The final day of the Q2 BankOnPurpose thought leadership conference yesterday brought messages of intention and, of course, purposefulness.
The morning kicked off with Adam Blue, EVP and chief technology officer for Q2, in a talk aptly named, “Don’t Forget About Slow.” With real-world anecdotes including why he frequents his local butcher shop and how the size of cargo ships affected our ability to buy everyday goods at Walmart, he reiterated the central message that in a world of “go fast,” sometimes it’s much more important to slow down, be deliberate, and think things through.
“Even when you're doing something you need to do rapidly, thinking about your exit speed is much more important than thinking about your entry speed,” he said.
You can hear more from Blue on the topic in this recent The Purposeful Banker podcast.
The theme continued with a panel discussion about “Doing Digital: A Modern Bank’s Guide to Thrive.” As with most conversations over the past three days, the discussion quickly turned away from technology to focus on people.
Farrukh Aman of Scotiabank reiterated a common issue discussed among conference goers this week: employee training. He emphasized that no matter how good the technology is at a financial institution, it all comes down to whether the people can and will use it to the organization’s advantage.
"PrecisionLender is beautiful, but if you don't understand pricing, it's not going to do much for you. It requires constant training and retraining,” he said.
However, Katherine Weislogel of Synovus Bank said technology is a crucial aspect of attracting skilled candidates to fill important roles, such as relationship managers (RMs). “We've started to be called in to talk to RM candidates (about our technology and road map) because they want to know what we have,” she said.
The morning ended with a keynote from Tiffani Bova, global growth evangelist for Salesforce and author of the bestselling book, Growth IQ.
Bova shared some sobering stats around what she termed the customer success gap: 75% of companies say they're customer-centric, but only 30% of customers agree. She reinforced that the key to growth for financial institutions – or any company – in a tough market is how customers feel about them. And for the most successful companies, how customers feel directly correlates with how employees feel.
That idea brought us back around to another key theme of conference conversations: investing in employee development.
“Some people say, ‘What if we develop the employees and they leave?’ The bigger question is what if you don't and they stay?” she said.
In an increasingly uncertain economic climate, Bova’s parting thoughts on building a great company culture were a powerful way to conclude a special week.
One Last Thanks to Our Partners
We appreciate our partners who sponsored BankOnPurpose:
• Glia
• Entersekt
• KPMG Advisory
• Derivative Path
• Plaid
• Rocket Mortgage
Without their sponsorship and engagement from some of the world’s best bankers, BankOnPurpose wouldn’t be the premier global event for banking executives that it is.
While this year’s event is officially wrapped, you can always visit the BankOnPurpose website for videos of past conference speakers—and look for this year’s videos to be uploaded in the coming weeks.
It’s Official – BankOnPurpose is Hitting the Road
New year, new experience. BankOnPurpose is packing up for a trip like no other in 2023: The BOP Roadshow!
This series puts an exclusive new twist on the inspiring and collaborative conference attendees have come to love. Except this time, we’re coming to the customer. Hosted at various locations across the country, no two events will be the same. And we’re starting strong with our first stop in New York City in February!
With smaller groups, deeper conversations, VIP guest speakers, and top-notch venues, The BOP Roadshow is sure to deliver an elevated experience you won’t want to miss.
To learn more or to get on our guest list, please reach out to us at BankOnPurpose@Q2.com.