are agile and prepared to take on the future,
says Lindsay LaNore of ICBA.
" Some folks say it's part of future-proofing your company, " she
says, " but this skill building also strengthens the company culture.
A robust learning and development program can be a gamechanger
for banks, one that is built to include not only technical
skills but also power skills can provide that powerful wind to
generate growth and further company success. "
ICBA Community Banker University has seen a tremendous
increase in the power skills courses used by community
bankers in the last year, including Problem Solving: The
5 Steps, Communicating Proactively, Communicating
Persuasively, Team Problem Solving and Change Management.
Visit icba.org/education to learn more.
independentbanker.org // 21
http://www.icba.org/education http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - January 2023

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