At the March 3 ELFA Innovation Roundtable, attendees enjoyed an engaging and wide-ranging conversation about digital adoption. During the facilitated discussion, participants gained insights into how industry peers are dealing with digital adoption challenges and building a culture of innovation for future-readiness.

The first Innovation Roundtable of 2022 was hosted and facilitated by Deborah Reuben, CEO and founder of TomorrowZone. It featured panelists from the ELFA Technology Innovation Working Group:

• Beckham Thomas, CEO, DCR Technologies
• Moto Tohda, Vice President/IS, Tokyo Century (USA), Inc.
• Tawnya Stone, VP Strategic Technology, GreatAmerica Financial Services
• David Giamvu, Head of Digital Transformation, Siemens Financial Services, Inc.

Special thanks to ELFA Chair-Elect Bob Neagle for kicking off the roundtable with opening remarks and joining the discussion.

First, the roundtable explored the human element.

• Digitally enabling human relationships
• Covid impacts on customer expectations & digital strategy

Next, it explored mindsets and methods.

• Digital first vs. digital only
• Encouraging digital adoption among customers and employees
• Digital employee experience and the “War on Talent”

The discussions were awesome with lots of questions and ideas. We do not claim to know all the answers. But it was great to come together virtually to create a safe space to collaboratively bounce ideas off of each other and explore our questions with industry peers.

Here are a few takeaways:

• How can we grow culture in a digital way? Is it time to re-define what we mean when we talk about corporate culture?
• "Transformation is a lifestyle" - David Giamvu
• Encouraging digital adoption goes beyond willingness to adapt to new tools, it takes creating a culture that encourages curiosity and ongoing learning.
• We can’t innovate without keeping business outcomes and customer experience in mind. You can have the greatest technology, but user experience always matters. Real value is determined by the customer/end-user.
• Consider the shifting demographics - the younger generation that has never been to a bank before.
• Excitement and great feedback about your new portal may not directly translate into actual user adoption. What is your customer trying to get done? Do you need shiny new tools? Or just improve what you have? Their context matters.
• Some may find it controversial, but we must shift mindset from “customer touch makes us special” to redefine what that means in a digital world. It’s not EITHER digital OR in person. It’s BOTH AND. How do we deliver an awesome customer experience in a digitally enabled environment? Think about enabling omni-channel experiences to interact in a way the CUSTOMER chooses WITHOUT losing the human element.
• In many cases, our industry cannot be digital, but new possibilities arise when we use a digital first lens. It is important to consider where the HUMAN IN THE MIX makes sense when going digital. What is the job you are trying to get done, for whom and how might technology play a role in making that an awesome experience?

Want to join the next conversation? Save the dates for the upcoming 2022 ELFA Innovation Roundtables: May 19, Aug 4 and Nov 10 (same time noon-2:30 CT and place - Zoom). Visit the ELFA Events page for details. What were your favorite takeaways from this discussion? What do you want to explore next? Let us know.