At Mizuho, we are passionate about helping our people thrive. We are focused on equipping our teams with the skills they need to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape where digital innovation is transforming how we work, and customer needs are becoming increasingly complex.
The learning and development strategy at Mizuho has undergone a transformation over the last three years. Dedicated and targeted efforts have been made to understand the learning needs and the business priorities, making sure that we are able to support our colleagues with a more structured, consistent and comprehensive learning experience.
To delve deeper, we sat down with Pom Davey, Executive Director, Head of Talent and Inclusion, EMEA and Renee Henze, Early Careers Lead from our Talent Development team, to hear more about exciting learning initiatives, our people-first approach to developing training curriculums, and the importance of futureproofing our talents at Mizuho.
Putting people at the centre
Training and development initiatives in Mizuho are led by business needs and priorities and aim to deliver effective learning experiences. To help us build effective training curriculums that are relevant and suited for professionals in today’s corporate landscape, we have introduced a suite of programmes and a variety of ways to help our colleague’s learning and development.
In 2024, we established a new forum called the Learning Ambassadors Group to help us understand the training needs and guide the evolution of our training programmes. Our Learning Ambassadors, act as representatives from each department, and gather feedback on all areas of development from colleagues at all levels of seniority. In addition, they enable us to keep a continuous dialogue with our colleagues along the way.
We have also established a series of Learning Pathways. We are intentionally creating easy to understand tools that individuals can use to develop a greater depth of understanding and proficiency of relevant topics, leading to career advancement, certification, and increased levels of confidence and capability. The purpose of these is to support individuals in recognising what training and learning they need to undertake to progress and to help them navigate their career at the firm.
Acknowledging that people have different preferences to learning and could struggle to find time to join in-classroom sessions, we have made our learning opportunities more accessible as hybrid sessions and are actively exploring how to use technology to enhance the learning experience.
Nurturing early careers and future leaders
Early careers at Mizuho starts with our internship programme, where undergraduate students in their penultimate year join us for a 10-week programme offering practical work experience, a series of training courses, and hands-on learning opportunities.
Our intention is to give the interns the best start and a strong understanding of what a career in finance means, we provide everything from financial training to a chance to work on real-life projects. Successful interns are invited to return to join our graduate programme, which then leads on to the opportunity to join Mizuho for a full-time role at the end of the journey.
We also offer apprenticeships and a number of training programmes for those in the early years of their financial careers. One of our flagship programmes is our 12-month Navigator programme aimed at Analysts who have recently joined the firm, giving them the opportunity to expand their industry knowledge, develop their networks and build their skillsets as professionals in their fields.
Evolving CIB training curriculum
Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) is at the heart of our business as a global financial institution. The CIB training curriculum at Mizuho aims to provide dedicated support to our Banking colleagues to ensure that they have the critical skills and mindset needed to operate in the turbulent environment that is today’s world.
We ensure our people are equipped not only to succeed in their roles, but also thrive in a world defined by accelerating megatrends, from market fragmentation to climate change. This demands a global mindset, strong communication and collaboration, operational agility, and forward-thinking abilities.
Importantly, our talent and development initiatives are not just about proficiency, but also embedding the values and behaviours that define our culture. We empower our people to take steps that deliver excellence and make meaningful contributions in a complex and interconnected world. This applies not only to our junior members of staff, but also our banking business across seniorities. Our clients can trust that they are working with professionals who not only understand the intricacies of today’s markets, but also committed to help them achieve the best possible outcomes.
Sergey Sanzhar, Head of Strategic Solutions Group, EMEA was part of the team who helped guide the introduction of the CIB training curriculum; “In my view, financial modelling is a fundamental skill that is more difficult to pick up on the job. The introduction of our training curriculum should support the growth of our junior talent and improve the quality of financial modelling and financial statement analysis across our banking business.”
Ed Bevan, Executive Director, Consumer & Healthcare Coverage added, “I was delighted to help shape the CIB training program as I know how important a good knowledge base and training can be in the early years of a banking career. Having an efficient, knowledgeable and confident junior workforce will translate up the organisation and help the business accelerate its growth ambitions. The intention to expand the offering to all employees in time, with programmes tailored to each level of seniority, speaks to the level of commitment the business has to supporting and developing employees at all levels in the region.”
Looking ahead, our CIB training curriculum will continue to develop and evolve to ensure that the course content remains timely, relevant, and aligned with the real-world challenges that our people, and our clients, would face.
Futureproofing our talents
In a world where businesses need to evolve quickly to catch up with technological advancements, preparing our employees for the future is more important than ever. It is essential for us to keep on top of how the workforce and organisations are changing with the introduction of new technologies, such as generative AI and big data, and how they could impact the way we work.
As gatekeepers of our talents, we also need to ensure that we are futureproofing our employees and preparing them for the changes as they advance in their career. We have aligned our talent strategy to support the upskilling of people, enabling them to confidently step forward as the world and their role evolve.
Our key priorities for FY25 include:
- Continuing to develop and expand our CIB training curriculum.
- Developing a more structured approach to ensure that knowledge and skills learnt in training are effectively applied on the job.
- Developing core advisory skills to complement our technical training offerings.
- Continue to evaluate our learning offerings and make sure they are suited to the needs of our employees and business objectives.
Whether it’s nurturing early career talent or developing future-ready leaders, our goal at Mizuho is to unlock potential and create meaningful growth for our people and business. When our people thrive, so does our company – and that is a future worth investing in.