OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (OCBC Bank) has introduced an all-encompassing millennials-centred programme to build forward-looking young adults into all-rounders in banking.

Ms Anne Leh (centre) with some of the millennials who currently work in the consumer financial services division of OCBC Bank

The GROW programme – short for Graduate Rotations for Optimal Workexperience – puts aspiring and motivated young talents through a rigorous 3-month journey with the Bank’s retail banking division before their confirmation. It offers millennials rotational exposure across the various areas of retail banking to inculcate a sense of holistic banking, equipping them with skills that centre on wealth management and homes loans, going well beyond a focus on non-human-dependent dimensions such as digital.

OCBC Bank Managing Director and Head of Consumer Financial Services Ms Anne Leh expects that millennials will welcome the opportunity to develop their capabilities and expand their skills across multiple roles through the rotational exposure that is made available.

“The exposure will serve both to provide them with the required knowledge of banking practices that cannot be digitalised, including advisory, and to understand their own inclinations, aptitudes and strengths as well.

“This is part of our quest to augment customer service through dynamic people building. We see the days of bankers specialising all too quickly in single tasks, from day one, as being numbered. This is because no single area of banking today can stand alone; every discipline affects the other, and it does take time for one to get to know where their own talents and passions lie. Our forward-looking GROW programme for young talents will set the tone for what is to come.

The holistic programme allows millennials to hone their skills over a period of three months before being assessed to see where exactly their strengths lie. This is centred on the bigger picture of OCBC Bank’s commitment to helping young talents succeed. The candidates are guided to fulfil several key KPI before being able to move beyond the probation period,” she said.

OCBC Bank has been actively recruiting fresh graduates and looks to continue the trend especially for its thriving wealth management, sustainability and digital banking endeavours. In line with this, the Bank is looking to offer a competitive pay package to attract the millennials to the GROW programme.

Earlier this year, OCBC Bank introduced a post pandemic programme - LEAP – Learn, Excel, Advance, Prosper to cater to the growing number of opportunities that are set to arise from the further opening up of the economy and the move toward endemicity.

OCBC Bank has, over the years, been steadily growing its wealth management and digital banking services. To-date more than 300 of its premier banking relationship management staff have undergone the all-important training with the Asian Banking School (ABS). ABS and OCBC Bank teamed up about six years ago to raise the bar on bankers’ mastery of the complexities of wealth management through a 13-module training programme.

The unprecedented collaborative effort equips the Bank’s relationship managers with best-in-class wealth management knowledge both for the benefit of customers as well as themselves through a sustainable careerdefining and perspective-enhancing programme.

Talents who are interested can find out more or apply at www.ocbc.com.my/GROW