OCBCâs Talent Development and Management
OCBC Bank is an established family-based institution that takes its talent management and development seriously. Since its inception in 1932, the bank has always identified and developed solutions concerning its customers’ financial problems and allows its workers to achieve their financial and career goals. OCBC approaches talent management by focusing on every level of the organization. At the business level, the institution conducts two talent reviews yearly as part of its talent development. The process allows OCBC to develop action plans that benefit its employees. For example, the organization has a program called OCBC Career Best, which enables workers to accomplish their ambitions (Sadeli, 2012). At the managerial level, OCBC carries out annual strategic reviews, such as performance evaluations, which help in awarding highly-performing employees and offering training to increase their competence. Therefore, OCBC targets its business and managerial levels to motivate its employees to improve their expertise.
Moreover, OCBC has a strategic development undertaking that assesses its employees for the first three years after recruitment. The technique provides management with a roadmap of all employees to help and motivate them in improving their skills and pursuing different opportunities available in the institution (Cappelli, 2004). Thus, OCBC invests in its workers’ welfare by providing additional programs to increase their expertise and develop their careers.
Furthermore, OCBC Bank has a well-structured method of hiring workers that focuses on potential talent. According to Ifeoma et al. (2015), the organization developed the OCBC Young Bankers Program in 2012 to identify and select fresh talent. The institution employs various techniques to maintain its top talented employees by investing in programs that improve their competence. Therefore, OCBC prioritizes talent management by placing it at its management agendas, which explains its outstanding success.
A Comparison of OCBCâs Talent Management Technique with Other Organizations
Although many organizations have strategic talent management and development ideas, only a small percentage prioritizes them in their management agendas. The company reviews its talent development regularly to manage and maintain its top talented workers. Ifeoma et al. (2015) argue that many companies view talent management as a secondary plan. Unlike companies such as G4S, which do not prioritize talent development, OCBC values talent, and ensures that all employees thrive. Moreover, organizations such as MacDonald and Apple, focus on qualifications as the primary hiring strategy, while OCBC prioritizes talent and skills when recruiting workers. Furthermore, Apple and MacDonald view talent management as an internal affair that should be handled by the Human Resource department (Thangavelu, 2016). However, OCBC sees the concept as an initial management plan that is dealt with by senior employees. Many businesses do not entirely prioritize talent management and development in their objectives. Therefore, OCBC incorporates different programs to enhance their employeesâ expertise, which has contributed to the organizationsâ success.
OCBC âs Talent Management Contribution to its Success
OCBC Bankâs success lies in its ability to provide excellent customer service delivery. Through its investment in talent management and development, OCBC boosts its employeesâ confidence and increases competence, which translates to excellent service delivery to all customers. Additionally, incorporating talent identification in the hiring process, the institution finds and keeps qualified and experienced workers. The approach allows the organization to increase its productivity and improve its performance. The strategy is directly associated with treating customers well and addressing all their needs and concerns.
Moreover, the annual strategic reviews allow the bank to strengthen the employees’ capabilities and help them work on their weaknesses. For instance, workers with average customer service delivery traits could undergo training to interact with clients effectively. Similarly, the performance reviews allow management to deliberate on the workers’ potential for growth. By considering the employees’ motivations, aspirations, and core values, management creates a positive environment for career development, contributing to organizational success. OCBC’s talent management and development program motivate and empowers the employees to perform their duties efficiently, which involves the proper delivery of services to customers. Therefore, OCBC’s customer delivery service is the main factor for its success, which is associated with appropriate talent management that results in consumer satisfaction and loyalty.
Application of OCBCâs Talent Management Program in Other Industries
OCBC Bank’s talent management and development programs are effective, which implies that they can be applied in other industries. For instance, companies in the telecom, hospitality, and tourism sectors, can benefit from the program since they demand excellent customer service delivery. Developing strategic talent management programs that suit their needs and prioritizing them would contribute to their survival and success. Additionally, constant reviews of the talent management process would ensure that these industries incorporate up-to-date improvements in the market to remain relevant. For example, instead of internally developing a hiring program, the organizations could use the expertise of employment agencies, which are capable of identifying talented people. The approach would enhance the identification of highly competent workers to become part of their staff. Therefore, many industries, especially those that depend on excellent customer service delivery to operate effectively, could adopt OCBC’s talent management program and modify it to fit their needs and work environments.
Although the talent management program would be beneficial for many industries, some limitations and challenges would occur. For instance, adoption of the program would mean that companies prioritize it above other objectives. The over-prioritization will adversely affect companies if they are unable to balance the program and their core functions. Moreover, the approach would be expensive for many companies since they would be forced to devote a part of their budgets to talent management. Furthermore, the program would result in a lack of employment opportunities for many people. Some people are not highly experienced and overqualified, which means that they miss out on jobs if many companies prefer only competent and top talented individuals. Therefore, companies should give all candidates equal chances of being employed rather than focus on the talented ones.
OCBC Today
OCBC Bank continues to explore various ways of enhancing its talent management and development approach. For example, the institution has recently designed a FutureReady Program with multiple courses, such as the SkillsFuture Credit, that has 150 classes for the employees (OCBC Group, 2016). Millennials have the FRANKpreneurship program that provides entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to the interns. Senior employees have the Life Refresh@OCBC course that sharpens their financial planning skills, digital training, and health fitness (OCBC Group, 2016). Therefore, OCBC has not abandoned its talent management and development strategies, which are beneficial to the employees and the organization.
Conclusion
OCBC owes its success to the management program that has enhanced its employeesâ abilities to deliver high-quality services to its customers. Other industries should borrow insights from OCBC to improve their financial situations and expand their customer bases. Conclusively, organizations that improve their employeesâ incentives and customer relations succeed.
References
Cappelli, P. (2004). Talent management in the 21st century: Lessons from Singapore. Office of Research, Singapore Management University.
Ifeoma, O. R., Purity, N., & Okoye-Nebo, C. (2015). Effective talent management: key to organizational success. Journal of Policy and Development Studies, 9(2), 95-106. Web.
OCBC Group. (2016). New holistic OCBC programme helps employees to be future-ready in a knowledge-based society. Web.
Sadeli, J. (2012). The influence of leadership, talent management, organizational culture, and organizational support on employee engagement. International Research Journal of Business Studies, 5(3), 30-50. Web.
Thangavelu, N. (2016). Talent retention strategies, organizational commitment, and intention to stay in commercial banks in Malaysia: The moderating role of person-organization fit. Universiti Sains Malaysia.