Senior Management's Learning Journey to DBS Asia X
Senior Management from Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) visited DBS Asia X (DAX) on 12 July 2017 and learnt about the bank’s recruitment strategy and approach for selecting and matching the best talents to its jobs, which provided food for thought for enhancing NP’s Early Admissions Exercise (EAE) practices. DBS also showcased its unique use of space aimed to inculcate an innovative mindset among DBS staff and develop creative market products for its customers.
NP Management with our hosts at DBS Asia X
Human Resource Recruitment Practices and EAE Selection
DBS has become a leader in embedding data analytics across the organization to improve the experience of clients and employees. In the Human Capital space, the bank is starting to employ data analytics to enable and empower both HR and the business to attract, develop and retain people with the right traits, values and skills. DBS also uses several aptitude and psychometric tools to assess and select job applicants and these include the Predictive Index (PI), the Professional Learning Indicator (PLI) and a game app called Pymetrics. Other methods to recruit and retain staff include capability assessment, video interviews, Mackathons and job rotations. The teams from Academic Planning Office (AP) and Centre for Learning & Teaching Excellence (CLTE) took the PI test after this learning journey and found the PI profile report to be largely accurate. The teams noted that aptitude and psychometric tools similar to the PI might be useful in the selection process during the EAE in helping schools match the right students to their courses.
DBS Innovates
Being one of the first banks in the region to adopt human-centred design thinking, its employees were exposed to agile methodology and other digital concepts through customer journey workshops and hackathons held across the region. The bank has ran over 1000 experiments that saw its staff join those from start-up companies to form teams for a 5-day hackathon process, with one day devoted to understanding technology and skill building in human-centred design, and coding and creating apps in the remaining days. The main aim of such experiments is to develop innovative mindsets among its employees. Senior managers, who have gone through such experiments, are each responsible for owning at least one customer journey to collectively transform the overall DBS experiences for both its customers and employees.
A Dream Space
Housed within the Sandcrawler building in Fusionopolis, DAX boasts project pods and spaces, journey rooms, co-working spaces for about 100 people, an auditorium and a café to promote creative collaboration. The bright, cheerful and almost boundary-free 16,000 sq feet space showcased the bank’s belief that innovative mindsets and ideas are cultivated in creative work spaces.
NP Interns in DAX
To cap off the insightful sharing sessions, four BA student interns at DAX shared their delightful learning experiences with the NP management. They highlighted their initial cultural shock when they first came to DAX as it was unlike the traditional workplace that they had expected. The flexible and creative environment provided them with a new outlook to the way banks work today and they are inspired and excited by the exposure.