Canada's Top 100 Employers (2026) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 62
66
( 2026 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
RBC supports employees with future-ready skills
I
t’s more critical than ever for
companies to provide employees with the experiences that they need to succeed.
With more than 100,000
employees globally, Royal Bank
of Canada (RBC) is committed to
supporting employees with the
training and skills they need to
reach their full potential.
That’s not an easy feat for a
large, complex organization. Enter
Danielle Francis, senior vice president, leadership and learning,
whose team drives a wide range of
critical initiatives that are shaping
the future of learning and skills
development for the bank.
“Employees are eager to learn,”
says Francis. “They want to
learn in ways that are relevant
and timely for them so they can
build their skills and prepare for
meaningful careers and greater
responsibilities.”
RBC supports the various ways
that people learn, including
coaching and mentoring, online
learning and the interpersonal
approach that features workshops,
conferences and other group
learning events.
Then there’s RBC’s curated,
on-demand learning platforms
brimming with some 70,000+ online courses. Employees can study
at a time, place and speed that
works for them, whether they’re
acquiring foundational knowledge
or taking a deep dive into material
that can propel them along their
chosen career path at the bank.
RBC has a long history of
supporting meaningful careers for
its employees. Still, the pace and
scale of technological change has
people thinking differently about
the future and how best to prepare
for it.
Few things epitomize that
change like AI. Francis says RBC
was an early adopter of AI with
the 2016 launch of RBC Borealis,
a world-class research institute
where scientists conduct research
and focus on AI solutions highly
relevant to financial services.
Today, more than 100 PhD scientists and over 850 top AI developers and data engineers are helping
to drive RBC’s AI ambitions, along
with thousands of technologists in
cyber security, cloud, digital and
other disciplines.
As a matter of course, these
employees regularly train and
upgrade their skills. The goal is to
build AI fluency where employees
explore its possibilities and view it
as a trusted partner in work.
Employees are eager
to learn. They want to
learn in ways that are
relevant and timely
for them so they can
build their skills and
prepare for meaningful
careers and greater
responsibilities.
— Danielle Francis
Senior Vice President,
Leadership & Learning
Danielle Francis, senior vice president, leadership and learning, at Royal Bank of Canada.
“RBC is committed to anticipating the evolving needs of
our clients,” Francis says. “Our
business is a trust-based business,
so it’s crucial that everyone can
understand and use AI responsibly with use cases that are most
aligned with their roles.”
That means human-centric
skills will always be important, she
says. For one thing, using AI and
other technologies wisely requires
critical thinking. RBC also wants
people who can think creatively,
work collaboratively and are able
to adapt to changes and thrive.
These foundational skills can pay
future dividends to guide employees toward their ideal career paths
— or new roles that may not even
exist yet.
That was the case for Sarah
