Strategic talent management for financial services companies in Ireland

The financial services industry is a really big employer for Ireland. With lots of companies competing for the same people, strategic talent management is a must to help you get ahead.

According to Financial Services Ireland (FSI), “Ireland is a recognised global fintech hub” and “Ireland services over €5.2 trillion of assets under administration”. Even more impressively, “The domestic and international financial services sector employs over 105,000 people” and “17 of the top 20 global banks are based in Ireland”. To see more insights, download Ireland’s future
through finance (PDF).

If you’re looking for a financial service expert to join your team, there’s good news and bad news. On the one hand, the sector is hugely developed and there’s a large pool of educated and qualified individuals with decades of experience. On the other hand, lots of competing companies are fighting for the same top talent. If you don’t have the edge, you’ll likely lose out on the best candidates.

Strategic talent management will give you the edge you need.

What is strategic talent management?

If you’re wondering “What is strategic talent management?” then you’re not alone. Plenty of people who are facing an intensive search for the right candidate for the first time have this question.

In a nutshell, strategic talent management is a set of recruitment processes that allows a company to identify future talent needs and plan for the acquisition of such talent in a timely manner. It is an ongoing, frequently updated plan, accessible to decision-makers across the company, that helps guide the hiring process to ensure new team members fit with the company’s current culture and future goals.

Strategic talent management can help you achieve goals such as:

• Anticipating the future needs of the business
• Predicting labour market challenges that lie ahead
• Making a recruitment plan for the next 12 months
• Upskilling your staff and developing your existing staff to make them digitally savvy - after all, FSI have recently made recommendations for financial service organisations to “Support the rapid development of the fintech sector, reflecting the accelerated move to digital caused by the COVID-19 crisis”

Why is strategic talent management important?

As with any other aspect of your business, forecasting is critical when it comes to hiring. The goal of any company, public or private, is to grow – or at least to get better at what you do. That way, you can help more people and make a bigger difference in the world.

In order to grow, though, you need the right people on your team, which is where a financial service recruitment strategy comes in. A good strategic talent management approach looks at headhunting and hiring from every angle: marketing your job postings, the interview process, onboarding, benefits and perks, annual reviews, and long-term goal creation in partnership with your new employee. If you get these factors right, this approach will see you not only succeed in the attraction of the right candidate but also the retention.

At the same time, strategic talent management also helps you identify where the skill gaps are, who you need to add to your team, how your workforce goals fit into your budget and the best ways to encourage talent to come to you.

The benefits of strategic talent management

The above approach comes with a number of benefits, including:

Attracting the right talent

First and foremost, you want to bring good people to you. Strategic talent management increases the chances of doing so by creating a vision of your company and explaining exactly how the new worker will fit into it. This goes back to your strategic business plan, wherein you want to align your talent with your strategy, both now and down the road. To do so, you’ll want to paint a picture of what the job is today and where it’s going, and explain how the new hire will help deliver on that strategy.

Retaining good employees

Not every hire will prove to be a very long term fit, the goal is always for every company to retain the best people. Unfortunately there will always be turnover - expected attrition is typically 10%. But when you find someone who really fits with your company, you don’t want to lose them. Retaining talent is a challenge that any company faces, but you can reduce its incidence by ensuring your hires are a good fit from the start with strategic talent management. Purpose is a key driver for people, who want to feel they are a part of your vision. Explain your aims clearly to new hires, and communicate with existing employees so they know what the plan is. Most importantly, never stop selling that story to your people.

Filling skill and labour gaps

Your business is only as good as the people who help run it. If you have a particular skill gap that’s key for your business to deliver on its strategy, then it is important to identify that as early as possible and look to fill that gap. Be proactive rather than reactive.

Futureproofing your business

We live in a changing world, and it is important for businesses to be agile enough that they can respond to such change. Change is constant but it also provides opportunity. The unfortunate truth is that things do change, and you can’t predict everything. Hire people who are adaptable to change, have the right attitude and can embrace new trends, technologies and challenges. A person who can evolve and grow within the business, only then is your business truly future-proof.

At the end of the day, though, strategic talent management is a challenge. It is a skill in and of itself, especially when it comes to financial service recruitment. If you want help making the best possible plan, find an expert partner to guide you through the process.