Retail Banking Sector Analysis: Graduate Opportunities and Skills

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the retail banking sector, examining its structure, graduate opportunities, and employer requirements. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of a retail banker, including financial transactions, customer service, and staff management. The report explores various career paths, such as team leader, branch manager, and regional manager, while also highlighting the necessary graduate attributes like communication, analytical, and leadership skills. It further delves into the selection process of HSBC, emphasizing the importance of behavioral instincts and problem-solving abilities. The author reflects on their personal and communication skills development, identifying areas for improvement and outlining a personal development plan to enhance skills in communication, leadership, problem-solving, time management, and negotiation. The analysis includes a skills audit and a personal development plan, providing a structured approach to achieving career goals within the retail banking sector.

MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
1. Sector outline...............................................................................................................................3
2. Graduate opportunities within sector...........................................................................................4
3. Graduate attributes and employer requirements..........................................................................5
4. The selection process for one organisation in your sector...........................................................6
5. Reflection of personal skills and communication skills development.........................................7
6. Analysis of Personal Development Plan......................................................................................8
Reference.......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix........................................................................................................................................12
Appendix 1: Completed skills audit..............................................................................................12
Appendix 2: Personal Development Plan up to Sept 2020............................................................15

1. Sector outline
Retail banking is a sector which is one shop stop for the consumers to receive all form of
financial products and services offered by the banking institutions in the market. The consumers
are able to manage and operate their desired financial services such as loans and advances,
savings account, current account, checking account, personal account, credit lines, debit/credit
cards, mortgage and other financial services from the commercial banks (Prospects, 2019). The
retail banker is a job position which is the responsibility for the day to day monetary transactions
and strategic decision making for the banking branches operated in the market. I have been
selected as a retail banker as part of my graduation internship, in which I am responsible for
assisting and providing financial requirement and services to the consumers visiting the bank.
Some of my responsibilities include setting up of bonds and savings account, assisting movement
of money through the mechanism of payment and authorization of loans and advances as well as
facilities of overdraft. Being a retail banker, I would be responsible for increasing financial
product and services sales and increase customer base by providing more strategic offers for the
customers for attracting them. The retail banker is an individual also looks after the process of
recruitment, training supervision and appraising the staff members of the bank. It is the sole
purpose of the retail banker to introduce financial advisory and to assist as well as solving
different financial problems and issues of the customers (Seyfang and Gilbert-Squires, 2019). I
have also been introduced with the set of responsibilities to increasing customer and banking
network by providing reliable promotion and touch towards the financial product and service
performances in the market. I have to participate in the preparation and management of the
budget. Being in the internship program as retailer banker, I have to understand different
strategies, activities and managerial actions and decision are made by the banking institutions in

regards to meet their budgeted target of sales and performance in the market. I would also
include participation on the recording and management of the financial record of the bank.
2. Graduate opportunities within the sector
There are different routes to get into a managerial position in banking institutions such as team
leader, branch manager, regional manager, assistant manager. The progression and activities of
the branch manager in big or small banking entities are usually managed and observed by the
regional manager of the banking company (Hildebrand, 2018). Being retail banker, I would be
supporting different regional manager. In regards to graduates, the working hours are merely
easy for the individuals working in the retail bank lower level in comparison to other business
entities. However, retail banking branches are open for long hours to provide a maximum point
of customer services to the customers in the market. I might have to work for long hours as retail
banker to support and participate in the day to day banking activities commenced by staff
members and branch managers of the bank. I might have to go through different route of
progression to gain knowledge on the roles of insurance manager, general banking manager and
other banking job roles. The graduates in the retail banking sector receive role for personal
financial services such as call centre operations for providing assistance and increasing
experience on customer service and excellence over customer satisfaction (Rubens et al., 2018). I
would have to increase much learning about several skills for increasing my retail banker
position and provide by productivity and performance in an effective and efficient manner. The
market of personal banking has been going through an increased competition as customers have
become more interested in managing their own finances with the development of applications
and online banking services. Thus, retail banker role introduces the requirement of additional
skills to stick to the competition and provide far better performance. I will have to learn the skills

