Having competent staff to deliver high quality products and services is critical to building customer confidence and goodwill, driving customer satisfaction, enhancing reputation and ultimately realising individual institutions' corporate vision and strategic goals. It is therefore, in the best interest of banking institutions to strengthen further the competence and professionalism of staff in the industry. In this regard, financial institutions can of course adopt the measure of “buying talent” from the market. This may however, risk in high compensations that are not commensurate with the value added. The more desirable option is the building, developing and maintaining a pipeline of talent from within the company. Let me turn to Malaysia's experience in human capital development for the financial services industry. In Malaysia, structured and comprehensive approach to human capital development has been a key part of our efforts for the development and advancement of the industry. The programmes by ICLIF, which is now in its 6th year of operations, provide programmes in leadership development for the senior management level in the financial services industry. The programmes carried out by the Institute of Bankers Malaysia, the training arm of the banking industry, have also been recently reviewed to meet the new demands of the financial sector. In addition, dialogue between the industry and other education providers including institutions of higher learning have taken place to promote well equipped supply of talent.
Further information can be found online here: http://www.tnongroup.com/ 2 See Mark Carney https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2019/50-note-character-selection-announcement 1  2  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches  2  It turns out the same thinking can be applied to a company’s workforce. Instead of equity capital you have human capital, and instead of investing in financial assets you are investing in people. A diverse portfolio makes a company more resilient, and so too does a diverse workforce - delivering better outcomes for individuals, communities and the company. As we look ahead, changes in society mean the workforce of the future will be markedly different from that of today. Recent surveys have found that just short of half of 18-24 year olds identify as something other than exclusively heterosexual or homosexual3, and a similar proportion of Millennials view gender as a spectrum4. These individuals are in and entering the workforce now. If we are to reflect the society we serve and in so doing attract the best talent, we need to make sure they know that they can bring their whole selves to work: that they belong. So the case for a diverse workforce is clear5. What many of us struggle with is how to attract, develop and maintain such a workforce. Unfortunately, diversity does not, in our experience, emerge organically at the workplace. It needs to be nurtured from recruitment to development and promotion. And it must be underpinned by an inclusive work environment for it to be sustainable.