Empowering talent and innovation: shaping the future of risk management and education
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Aneta Ptak-Chmielewska discusses ING Risk Hub’s role in risk management, educational initiatives, future growth, and attracting top talent.
How is Risk Hub helping ING ensure robust risk management practices?
Risk Hub plays a crucial role in ensuring robust risk management practices by overseeing the entire model life cycle. This cycle includes preparing data, developing a model, validating data independently, implementing solutions, and a process of continuous monitoring. By managing all these phases within a Risk Hub, we maintain a cohesive perspective, allowing us to identify and address any issues effectively.
We work closely with the headquarters, participating in leadership teams and collaborating on global guidelines, policies, and methodologies. This collaboration ensures that our practices align with and contribute to the broader ING group’s standards.
Being part of a global team, we help develop and refine methodologies and guidelines that benefit the entire organization. This integrated, cross-location teamwork enables us to maintain high standards in risk management, providing a comprehensive view and constant control over the entire process, ensuring effective risk management practices for ING.
What initiatives does Risk Hub undertake to ensure continuous education, knowledge sharing both internally and externally? What does promotion of innovation look like within the organization?
As the creator and leader of education and knowledge-sharing initiatives at Risk Hub, my responsibility is to foster an environment of continuous learning and innovation. One key initiative is the Boot Camp, which we launched in 2020 to quickly and efficiently onboard our young talent. This three-week intensive training program, led by our experts, helps new joiners integrate smoothly into the organization. Its success led to the expansion of the boot camps, with five to six editions in 2021, training over 60 new hires across various locations, during the pandemic.
The Boot Camp focuses on technical skills, particularly business modeling, and has become a regular service with several groups trained each year. We have expanded our offering to include soft skills training, recognizing the importance of these skills for those professionals who usually focus more on hard data. Currently, we provide three to four training sessions per month, covering a wide range of topics, and train hundreds of employees annually.
We organize events like the Lion’s Den hackathon to promote knowledge sharing and attract new talent. We also collaborate with universities to ensure we stay updated with the latest theoretical knowledge and research, which we then apply practically within the company. These initiatives help us maintain a dynamic and innovative environment, ensuring that our team is well-equipped with both the technical and soft skills needed to excel.
As I mentioned, we also focus on partnering with universities that align with our expertise in finance, statistics, econometrics, and AI; particularly in Poland.
How do you envision the development of Risk Hub in the coming years? What will be the key challenges, and do you anticipate further growth in the number of talented employees joining the hub?
We have very high expectations for the talent we recruit, and we do face some challenges in attracting new talent. Aside from our attractive reputation, we are actively addressing shortfalls by organizing our annual Risk Modeling Congress, which pulls in over 200 participants, including industry experts. Although the growth of our employee workforce may not be as rapid as in the previous years, we are committed to expansion and retention. We focus on internal career development, and helping employees advance from junior to expert positions within four to five years. Overall, our goal is to maintain and build up this talent pipe-line, while at the same time adapting to market conditions and fostering career growth and stability within the Hub.
As one of the leaders on Polish market in expertise for risk modeling and control, how do you perceive the situation on the workforce market in this area? What are the main challenges?
The talent pool for risk modeling and control is limited, making it crucial to offer attractive and flexible working conditions. We aim to stand out as a top employer by providing excellent working environments and benefits. Our Risk Hub is located in a prime area in Warsaw, which enhances our appeal as a desirable workplace.
For More Interviews with the Team from The Risk Hub at ING Hubs Poland:
