Shinhan set to overhaul HR system into agile digital platform

The headquarters of Shinhan Bank in central Seoul / Courtesy of Shinhan Bank

By Anna J. Park

Facing a fast-changing digitization period of the banking sector during a global pandemic, Shinhan Bank plans to overhaul its human resources system in accordance with its mid- to long-term strategies to strengthen its digital platforms.

The bank has long utilized data-based analysis when it comes to HR matters to objectively determine the optimal allocation of workers. Now the major lender aims to improve the system even further by actively relying upon big data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

According to the bank's strategy, the digital improvement of the HR system will be made in a three-pronged approach: first, HR changes will be done through accurately recording its staff's workloads as well as performance assessments; second, the bank's compensation systems will be digitized; and lastly, various smart devices or media platforms will be used by employees for digital-based HR functions, which will allow an increased level of automation within the HR department.

A bank official said the specific plans for building a system to obtain this goal have been agreed upon.

Shinhan Bank is also spearheading efforts to hire workers with digital experience. The bank is the first major commercial bank in the country to introduce a year-round recruitment system for employees with digital and information technology backgrounds.

Its focus on digitization started with Shinhan Financial Group's Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, who stressed a differentiated approach in nurturing human resources in a digital world.

“I think managing human resources and HR training system in the new era should completely be changed from the previous way of doing things,” Cho said earlier this year. “Since the AI-based world will be a new environment that no one has ever experienced before, more in-depth contemplation is required to come up with appropriate strategies,” he added.

Under such a direction, the bank's move towards agile digitization has stood out since early this year, when it launched a digital transformation taskforce to strengthen artificial intelligence (AI) analysis and to provide tailored solution platforms for each customer. The bank also aims to strengthen its mobile banking app's asset management functions.

“In order to preemptively respond to the ever-changing financial market situation focusing on digitization, Shinhan Bank plans to strengthen its competitiveness by transforming every part of the bank's business models,” said Lee Myung-ku, Shinhan Bank's vice president in charge of digital finance initiatives, adding that improving customers' financial convenience and the bank's effectiveness will be the ultimate goal of digitization.