FINANCIAL
SERVICES
BEACON 2021
26% $1B-$4.99B
20% $5B-$9.99B
18% $10B-$14.99B
10% $15B-$19.99B
26% $20B+
Money makes the world turn. But if the world tilts on its axis, what’s next? How is financial services poised to rebound from the challenges of 2020?
By speaking to over 100 global leaders in the industry – with billions in combined revenue – we’ve created a Beacon Report fit for extraordinary times.
2019 Revenue:
19% C-suite
32% Executive
34% Director
15% Sr. Manager
LeVELS:
36% Finance/Accounting
19% C-suite
23% IT
13% HR, Ops,
and Strategy
FUNCTIONS:
The younger generation is going to be key for revenue growth. Millennial and Gen Z buying preferences, paired with the impact that the year has had on operations, and one thing is clear – digital adaptation is crucial. Yet nearly half of our leaders are unprepared for it. They’re becoming aware that this isn’t just a matter of laying infrastructure down; the right skills and collaboration are equally decisive.
Here, you’ll discover what will really influence the coming year. And what to do about it.
Data and analytics: More influential than ever
100% of organizations feel D&A provides it
Competitive advantage
Affordability
Attainability
Increased by 10 points to 30% in the last 12 months
Organizational culture
42% of our leaders cite this as a key transformation focus
Employee experience
Changing operations from the inside out
What you need to know for the year ahead.
We’ve found the top strategic priorities for 2021.
There are new priorities to face in 2021. Cybersecurity, revenue generation, and digital capabilities are the main contenders - but while there’s plenty of optimism, fewer leaders feel confident or prepared. The workforce will be under a lot more pressure. Client behaviors are changing, along with expectations for innovative touchpoints. Success rests on unity, buy-in, and developing people in the right way, so they can double down on modern work models.
feel very prepared to address
cite as a strategic priority
feel very prepared to address
cite as a strategic priority
feel very prepared to address
cite as a strategic priority
Financial services can’t escape being driven by digital
Power your decisions with D&A
Embrace agility for continuous improvement
Multichannel, streamlined, digital touchpoints are a huge opportunity to court the next generation of clients with increased flexibility. You can accelerate transformation and drive operational efficiency while helping your business collaborate horizontally. At the same time, Accelerated Service Design (ASD) can help you link front, middle, and back offices, supporting digital enablement.
Drive efficiencies with digital enablement
Taking action today
How do you keep pace with what clients want, need, and expect? By gleaning patterns from data. The pandemic has (without a doubt) accelerated change, so data can help you fine-tune performance and revenue generation strategies sustainably. However, there’s still a question mark around attainability, along with equipping the workforce to wield insights to their advantage.
Fresh planning and work models can fuel technological change.
Financial services can’t make the best moves unless employees are brought up to speed and are aligned on your vision. Increasingly, the focus is shifting inward. Agile working encourages fewer hand-offs, autonomy, matrixed collaboration, and increased efficiency so revenue can pick up now. The workforce plays an essential role, so employee experience (EX) and engagement can’t be underestimated.
Agile ways of working
Fresh planning and work models can fuel technological change.
Where do you start? Here are our main takeaways
for people-first improvement:
Drive efficiencies with digital enablement
Embrace agility for continuous improvement
Power your decisions with D&A
77% of organizations believe it’s a high priority for the year
When you combine agile with digital capabilities, there’s a much closer target for operational efficiency in 2021. Agile methodologies are great for horizontal, cross-functional working relationships – for example, in IT and marketing. As a result, you’ll get faster results and propel revenue growth. In our experience, this promotes digital enablement, speeds up responses to new customer demands, and stokes engagement across the board.
As you lead your organization through the year, utilize D&A to extract meaningful patterns and gain critical insights. This information reveals efficiencies, which keeps costs in check. It also strengthens CX with the most innovative products, shapes your organizational culture, and can help define the path forward. Specifically, it’s worth trying data blueprinting – casting aside silos to create momentum around all the data a client consumes or collects. Your goal is to turn these findings into regression-enabled A.I and machine learning, serving segmentations in the most profitable way.
