Banking institute turns to mobiles, tablets to teach ‘Gen Y’

With ‘Generation Y’ joining the banking industry, the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF), India’s oldest body of bankers, wants to keep up with the times. Saving the new generation bankers the trouble of carrying books, the Institute will make available study material for its certificate and diploma courses on mobile phones and tablets.

Given that today’s young bankers are hooked to their mobiles phones, tablets and social media, JN Misra, CEO, said it is important for the 88-year old Institute to speak the same language.

“…Now if you see the recruitment pattern, 80-90 per cent of the probationary officers would be engineers and out of them, maybe, 50 per cent will have some MBA degree. So, they are coming with a different skill set.

“I am not saying that they are not suitable for the banking sector. Rather, I will say they are more suitable because what you utilise is their analytical brain and their way of handling problems. So, they come with basic understanding and knowledge. Now it is up to you (banks) to mould them your way,” explained Misra.

If young bankers are asked to read the Institute’s 34 books, maybe they won’t do that. So, the Institute is giving emphasis to e-learning.

“We are giving emphasis to video lectures, and we are making it system-agnostic. Like earlier, when e-learning was introduced, it used to be available only in PCs. Now, everything should be available in the mobile.

“So, we are developing our e-learning content in such a way that it is system agnostic – it is available in PC, tab and mobile – so that people can learn on the move. So, this is another step which we have taken up recently,” said Misra, who was Deputy Managing Director with State Bank of India before joining the Institute in December 2014.

Another initiative the Institute – with membership of close to 700 banks and financial institutions as institutional members as well as about 4,50,000 of their employees as individual members – has taken up, is to join Facebook in order to provide learning capsules through social media.

IIBF has also developed a mobile app, which can be downloaded from Google Store, so that bankers may get all information about the Institute.

“Going forward, we will make this app interactive, in the sense that a banker can book his exam from the app, can choose a particular course, or download a particular article from our website.

“The sum and substance is that we would like to speak the language that the new generation understands. Our delivery should be in such a way that it is taken by them more easily,” said Misra.

As the banking industry is a knowledge-based service industry, whereby proper service can be given to customers only when bankers have proper knowledge, the Institute is impressing upon banks to introduce continuous professional development (CPD).

IIBF has flagship courses like CAIIB (Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers) and JAIIB (Junior Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers). It also conducts 17 certificate courses, seven diploma courses and advanced management programme.

“So, we are telling banks that CAIIB and JAIIB give basic grounding. We encourage people entering the banking system (maybe in Scale I or II level) to take these exams. And then when they move to the middle management level, we ask them to take the certificate exams, which are in different specialised areas.

“And then when they move further up the ladder, maybe after five years, we tell them to take the diploma exams, which are at a higher level. This will ultimately help them give better service to customers,” said Misra.

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