Hyper learning at OCBC

Hello, I’m Jasmine. I joined OCBC Bank 15 years ago as a Management Trainee right after I graduated from college. I began in operations where I stayed for four years and joined the Bank’s Management Associate programme in 2011. I went to Singapore for three months of training, rotated through several departments in China, before joining the Branch Management Operations team in China. OCBC is my first workplace and by the look of things, it may be my only workplace!

Joining a family

The Management Trainee/Associate programmes were very popular among fresh graduates. The programme promised numerous rotations, exposing us to various aspects of banking. Imagine joining a company which expected us to remain in the same position for years. It would be so boring! However, OCBC’s MT programme promised us many opportunities. The Bank didn’t only view us as fresh graduates, but talents to nurture into future leaders. They invested heavily in us, instilling in us OCBC’s core values and giving us the professional knowledge to succeed. The Bank treated us like we were their own children.

Learning on the job

In 2012, OCBC opened a branch in Shaoxing, near Shanghai, and my bosses saw this as a fantastic growth opportunity for me. I was tasked with preparing the branch for opening, including writing procedures, setting up systems and counter settings, all the way to passing onsite inspections by the regulators. When it opened in 2013, I returned to branch management where I was again rotated through many roles. It’s always exciting with OCBC!

Group Wealth Platform Programme

In 2020, Group Consumer Financial Services needed people to support the launch of a new platform called the Group Wealth Platform 2.0 (GWP), which incorporated over 40 applications. GWP was a major project which extended BOS wealth platform to CFS in SG and MY enabling Premier and Premier Private Clients of CFS to have a consistent view of investment holdings and performance across channels. GWP integrated the systems of OCBC and Bank of Singapore (BOS), as BOS has more private banking capabilities.

Daniel Wang, the head of China Operations and Technology built the team, and I was appointed to lead China’s regional business testing team. Our job was to test the GWP for it to go live by February 2022. The first few weeks were spent understanding the user and business requirements. We used these findings to design the test cases. It was a complex process with many interlinking factors that could change at any time, but we had to capture them all in our tests. It was a ginormous project! We started testing in March 2021. Through thorough and rigorous testing, we verified the systems would work end-to-end, from transaction booking to report generation. Our team’s support for this project wrapped up at the end of 2022 as the applications moved to business-as-usual mode.

In 2023, I joined the Retail Banking’s Credit Admin team in Operations. This is my new adventure. It’s great experiencing working in so many teams and jobs. It’s been so inspiring. 

High-Performance Manager programme

I was in the High-Performance Manager programme in 2020, the Executive Development Programme–Lite with the Nanyang Technological University in 2020, DARE in 2021 and so many others that I have lost count! In 2022, I passed the Chartered Global FinTech (CGFT) exam.

The High-Performance Manager programme was the most inspiring. The course was designed considering the fragmented nature of our time, so though time-consuming, I could complete it in small chunks based on my time availability. It began with online study through an app a couple of times a week. I was introduced to soft skills, management tools and strategies. We had group chats with the trainer and fellow students. He occasionally gave us tests, conducted polls and surveys, which were very interesting. I was very impressed that this was done over WeChat! I even studied on the train during my vacation by watching videos and reading materials. We also gathered in a classroom for discussions and learn from fellow trainees. The combination of onsite and offsite learning was very effective.

The course was practical. We identified problems that each of us faced and found solutions together. We had a role play on dealing with a disgruntled employee. One played the supervisor and the other the disgruntled employee. We noted the things that a supervisor did well and those that were not helpful. Midway through the programme, I was appointed into a leadership position. The course helped!

Being a high performing manager of children

Yes, it’s true, the High-Performance Manager programme helped me as a parent! Remember that role play I mentioned? I learned how to manage my children when they were disgruntled. First, I’d soothe their feelings, analyse the situation from the kids’ point of view, and find ways to make it better. The key is to make the child feel good without compromising your position. If the child tries to control you, stick to principles. An example was when my daughter did not perform as well as she hoped to at school. She felt bad because she wanted to do better and that’s normal. I pointed out that some things could not be achieved immediately, she should learn from failure and to give herself time.  I shared with her how I first did not do well in school but through perseverance, I succeeded. It’s important to share both our successes and failures in inspiring our children or our teams.

Proudest learning achievement

My proudest learning achievement was passing the Chartered Global Fintech (CGFT) level 1 course in April 2022. CGFT had finance and technology modules because in modern banking it is important to learn about banking and fintech. The financial space is ever-changing as we hurtle towards greater digitisation. I didn’t have a technical background. I studied finance in college, so the financial tests were easy. But learning about technology was difficult for me, especially basic knowledge about coding, big data and blockchain. I had to wrestle with all these unfamiliar materials and try to pass the exam. This was all during the Covid-19 lockdown! After work, I’d use my spare time to study and take the online courses. I count this a significant achievement because I never thought I would be able to pass any IT exam. But I knew that digital transformation is the future of banking and I needed to get on top of it. I encouraged my whole team to sign up for CGFT Level 1 and three of my team mates also took the course and passed.

Working and learning in harmony

I love it that OCBC provides learning opportunities throughout my career. The people are friendly and the environment is harmonious. One of our core values is “respect” and I can see that we all respect each other as a person and as professionals. It’s very telling that people who leave OCBC Bank often returns. I’d describe my life at OCBC Bank as inspiring, challenging and harmonious.