The future of work in finance: Empowering employees toward greater belonging & productivity
A regional bank engaged PSYKHE’s service designers to reimagine how their 30,000 employees could better work, collaborate and feel at home amidst hybrid working experiences.
Client
Multinational Bank
Industry
Financial Services
Services
Research & Insights, Strategy & Innovation
The challenge
With 30,000 employees spread across various divisions and departments, the onset of hybrid work posed a pressing question for our regional banking client. How might the bank reconcile different micro-cultures, personalities and goals to create a common experience and sense of belonging for both new and seasoned employees?
PSYKHE’s service design team was engaged to explore the needs of employees across the organisation, in order to define a digital workplace tool that creates value for each individual. Any new tool had to fit seamlessly into existing platforms and workflows while building a shared purpose that bridges personalities and teams in virtual work environments.
The approach
PSYKHE conducted over 40 1-on-1 qualitative interviews, contextual observations and concept tests as part of our research phase. We spoke to stakeholders across the organisation to get a holistic picture of the responsibilities, challenges and needs of employees in different roles and functions.
Our research yielded insights into the 6 overarching needs for employees to realise workplace satisfaction
1. Purpose. Employees wish to meaningfully contribute to their organisation. This is best achieved through having clear roles and responsibilities and tackling challenging yet meaningful projects that align with the organisation’s broader goals and values.
2. Autonomy. Employees need the ability to easily find documents, team members and knowledge experts, and complete administrative tasks without having to rely on colleagues to point them in the right direction.
3. Belonging. Employees wish to easily collaborate and connect with others, and be known and accepted as an individuals beyond work.
4. Welfare. Employees need to be reassured that their physical, mental and social health is supported by their organisation.
5. Growth. Employees seek clear development goals and pathways. This could take the form of schedules and tools that allow them to learn the relevant skills, and get projects to apply these skills.
6. Recognition. Employees wish to receive appropriate recognition for their efforts and their teams’, especially if they go above and beyond what is required.
With these insights, PSYKHE facilitated a series of ideation, prioritisation and MVP planning workshops to define features for a digital solution that addresses employee needs. These workshops brought together over 50 leaders and stakeholders across the banking organisation and provided them with an opportunity to collaboratively solve for their challenges.
Ideation workshop
Interview with the current employees
The impact
PSYKHE uncovered a range of employee engagement factors unique to our banking client’s organisational culture. Prioritisation and evaluation of these factors involved careful consideration of which ones could be addressed via technological solutions, and which ones required process or cultural interventions.
As a technological solution, we developed a 3-stage MVP roadmap for a digital workplace platform that would enhance employees’ day-to-day experiences. This platform includes task prioritisation tools to improve employee productivity and engagement, streamlined administrative tasks to reduce onboarding efforts and improve employee autonomy, as well as community and collaboration opportunities to increase sense of belonging and talent retention.
PSYKHE’s discovery and innovation expertise empowered the regional bank to build a strong business and technology case for investing in a future-of-work solution, and enabled them to leverage the latest workplace tools to accelerate their talent transformation strategy.
Like what you see?
Reach out to us today to discuss how our research and UX consulting services can help you create a real impact for your customers and your business in Singapore and Asia.