and abilities required for managerial roles such as team leader and general manager for
increasing my opportunity to enter and perform an in the retail banking sector. I may have to go
for the branch manager or relationship manager role for developing my route to achieve retail
banker position. The branch manager role would provide me with basic information on
communication, interaction and product information required for offering quality services with
the customers. In addition, the relationship manager is a role which includes information and
learning on the relationship with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders to boost the
business (Fassiotto et al., 2018). I will be managing and supporting all these job role holding by
respective individuals, thus for that, I have to learn their primary job roles and responsibilities.
By this, I would be able to understand assist and support their activities and performance. These
are some of the basic banking roles which introduce opportunity for a graduate individual seek
job options and opportunities in the personal banking or retail banking sector.
3. Graduate attributes and employer requirements
The retail banking sector includes different and scheduled training and development programs
for the graduates working as intern or employees for the bank. It is not necessary that a candidate
must have a financial degree or certificate for getting an intern or employment in the retail
banking, I have observed that the retail baking training and graduate program are availed for all
graduates, although the banking management might expect that the graduate candidate must have
prime knowledge on two or one-two subjects within mathematics, economics, business studies,
marketing and business management. I think the managers of banking are more interested in the
candidate's attitude, behavior and skills over having core knowledge on the financial
terminologies. Having proper learning on one or two of these subjects dictates the fact that
graduated candidate has learning on the business operations and process of working in an

organization. The selection process in retail banking evaluates your skills, abilities and other
behavioral aspects include your education and knowledge. In case of information and learning on
the financial product and services offered by the bank to its customers, this information and
learning are provided during the induction program for the new employees selected for specified
job roles in the bank. In retail banking, regularly scheduled training is introduced for updating
information about financial product and services introduced by the bank (Rao, 2018). I think the
graduates or new employees selected by the retail banking sector are provided with proper
description and guidance for their job roles and process of doing their jobs. I think these training
programs and course are the best sources for increasing information, skills and abilities in
regards to increasing the performance for achieving a desirable managerial position in the retail
banking sector. The attributes of employer requirements might also be gained through observing
decision making, communication and skills applied by branch managers and team leaders,
understanding their tactics is a vital resource for me to meet my retail banker position and would
be able to do justice with the role I desire for in the retail banking.
4. The selection process for one organisation in your sector
According to HSBC recruitment and selection process, you will be allowed for only one graduate
program at a time, as management of the bank introduces a different recruitment process which
demands experiences. Thus, candidates require selecting their specific program in which they are
provided with a short application form. In the process of recruitment, the candidate has to go for
an immersive online assessment that contains information on the process of daily working in
specifically selected areas of the bank and candidate are required to answer multiple choice
questions asked instantly through a video (Hubs, 2019). In the following process, the candidates
are shown another video which contains job simulation introducing realistic working process

based on which they are gained asked with multiple different questions which require their
answers. The selected candidates from these rounds are requested and invited for face to face
interaction which is the last interview round with the branch manager of the bank. HSBC
management introduces basic information over the process of working so that selected
candidates would be able to understand the basic things for meeting the job requirements in the
specific department (Lloydsbankinggrouptalent, 2019). The management of the company focuses
on the basic behavioral instincts and how these instincts play out a role in developing candidate
interest, performance and productivity. If you are graduated in the business studies, you will
certainly gain knowledge on business, management financial markets, operational management,
corporate strategies and information technologies, this information will help you to gain skills
that are required in the retail banking job roles such as communication skills, analytical skills,
decision-making skills, and management and leadership skills. HSBC graduation program is
introduced to make individuals understand about different banking situations and the process of
solving them through critical thinking and problem-solving techniques (Hubs, 2019). This is
some of the areas which are observed by the employers inside the behavioral approach and
attitude of candidates during the interview sessions, usually, for high managerial positions the
employers asked for higher degrees and higher points or numbers in the prime subjects such as
mathematics and English,
5. Reflection of personal skills and communication skills development
Retail banker is a high-end managerial position which requires a different set of personal and
communicational skills. I do have better communication skills decision making and leadership
skills which I have practiced during my graduation by participating in different seminars group
projects and presentations. I think public speaking and soft communication skills play a vital role

