Trend Impact Radar 2023: New Trends for the Financial Industry – Part 2

In the first part of this blog series, the basic structure of the trend impact radar of the Competence Center Ecosystems was described. It is crucial for the applicability of the radar that not only trends with different lifetimes are systematized, but also that the impact of these trends on the individual areas of a company and business ecosystems is analyzed. In this second part, we will excerpt which microtrends we have newly included in the radar. In this context, the number of microtrends considered increased by 33 to 143 microtrends compared to the previous year. In the following, we will focus in the form of a “flashlight” on the selected topics of data, changing customer and employee behavior and corporate responsibility, which are characterized in particular by changing customer and thus in part also employee needs. The Business Engineering Institute St. Gallen provides its partners with the fully comprehensive, annually updated Trend Impact Radar with all of its 143 micro trends as well as the overarching macro and megatrends.

Topic data

In the data context, significantly growing volumes of data are emerging. These are driven by health data and data in the context of sustainability, among other things. For example, the market with health data is expected to increase almost sixfold from 11.5 billion US dollars in 2016 to almost 70 billion US dollars by 2025 [1]. Apps are now treated as medical devices that can be used, for example, to analyze wounds via image recognition and to calculate and reduce the amount of antibiotics needed for treatment on a case-by-case basis [2]. In the area of sustainability,the volume of data is already being massively increased by the many different regulatory projects. Just think of energy efficiency classes to assess the sustainability of buildings, but also regulation in the context of investments, such as the EU Green Bond Standard or the EU Ecolabel Initiative. In this context, the EU Green Bond Standard aims to promote more transparency and uniformity in the assessment of “green” bonds and thus also to strengthen investor confidence. The EU Ecolabel Initiative is designed to enable consumers to identify more environmentally friendly products with greater certainty.

Despite the growing volumes of data, the majority of the data available in companies often remains unused. This is known as dark data [3]. Concepts such as Data Mesh or Data Fabric attempt to solve this situation. Both aim to organize the data distributed across databases or data lakes in order to make it more usable for the company. Data Fabric focuses more on technological implementation, while Data Mesh concentrates on organizational changes.

Going beyond internal corporate data use, more and more services are being provided in cross-industry networks or business ecosystems. The microtrend Data Ecosystems assumes that internally generated data is incomplete for business needs. Companies are increasingly moving to incorporate new external data sources into their analytics. This can be various types of data fed by business partners such as suppliers but also regulatory agencies and others. The data ecosystem forms a network of actors that share and use data directly or indirectly.

Topic customer

In the customer area, we see macro trends such as Identify Design, Pluralism, and Gender Awareness. The macro trends reflect the fact that more and more information is available that enables individual self-design – the play with identities. This is associated with a high level of interest in ethical issues such as human rights, gender issues and feminism. At the same time, respect for plurality is also expected from society. On the other hand, permanent accessibility, “information overflow” and the limitless options for individual design, lead to a sensory overload. Prevention and treatment of mental suffering to maintain mental health are becoming a central topic for the future. Worldwide, the numbers of mental illnesses of depression and anxiety disorders increased by 25 percent in 2020 alone [4]. In Germany, they were the most frequent cause of inpatient hospital treatment for young people between 15 and 24 years [5]. This development was further accelerated by the pandemic.

Topic Employees

Recruiting will take a new direction in the future. When millennials – born between 1981 and 1996 – make up three quarters of the global workforce in 2025, they will also expect contemporary application processes in recruiting. The microtrend Next Gen HR reflects this change. For example, the start-up goshaba offers playful tests of candidates’ skills and cultural suitability in the context of gamification. The microtrend New Work Architecture also focuses on the changed behavior of employees. Phases of deep work in remote work alternate with stays in the office. The function of the office is transforming into a hub for co-creating and coworking. Cultivating interpersonal relationships and nurturing the corporate culture are now the focus there. At the same time, deficits in digital working are to be overcome through data use and analysis in order to optimize the balance between presence in the office and remote working (microtrend Roboting Digital Workspace). The KPIs will also change – employee satisfaction, burnout rate, etc. will become more important.

Topic Corporate Responsibility

The changing demands that customers and employees place on themselves and on society are also not bypassing companies. The purpose of the work or the employer – in other words, the company’s raison d’être – is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, people are putting companies under pressure. In the future, success will also be defined beyond financial returns – for example, through impact on society and careful use of resources (microtrend Many faces of growth). Consumption no longer focuses on the ownership of products, but rather on access to the use of certain products, which in turn strengthens the XaaS (Everything-as-a-Service) trend. However, consumption is also an expression of individual identity and ethical concern (microtrend Consumption and GenZ). The effect of this new consumption landscape is that added value is thus generated differently. Irrespective of the fundamental high digital affinity of the Millennials or GenZ – born between 1995 and 2010 – the Covid-19 pandemic has of course also led to a higher level of digital customer engagement beingobserved in the financial industry in general. Customers are increasingly using services digitally instead of physically visiting stores and branches.

Although the impact of changing customer behavior may not yet be felt directly on the customer side of the financial industry, it is already becoming visible on the employee side. In view of the shortage of skilled workers, banks and insurance companies would be well advised to critically examine their corporate responsibility and HR activities to determine whether they are up to these challenges.

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Stefanie Auge-Dickhut

Stefanie is passionate about the development of innovative business models in cross-industry ecosystems based on innovative technologies. After completing her banking apprenticeship, studies and doctorate, she worked for Ernst & Young and UniCreditgroup in Corporate Finance Advisory for more than 10 years and then established applied research and training programs with a focus on digital banking at a Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Since 2018 she has headed the Ecosystems competence field (former CC Sourcing). Stefanie is an author (including "Client Value Creation: The Zurich Model of Client-Centric Banking Architecture") as well as a lecturer and advisory board member on various committees.

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