Erlny brings over 20 years of expertise in finance and banking, specializing in HR and cross-border taxation. As CHRO at Touch ‘n Go Group, she leads HR modernization and cultural transformation, aligning operations with strategic goals to foster innovation and drive sustainable growth.

In a recent conversation with The Global Woman Leader Magazine, Erlny shares her insights on the evolving employee skill requirements, emphasizing the growing importance of specific technologies and tools. She also discusses how financial services can foster diversity, address skill gaps, and promote continuous learning and innovation in a tech-driven landscape.

Given the rapid technological advancements in the financial services sector, how do you see the current landscape shaping up in terms of employee skill requirements? What specific technologies or tools are becoming essential for the workforce?

Reflecting on the rapid technological advancements in the financial services sector, it’s clear that the landscape is evolving quickly. At Touch 'n Go, I’ve seen how crucial it is for our employees to be proficient in data analytics and digital tools, which are now integral to our operations. However, it’s not just about technical skills. Blending these with human skills like adaptability and problem-solving is key to driving innovation. Supporting our team in their upskilling journey and seeing them embrace new challenges is incredibly rewarding. Ultimately, while tools and technologies are essential, it’s the people behind them who make the real difference.

How can financial services companies ensure that the integration of advanced technologies does not inadvertently create barriers to diversity? What practices can be adopted to maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce amidst technological transformation?

At Touch 'n Go, ensuring that advanced technologies don’t create barriers to diversity is a priority of ours. We work closely with the business units to understand their needs and continue to hire from a diverse pool to bring a variety of experience to foster fresh ideas. Practices like blind CVs, skill-based hiring, and recruiting from different industries and backgrounds, including returnees to the workforce, are essential. Our focus on diversity reflects our customer base, ensuring our products meet the different needs of our customers.

We conduct panel interviews that emphasize behaviors and culture, allowing candidates to learn about our organizational practices. This approach provides the hiring manager with diverse perspectives, ensuring new hires can collaborate effectively with various team members. By hiring candidates from varied backgrounds, we embrace different cultures and personalities, and these interviews help us make informed decisions to ensure new hires embody Our DNA.As we transform technologically, we also evolve our workforce, maintaining an inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives and experiences. This approach helps us innovate and serve our diverse customer base effectively.

What steps can organizations take to cultivate a culture that not only embraces technological change but also encourages continuous learning and innovation among employees? How can leaders foster an environment where experimentation and adaptability are valued?

We are dedicated to fostering a culture that embraces technological change and continuous learning. We embed Our DNA of Love, Entrepreneurship, Agility, and Passion (LEAP) into all aspects of our operations, guiding decision-making and encouraging creativity and problem-solving.

Our leaders play a crucial role in this process by providing ongoing coaching and development opportunities, both face-to-face and online. By offering diverse learning opportunities, including workshops, online courses, and mentorship programs, and encouraging further education and certifications we create an environment where experimentation is valued, and failure is seen as a learning opportunity. This approach encourages our employees to take calculated risks and generate new ideas.

Recognizing and rewarding innovation and adaptability through awards, public recognition, and career advancement reinforce these behaviors. We also have in place regular feedback mechanisms, such as surveys and check-ins, to help us understand employee needs and improve our training programs. By embedding these practices and values, we create an environment that embraces technological change, drives continuous learning, and enhances employee engagement and satisfaction, leading to sustained innovation and growth.

How should leadership development programs evolve to prepare future leaders for a tech-driven financial landscape? What key competencies should be emphasized to ensure leaders are equipped to navigate and drive digital transformation?

Financial and fintech industries are often viewed as cold and numbers driven, where improved performance outweighs intangible outcomes of loyalty and trust. The more advanced we are with technology, the wider the gap in our relationships with each other. Therefore, while our leadership development programs evolve to prepare future leaders to work alongside technology, we continue to emphasize the importance of human soft skills, ensuring we take deliberate steps to enhance and build relationships. While upskilling leaders to bring out the best from the younger generations, competencies such as emotional intelligence, active listening and the ability to discern when human touch is necessary, are pivotal. Our Leaders are trained to leverage technology to enhance, not replace, human connections, ensuring that our service level remains high and personal. This balanced approach prepares them to effectively navigate and drive digital transformation. By fostering these skills, we ensure our leaders are equipped to lead with both heart and innovation, maintaining a strong connection between our teams and customers.

While embracing technology is crucial, how can financial institutions maintain a balance between technological advancements and the human element, ensuring that employee engagement and satisfaction remain high?

Ultimately, we must continue to balance technological advancements with a priority focus on human touch points. Two values from Our DNA, Love and Passion, is a constant reminder that without the right behaviours to support, it will be a struggle to build long-term success. Providing for our employees’ growth and development feeds directly into their levels of engagement and satisfaction at work, therefore, emphasizing leadership development programs that focus on emotional intelligence, active listening, and empathy builds better leaders. This allows us to embrace digital transformation while maintaining strong, personal connections within our teams and with our customers. We integrate technology to enhance, not replace human interactions.

With the increasing need for tech-savvy employees, how can financial services companies address the skills gap within their workforce? What initiatives or partnerships could be effective in upskilling or reskilling employees to meet future demands?

Addressing the skills gap is one of our leadership teams’ top priorities at Touch 'n Go Group. Regular check-ins with our teams on outcomes help us to identify their skills gap at an early stage. On top of development programs, we aim to create more focus on development through on-the-job training opportunities. Through future partnerships with other organizations, we hope to implement rotational employment to provide valuable industry exposure and upskilling opportunities to our people.  Similarly, understanding the generation gap within our organization is crucial. It helps us tailor development programs to different needs, whether it’s functional upskilling or awareness building. By combining these initiatives, we ensure our workforce is well-equipped to meet future demands as it is about creating a supportive environment where continuous learning is encouraged, and everyone is given the opportunity to grow and succeed.