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It is now a candidate-driven market. What HR professionals need to do more is really to listen to employees and get their feedback on things, the HR leader affirms.
The launch of virtual banks in Hong Kong is a crucial element in the city’s transition into the smart banking era, initiated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 2017. Besides, digital transformation and the prevalence of mobile payments have accelerated the popularity of virtual banks. While we are getting familiar with the services they provide, there is still little knowledge about their working practices.
In this walkabout exclusive, Julia Schielke, Chief People Officer, Mox Bank, speaks to HRO’s Tracy Chan and shares exclusive people insights we may not know about work and life at a virtual bank which celebrates its fourth anniversary this year.
Launched in Hong Kong in September 2020, Mox is a licensed virtual bank backed by Standard Chartered, in partnership with HKT, PCCW and Trip.com. Compared to its mother company, or other established traditional banks in the city, Mox is a relatively smaller organisation with currently over 400 staff.
Be it a traditional bank or a virtual bank, Schielke says that both are under the same framework and rules of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. From a legal or responsibility perspective, there are a lot of similarities. But when it comes to working for a virtual bank versus a traditional bank, she highlights three main differences.
“It is the speed at which we operate, the level of ownership you get to have in the organisation even as a more junior staff, and also the level of innovation that is possible,” she elaborates.
“Because we are a much smaller organisation, you can see things end-to-end, and are able to interact with all levels of the organisation. The level of impact and ownership that you get to have in the organisation is much bigger compared to a bank with, let's say, 10,000 employees.”
Schielke believes the adoption of a fully agile working approach in two-week sprints is an efficient and effective way of creating a technology organisation that works in a structured manner.
“So you plan, do it, test it and roll it out, then do a post-mortem on what went well and what didn't go so well, fix it, and start another sprint,” she explains.
“Bigger goals get broken down into smaller goals – it's very efficient. The speed at which we operate, and the speed at which we can launch new products and bring things to market, is much faster than in a traditional bank.”
Meanwhile, as an emerging business with a completely clean slate, Schielke emphasises the opportunities to create something new from scratch and choose the most innovative, efficient and current technology to do certain things without any concerns about whether it will work with any existing systems.
“If you are in other banks that have been around for a few decades, or even over hundreds of years, you are not going to be able to get that agency to create something new from completely zero. We are lucky that we had that privilege. And, of course, we very much appreciate the support we have from Standard Chartered as a mothership. It is good to have that support.”
A relatively new organisation, however, may get some misconceptions from the public, and more importantly, potential employees. Limited job opportunities, poor work-life balance, and high-pressure working environment, are some of the examples that Schielke could potentially think of that people might think.
Let’s delve deeper into the bank’s approaches to breaking down stereotype perceptions, and attracting and engaging talent amidst today’s competitive landscape.
Q: What misconceptions do people usually have about working at a virtual bank, and how is Mox changing these perceptions?
When it comes to limited job opportunities, we do have that reality to some extent because we are a smaller organisation.
But we offer a lot of internal mobility, and the career progression within Mox might not be very standard and straight-up vertical like in other organisations. Sometimes, it may look like a curve or a horizontal move.
We take a very skill- and capability-based approach. We want our people to develop their skills and capabilities in their daily work, which will add value to their skillsets and resumes.
We have open conversations about what they want to achieve in the next few years, and how we can be a partner in trying to make this happen. For example, if a more junior staff member wants to develop project management skills, we will give them a project to manage and all the support they need from their peers and the team.
When it comes to (the stereotype of) poor work-life balance, I think the team might have worked long hours when Mox had just launched as everyone was so focused on building a bank from scratch. But now we have been around for almost four years and our staff's feedback about our work-life balance is pretty good.
We also adopt a very flexible hybrid model so the team can effectively balance remote and in-office work, fostering collaboration, ensuring everyone can contribute to their fullest potential.
Another common misconception is that of a high-pressure environment. The perceived pressure is probably from the impact that you get to make from early on as well, and also, if you are a younger staff member, for example. But ownership also means a lot of job satisfaction.
Q: What are the key talent challenges facing the industry, and how do these challenges impact Mox’s talent strategy? Could you share some key initiatives Mox has put in place to attract and retain talents?
I think we are facing a talent shortage and a lot of competition. Hong Kong is a small market. There are many banks, fintech organisations and technology companies here. We all want the same kind of people and, ideally, everyone to be highly skilled, so competition is quite fierce.
Looking at the census information the Hong Kong Government has released, especially on the younger age groups, Hong Kong lost around 3% people in the 20-35 age group in 2023 because they left to migrate overseas or were just gone. It doesn't sound like that many people, but Hong Kong's population is small, especially in that age group, so that is a big number. And the younger generation also tends to be university educated.
Organisations in Hong Kong will collectively feel this in the next few years and decades because those people will be missing in the labour force.
