The digital evolution of the banker’s skill set

Banking challenges over the years have largely been predictable and required management’s skill in developing a sustainable and workable solution. As we move into 2022, we look back at the most immediate COVID years, as I call them, and see how new challenges have impacted our daily ability to serve our customers. 

Health-related COVID guidelines, regulatory proposals, legislative rules and new laws riddled the 2020-21 years with a constant stream of tests. This was especially challenging to our normal daily routines, which were continually disrupted by the most pressing issue of how do we actually get the work of banking accomplished with folks unable to “settle into work” for a normal day at the office. 

For many, a normal day at the office was spent at the kitchen table or in a makeshift office in the spare bedroom. However, our folks don’t work in a vacuum. Team coordination and communication among bankers is still a necessity, as well as the essential ability to access the information used to do their job and the tools needed for that job. 

While there was a time when this scenario would have forced many of us to shut down, technology sitting in the background of our daily tools were at the ready. Mobile phones, reliable internet, portable computers, iPads, VPN, virtual conferencing and digital signatures all suddenly became high priority and necessary items for our normal daily operations. The latest technology trends have always been at the periphery for bankers as we dabbled our toes and had some familiarity with them but the arrival of COVID had banks moving with lightning speed to adopt and adapt because our daily operating needs required it.

This digital evolution for bankers has been good, but so is having someone that knows how to best make it work. My typical statement to our IT guys has been “I don’t know if I need two giggawiggles or two zillion, just make it work to produce the output I need to operate.” And they do it.

Now that we have these systems in place, I see a new relationship with our younger bankers who at times get chastised for their youthful ways. I see value in that youth never more obvious than now, especially in their willingness to tackle technology head-on without fear. Their comfort, combined with their developed abilities, has served us well during these past two years. 

This ability goes well beyond our IT department. It’s also the folks on the front line and back office that have a job to do. After all, they operate the technology to make it work and produce the end result we need everyday to run the bank. This edition of the Texas Banking magazine covers a lot about technology and our use of it. I would encourage you to recognize them as in many instances, it is the young leaders in our organizations who deserve a pat on the back for stepping up when duty called.