We need to invest time and money in developing industry talent
While it is clear that the financial services industry is one that faces many challenges, Stanlib CEO Thabo Dloti feels that raw talent coming into the industry is not one of them. He adds that one of the biggest challenges the industry currently faces, is the lack of commitment from companies to invest in this talent.
"Nurturing raw talent in order to transform it into industry ready talent takes time, patience and capital. Unfortunately, many companies were severely affected by the global financial crisis and possibly do not have time and extra budget to do this. But the talent is there, we just need to nurture it,” says Dloti.
Fresh off the back of winning the CEO of the Decade award by the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP), Dloti shares his unique vision for the industry.
Changing mind-sets to capitalise on opportunities
"In order to nurture the talent which is in the industry, significant change in mind-set needs to happen. " says Dloti.
"In the past, the financial services industry was about offering the best product or service to the client and managing the relationship from that perspective. However, the industry is becoming increasingly centred around people management. We are already seeing unique products being designed from scratch which are designed purely from what clients want from a product,” says Dloti.
He gives his argument more credit by pointing out that role players in the financial services industry manage the public's dreams and expectations and once this is highlighted, it is empowering to see the public become more educated on products within the financial services industry. In this way, the industry can achieve dramatic improvement for the better.
"It comes down to educating people about what they are buying. When we achieve that, people can appreciate what they are buying. Look at it from a client perspective. If I seek a better product, and I seek a higher standard from my broker/adviser, it will raise the standard of the industry,” says Dloti.
He explains his philosophy by relating to negotiations that he had with Trade Unions a few years back. "For me, working in a technical environment and helping people understand the dynamics of a product is the most exciting challenge. A few years back, as a young retirement fund consultant in the industry, I had to engage Trade Union clients on premium increase on their group risk cover. They were not pleased; they accused my company of all sorts of things and threatened to take away their business. But once we made them realise the benefits of the products, our relationship strengthened," says Dloti.
Empowering staff to reach their full potential
Dloti admits that he is not one for awards. But once he saw the effects that it had on those around him, he realised the importance of the accolade.
"Young people come up to me all the time and tell me that I am an inspiration to them. They feel they can achieve similar accolades to me and they will push themselves to achieve this. This can only benefit the industry. We need young people who are prepared to come into the industry and challenge its traditional thought patterns and the way business has traditionally been done,” says Dloti.
His method to achieve this is simple. You need to see the potential value in every person who works for you, and you need to give these people the tools to achieve this.
"You need to create the best environment for people to excel. But most of all, you need to challenge people so that they can realise their full potential. In order to do this, you have to be like an uncompromising parent at times. But when you can look at a person and know that you played a role in the businessman/woman they are today, there is no better feeling in the world.
Empowering the community
Since 1994, South Africa has been on a massive drive to empower previously poor communities in the hope of building a future generation of strong leaders.
Liberty is a proactive example of this by taking Dloti's empowerment philosophy and giving it to school learners. "We want to empower people with knowledge from a young age. To see learners grasp the concept of, for example, compound interest and the potential benefits it can offer as a savings vehicle, is really empowering.” says Dloti. He adds that South Africa does not generally have a culture of savings, which needs to change if we want to see more people retire comfortably.
Editor's Thoughts:
It is encouraging to hear that there are CEO's within the industry who feel that there is sufficient skills within the industry in order to ensure its future success. However, the challenges in investing time and money into developing this talent are a definite area of concern. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts [email protected].
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