87% of leaders agree D&A will be their biggest cost hurdle
73% believe D&A is attainable in 2021 with 27% believing it is very attainable
42% of our leaders cite this as a key transformation focus
100% of organizations feel D&A provides it
Here, you’ll discover what will really influence the coming year. And what to do about it.
We’ve found the top strategic priorities for 2021.
There are new priorities to face in 2021. Cybersecurity, revenue generation, and digital capabilities are the main contenders - but while there’s plenty of optimism, fewer leaders feel confident or prepared. The workforce will be under a lot more pressure. Client behaviors are changing, along with expectations for innovative touchpoints. Success rests on unity, buy-in, and developing people in the right way, so they can double down on modern work models.
LeVELS
FUNCTIONS
2019 Revenue
What you need to know for the year ahead.
Money makes the world turn. But if the world tilts on its axis, what’s next? How is financial services poised to rebound from the challenges of 2020?
By speaking to over 100 global leaders in the industry – with billions in combined revenue – we’ve created a Beacon Report fit for extraordinary times.
Power your decisions with D&A
Arm HR for continuous change
Drive efficiencies with digital enablement
Find your shared definition of value, linking employees, customers and business needs together. Then manage changes carefully, with as little friction as possible. How? With flexible governance structures like the Transformation Value Office. They connect top-down vision with the work that gets done.
TAKING ACTION TODAY
Where do you start?
Here’s our main takeaways
for people-first improvement.
100%
87%
73%
42%
30%
77%
Where do you start? Here are our main takeaways for people-first improvement.
Treat transformation like a
critical asset
Find your shared definition of value, linking employees, customers and business needs together. Then manage changes carefully, with as little friction as possible. How? With flexible governance structures like the Transformation Value Office. They connect top-down vision with the work that gets done.
87% of leaders agree D&A will be their biggest cost hurdle
73% believe D&A is attainable in 2021 with 27% believing it is very attainable
73%
Hand-in-hand with digital, the vast majority of organizations agree (92%), saying data and analytics are a higher priority than last year. They’re also fairly prepared to take action. Get it right, and there’s significant ground to be gained from your competitors.
Just 7% of leaders feel very prepared to address talent management and development
Agile ways of working
Drive efficiencies with digital enablement
Embrace agility for continuous improvement
Power your decisions with D&A
With technology at the core, consider how you organize, govern, and transform without friction. Unroll a blueprint that balances the needs of your business, workforce, and other stakeholders. To deliver your transformation, flexible governance, such as a Transformation Value Office, seamlessly connects executive vision and the work that gets done. Ask questions like, "What are the skills my team will really depend on?" or "What's our guiding vision, and what are the outcomes we'll aim for?”
With technology at the core, consider how you organize, govern, and transform without friction. Unroll a blueprint that balances the needs of your business, workforce, and other stakeholders. To deliver your transformation, flexible governance, such as a Transformation Value Office, seamlessly connects executive vision and the work that gets done. Ask questions like, "What are the skills my team will really depend on?" or "What's our guiding vision, and what are the outcomes we'll aim for?”
Who we talked to
top priorities for the year ahead
36% Finance/Accounting
19% C-suite
23% IT
13% HR, Ops, and Strategy
19% C-suite
32% Executive
34% Director
15% Sr. Manager
26% $1B-$4.99B
20% $5B-$9.99B
18% $10B-$14.99B
10% $15B-$19.99B
26% $20B+
feel very prepared to address
cite as a strategic priority
feel very prepared to address
cite as a strategic priority
feel very prepared to address
cite as a strategic priority
The younger generation is going to be key for revenue growth. Millennial and Gen Z buying preferences, paired with the impact that the year has had on operations, and one thing is clear – digital adaptation is crucial. Yet nearly half of our leaders are unprepared for it. They’re becoming aware that this isn’t just a matter of laying infrastructure down; the right skills and collaboration are equally decisive.
Financial services can’t escape being driven by digital
100%
87%
42%
30%
77%
Assembling the 2021
Path With People
An Eye Toward Data and Technology
to Drive Growth in the New Year
Read the 2021 E-book
Read the 2021 E-book