As the banking sector continues to change, we believe there hasn’t been enough focus on the importance of having a solid organizational culture and using this to expedite innovation. Whether you seek to improve business value, develop new products and services, or open up new revenue streams, your organizational culture sits at the core and dictates what’s possible and what’s not.

In speaking to banks and financial institutions, we often see many de-prioritizing their focus on this core and instead focusing on more immediate concerns such as reducing costs and increasing productivity. However, this reactive approach can be hazardous in a fast-changing industry, seeing increased competition from agile fintech start-ups and non-traditional players such as big tech.

Only 21% of banking executives believe that they have the necessary expertise to pursue innovation. On the other hand, the banks focusing on their organizational culture are doubling down on innovation. The challenge that slows them down is they lack the digital tools and online frameworks needed to allow their teams to collaborate and innovate effectively, especially with new ways of working.

We’ve also noticed a common misunderstanding of what exactly innovation entails. Unfortunately, organizations often expect a ‘tech upgrade’ will automatically lead to improved innovation, which is not the case.

In this whitepaper, we examine some of the macro trends that affect organizational culture and, as a result, innovation. We also address the common challenges that leaders face in their transformation journeys, and we illustrate how a stronger focus on organizational culture can power true innovation.