in the specific job role of a retail banker. I have to increase my learning to develop my soft
communication skills. I think critical thinking and decision making skills are other personal skills
which required proper development. The critical thinking skill will help me to observe any
banking situations and advice to assist any solutions to the financial issues faced by customers in
the bank. The interpersonal skills and motivation skills will be helpful for archiving managerial
position in the retail banking sector. I think the development of motivational skills help me to
practice leadership and directing employees towards aching allotted goals and targets by the
bank for performing better in the market. However, some of the additional skills which will be
important for me to increase my competitiveness as a managerial position in the retail banking
includes customer service skills, sales orientation, management and coaching skills and learning
over the commercial awareness and insights over retail banking business activities. I have
observed that the more I would be able to learn these skills, it will provide be\me better chanced
and route towards increasing my changes to handle the position of retail banker for a long term
period.
6. Analysis of Personal Development Plan
As per my personal development plan, I do have several skills in line to develop within 15
months from now. I think each of the skills I have planned to develop within the targeted date of
August 2020; I guess every skill might require averagely 3 months of learning. In the list of
skills, I require to learn for being a perfect retail banker is communication, leadership, problem-
solving, time management and negotiation skills has the highest priority to learn. I guess learning
these skills will help me to achieve my goal of handling and to manage my banking position for a
long time period. The communication skill will help name to interact which would help me to
gather information from different collogues and seniors. I think communication will play a vital

role to let be understand the process, style and way of management, decision making and
activities to be involved while working in a banking sector. In addition, banking sectors major
focus is quality customer service help me to increase my performance by developing my sales
skills. From the personal development plan, I have also observed that team working is a vast
attribute which will require coordination and cooperation which is needed for quality
performance and increase my productivity instantly. I think the negotiation and problem-solving
skills are also required for increasing my observation power so that my decision making could be
more effective in regards to assistance services I would provide to my customers.

Reference
Fassiotto, M., Simard, C., Sandborg, C., Valentine, H. and Raymond, J., 2018. An integrated
career coaching and time-banking system promoting flexibility, wellness, and success: A pilot
program at Stanford University School of Medicine. Academic Medicine, 93(6), pp.881-887.
Hildebrand, J., 2018. Bridging the gap: A training module in personal and professional
development. Routledge.
Hubs, E. (2019). HSBC's 2018–19 graduate recruitment process explained. [Online]
TARGETjobs. Available at: https://targetjobs.co.uk/employer-hubs/hsbc/473680-hsbcs-2018-19-
graduate-recruitment-process-explained [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].
Lloydsbankinggrouptalent.com. (2019). COMMERCIAL BANKING: CLIENT SOLUTIONS –
Lloyds Banking Group Talent. [Online] Available at
https://www.lloydsbankinggrouptalent.com/graduates/our-programmes/commercial-banking-
client-solutions/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].
Prospects.ac.uk. (2019). Retail banker job profile | Prospects.ac.uk. [Online] Available at:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/retail-banker [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].
Rao, B.R., 2018. Innovative Employee Career Development Practices in Banking Sector–A
Study in Visakhapatnam City. Management, 3(12), pp.1-5.
Rubens, A., Schoenfeld, G.A., Schaffer, B.S. and Leah, J.S., 2018. Self-awareness and
leadership: Developing an individual strategic professional development plan in an MBA
leadership course. The International Journal of Management Education, 16(1), pp.1-13.

Seyfang, G. and Gilbert-Squires, A., 2019. Move your money? Sustainability transitions in
regimes and practices in the UK retail banking sector. Ecological Economics, 156, pp.224-235.

Appendix
Appendix 1: Completed skills audit
Skills Examples Skills
learning
point
(out of 3)
Evidence of skills
1. Sales orientation  Customer service
 Product detailing
 Customer benefits
2/3 Knowledge and learning
on business activities
and services
2. Leadership  Planning and
organizing
 Direction and
guidance
2/3 Participation made in
different seminars, group
presentations and group,
works while internship
3. Verbal and written
communication
skills
 Email writing
 Interaction and
information sharing
2.5/3 Group discussion and
interaction made on
different topics during
graduation and corporate
interviews
4. Flexibility and
adaptability
 Understanding the
situation
 Evaluating benefits
from the change
2/3 Changes in coerce
curriculums and
syllabuses has helped me
to understand