Blanket training and 750 young bankers change the face of Bnl

The new face of work at BNL will be revealed in the short time it takes to bring new blood into the company, using various levers. One is the more than 750 hires of the social plan defined by the last agreement with the unions, which marked an evolution in industrial relations. Another is training. The numbers explained to us by Géraldine Conti, chief people and engagement of Bnl Bnp Paribas, help to understand this last chapter: 'In 2023 alone, we invested more than EUR 6 million, of which 50% through financed funds. For each employee the training hours are about 60 per year, so about 600,000 for everyone. Half is compulsory training on customer protection and interest, anti-money laundering, cybersecurity, health and safety, the rest is of a technical-specialist nature on the bank's various professions. This year's goal is to have all our colleagues participate in at least four courses, because training is vital for what we call employability and for evolving and growing in the internal labour market, in our group that employs about 16 thousand people in Italy, 10 thousand of which in Bnl'.

Talking about training at Bnl is also synonymous with the 'competence centre, a platform for upskilling and reskilling, with paths dedicated to preparing people for a change of job as a professional evolution, in line with the changing nature of work in the bank. In order to do so, people are accompanied through training modules, but also by coaches who help them understand and embrace change,' explains Conti. 'So far we have involved 250 people, making them pass through a great school of knowledge and learning, as well as proactive accompaniment'. In the world of Bnl training, the competence centre is a 'client' of the broader Bnl Bnp Paribas academy whose programme consists of no less than eight faculties. These platforms are completed through work on power skills, behaviour and leadership style 'which today is very different from the past, more focused on listening and less on command and control,' Conti observes.

If the training lever concerns everyone, that of generational change will affect almost 10% of Bnl bankers. In fact, the social plan has provided for almost a thousand exits, using all negotiating and legislative tools, and the entry of more than 750 young people, with the highest replacement rate among the sector's agreements. To explain this, Conti starts from a premise: 'The financial sector has been touched by important technological transformations that have already seen several moments. Today we have arrived at generative artificial intelligence. Our and our customers' behaviour has changed, as have the solutions we build and the processes behind them. What has not changed, however, is our primary function and that is the support we give to the real economy. The figure of the banker is evolving, yes, but only in the way he performs his role, to be able to accompany the customer and offer the best service'. The social plan is functional to all this, because 'it will give, to those who want to leave voluntarily, the chance to live the third half of life,' says Conti, 'and to young people to join a bank that has the advantage of being part of an international group. The new hires and the strengthening of the sales network have two objectives, explains the manager: "To bring in skills, but also new mindsets, through a generation that will help us keep up with the times, making a contribution to the issue of youth unemployment. It is a win-win plan for all clusters of the corporate population'. More generally, the plan will make 'together with all Bnl's colleagues a new generation of bankers grow, which will strengthen above all the commercial network where 60 per cent of our people already work today, while the remainder is destined for the finance, control, management and risk area, and finally IT. We are concentrating on the core business of banking,' Conti concludes, 'having set our sights on important industrial partnerships for certain aspects related to It and operations.