Education providers and the employee development personnel of financial sector companies have gathered around the same table to improve the concrete link between financial education and working life. This cooperation network has been named the Financial Academy. With a common voice, both parties can have more influence on the overall development of financial education and training.
“We must strengthen our cooperation so that education can match the needs of working life. To create flexible paths of education, we must extend cooperation between various education providers and across education sector boundaries”, says Tarja Kallonen, Research Manager at the Federation of Finnish Financial Services.
It is not only the new recruits and students who are faced with the changing competency requirements of the sector. “We must take care of the training and development needs of people already employed in the sector at the same time as we focus on the education of future employees”, says Hilkka Malinen, Human Resources Director at Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company.
Education and training examined as a whole
The future skills and competencies required in the financial sector include customer service, digital technology, business competence, multicultural skills, creativity and innovation, as well as knowledge of service platforms, design and networking.
“The future core skill in the financial sector will be the ability to combine one’s own competencies with those of others for the benefit of the customer”, LocalTapiola’s HR Director Sari Kuusela believes.
The institutions that provide financial education consider the sector’s new cooperation model an excellent initiative. The Financial Academy examines and evaluates training and education as a whole, all the way from vocational schools to universities and the sector’s own training institute, Finva. Active connections to companies in the sector are also in an essential role.