This article is authored by Elise Van Der Schans, Chief Human Resources Officer at smartTrade Technologies
What’s the real driving force behind innovation in fintech? At smartTrade, we believe the answer lies not just in technology, but in the passionate and talented individuals who develop our cutting-edge trading and payments solutions. This echoes Walt Disney’s sentiment: “The greatest asset of a business is its people.”
An invisible force driving client value
That is where the value delivered by the Human Resources (HR) team is key, and expressed by being dedicated to our people throughout their journey within the company. The HR mission is twofold: enable our employees to deliver to the best of their potential and to support the company’s vision and culture. When these cornerstones of enablement and culture are solid then the positive impact on our clients is clearly shown through the quality of our products and our ability to support them. Though HR may seem distant from the client’s world, its influence ripples through every aspect of our solutions, shaping the experiences and outcomes they deliver.
Foster expertise and a learning culture
When I first joined smartTrade as CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer), I first took the time to thoroughly understand the company’s environment and its culture in order to ensure optimised alignment of HR’s actions. smartTrade operates in a complex industry which demands the highest standards, 24/7 activity, a global culture, and the need to operate extremely responsively. These attributes are of course reflected in our culture and in our staff. Our values such as commitment, team spirit, professionalism, and critical thinking express this quest for constant performance and precision. And our employees demonstrate a high level of technical mastery and acumen in FX Trading and Payments.
smartTrade has cultivated unique expertise and cutting-edge know-how since its founding. This stems from the development of a strong culture of knowledge transfer, actively supported by the HR department. Our mission is to source our future talents as soon as they graduate from university or after a few years of experience, to support their skills development through training in Trading and Development, and then to help them evolve. From the moment they join us and throughout their careers, they will benefit from training modules on all financial and technical topics that our experts have developed internally from coaching and from mentoring from their peers and managers. To encourage the sharing of this knowledge, we recently deployed a Learning Management System (LMS) which also allows us to professionalize internal training. smartTrade is a learning company made up of experts who are both technical and business-oriented, who aspire to deliver our solutions at the highest level.
A change facilitator
A key facet of HR’s role, and a key personal passion of mine, is to support the company’s transformation. Effective transformation requires a solid understanding of our employees, our business lines, and a keen awareness of the company’s strategic and operational challenges. It then becomes a matter of facilitating changes in structures and our professional practices to ensure that these changes occur smoothly.
Key HR processes we have put in place help lay the foundations for this continuous transformation. Processes such as the talent reviews we conduct every year to identify the leaders of tomorrow and the key experts for our business. These reviews allow us to position our employees within our organization, develop them to prepare them for the next phase of their career, and plan successions to promote smooth transitions.
Beyond structure, the company is constantly evolving its practices to remain competitive, and HR plays an important supporting role. When smartTrade chose to review its commercial approach, HR contributed to this change through compensation by implementing bonus plans that reward overperformance, through training such as MEDDIC to professionalize the sales team, or PMP to make the implementation of our solutions more efficient for our clients. These actions empower our employees to develop their skills. This, in turn, enhances client satisfaction, as their contacts are more effective in understanding and managing their needs.
Cultivating Innovation
Innovation is an integral part of our CEO’s vision and smartTrade’s culture, and HR actively supports its dissemination and promotion among employees. This is reflected in the development of research projects and the use of the latest technologies in-house. Our ongoing partnership with the Ecole des Mines de Paris connects us with bright minds and fresh perspectives. By working alongside Master’s students on research projects, including voice technology and AI integration, we enhance our solutions and stay ahead of industry trends. One example of this is Smart Copilot, which leverages AI to improve client experience.
We are also dedicated to providing our employees with the training and resources they need to effectively utilize Artificial Intelligence. Our program includes workshops tailored to different departments, focusing on the ethical and practical applications of AI. This not only enhances our internal efficiency but also enables us to develop more sophisticated and innovative solutions for our clients.
By fostering a culture of continuous learning and embracing new technologies, HR helps ensure that smartTrade and our clients remain leaders in the FX Trading and Payments space. I am very proud of what our employees have delivered for our clients and am very excited to see what the years ahead will bring.