We try to find talent in the local market and engage with them from a younger age. Thus, we have university outreach programmes and created a graduate trainee programme as an earlier touch point where we go to universities to recruit them.
Once they graduate, they join us on a rotation programme to nurture the younger talent drive and establish a strong connection with us as a bank.
To tackle talent shortage, we also try to attract talent from all around the world. We welcome you to Hong Kong and sponsor visas. We have a pretty international population with over 40 different nationalities here at Mox Bank.
– 2024 Q2 new joiners
Q: Gen Z is making up a significant share of the workforce, how do they perceive career and job differently compared to their older generations? What strategies does Mox take to manage, engage and motivate this group of employees?
We don't see that much of a difference between Gen Z and older generations. The only difference is probably that Gen Z is a little bit more outspoken and wants to be a bit more involved. It is just being able to really take charge of their career to some extent.
I also don't think it would be right to only nurture the young talent, but not the people who are older. We take a very fair approach and want to have active and more intimate conversations with our staff regarding their career aspirations and what kind of things they want to achieve, regardless of how old they are or at what point they are in their career.
It is always important to invest in your talent and upgrade their capability and skillsets, regardless of your industry.
We are lucky to be in a very new industry, virtual banking, and there is a lot of stuff to learn. Every day is like a brand-new day. I always make a joke where I say one year in a virtual bank is like five years on the outside in a more traditional organisation. That means you do get a lot of exposure and learn a lot. I think that is what makes us very attractive for the younger generation.
We just started our graduate trainee programme for the first time last year, and we received over 700 applications for just 10 spots. They are still here and are really embedded in our organisation.
In addition, we have created a talent exchange programme with our sister bank, Trust Bank, another virtual bank within Standard Chartered based in Singapore.
We are sending two junior members of the team from Mox to Singapore to learn, and they are sending two of their talents to Mox to learn from us. It is a short-term assignment of up to three months. We are doing it for the very first time as a trial this year and this is going to launch in September. If the programme goes well, we will expand it next year.
Q: Please share some unique features of Mox ‘s graduate trainee programme.
Our graduate trainee programme is a rotation-based programme for 18 months – six months in one part of the business, then you go through three rotations. Rather than being decided by the business, we ask for their opinion on which departments do they want to rotate through. We try to make it work for both sides. It is important to have that kind of strong partnership.
I think the features, framework and structure of the programme are pretty similar to those of other organisations. What sets us apart from others is the levels of impact, ownership, and exposure that graduate trainees get to have, even they are the very junior within the organisation; as well as what they can see and learn in the bank and with what kind of people they get to interact in the organisation.
Because we are a small organisation, graduate trainees will be an essential part of the team and get involved to do quite a bit of the work. They will be able to see everything in the bank, lead a small project end-to-end, and have a lot of exposure to senior members of the organisation. We are a pretty flat organisation and do not place an emphasis on hierarchy, so everyone's door is always open. This may not be the case in a lot of other organisations.
– 2023 Graduate Trainees
Q: Looking forward, what do you think HR should do more or stop doing to secure the talents they need to drive business success?
Since COVID and the great resignation, I hope every organisation has realised it is now a candidate-driven market. There needs to be a strong partnership in place between your staff and the company itself. What HR professionals need to do more is really to listen to employees and get their feedback on things.
Previously, we would like to take the guesswork about what people want to make decisions. Now, I think it is important to ask people directly.
At Mox, we do a survey to get people's feedback once a year and it is fully anonymous. Therefore, we have direct feedback and unfiltered opinions from the organisation of what people really want. So far, that formed the pillar of our HR strategy.
We listen to their direct feedback, come up with a strategy and actually do it, and keep people regularly informed about the progress and where we are. We keep people updated so that they know their opinion is valued.
Also, with a stronger focus on work-life balance, it is really important to create a flexible organisation. Being flexible is not only about a hybrid work model or the way it is set up, but also about being flexible in terms of great ideas.
People are encouraged to bring a great idea forward, and the organisation should evaluate that and then say “this is actually amazing, we should just do it” and then actually do it. So being open to new ideas and constant improvement, and having that flexibility as a culture in the organisation, is also important.
Another important thing I have mentioned a few times is having open conversations about people's actual career aspirations: Where do they see themselves in the next few years, what kind of skillsets they want to acquire, and how can we make this happen for them.
Q: Concluding with a relaxing note, how do you and your team wind down after work?
I personally quite enjoy exercise, and I go to the gym a lot. I know that a lot of people here at Mox are also very health conscious.
We have so many people really into sports, like pretty much everyone goes to the gym regularly. They all either do like running or play basketball or soccer. We have a basketball and soccer team here as well. And it is very exercise and active lifestyle-focused. And we all like to go for happy hour drinks sometimes to wind down.
Lead image by HRO
Other photos / Provided
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