Attracting and retaining finance talent: 7 expert tips

What does it take to attract and retain talent today? 

In this article, we’ll take a look at attracting and retaining finance talent in today’s landscape and our Savvi predictions about how hiring will look by the end of 2022 and into 2023.  

We’ll then take you through our 7 expert tips for attracting and retaining talent!

Here are our 7 expert tips for attracting and retaining finance talent:

1. Craft a Plan to Improve Employee Retention

2. Consider The Great Resignation and How it May Impact The Financial Services Industry

3. Create Progression Paths for Your Finance Team

4. Create a Policy for Flexibility and Remote Working

5. Create a Benefits Package for Your Finance Team

6. Formalise Employee Engagement

7. Nail Down Advertising Channels For Your Finance Roles

Attracting Finance Talent Today // Predictions for 2023

2022 has been a year of transition in many financial service organisations and departments. We predict that we’ll continue to see big changes in hiring processes that will affect how financial services are attracting finance talent in Q4 of this year and into 2023.  

Between Covid and economic and political uncertainty, there are big shifts happening in financial services in Ireland, UK and across the globe.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now: the war in Ukraine, Brexit, high inflation and interest rates, drastically increasing oil and petrol prices and a cost of living crisis.  

All of this has impacted people’s sense of security and this means that in Q4 and throughout 2023, we’ll really start to see the impacts of these factors, with less people leaving their jobs.

Additionally, as inflation increases, employers may start to feel pressure to increase pay, and may indeed start getting more requests from existing staff for pay increases. 

We’re not sure if this is something that’s temporary, or if it will last for a while. But should employers throw money at the problem?  

In short, no. 

It’s an unsustainable solution as you’ll end up passing those costs onto your customers. There are other ways you can add value to an individual’s job to attract and retain finance talent, and we’ll explore those below.

Since Covid and lock-downs, we immediately saw an increase in financial services offering their employees a buffet of flexible working options, from hybrid and fully remote roles, part-time working, job shares, the list goes on.  

They also started to review their working policies and benefits packages in a bid to try and retain their talent. 

After all, when the great resignation kicked in back in 2021, it’s what people demanded. However, more recently we’ve started to see some employers kick back, so let’s look at a couple of examples.  

Firstly, financial services found that they could function perfectly well with remote working models and it certainly helped staff to know that the remote working option was there too. 

However, a lot was lost during lockdown in terms of communication, working relationships and so on, and businesses quickly found that while they could function well enough on a remote working model, they didn’t flourish.  

So while financial services see the value in flexibility, many have drawn a line at hybrid working models, and are saying ‘no’ to fully remote positions. 

A physical office has benefits that can’t be replicated over Zoom. 

Secondly, there are less employers willing to get into bidding wars at the moment with costs starting to spiral. 

Our Savvi advice would be to nail your recruitment strategy, stay consistent, hold steady and trust the process.  With the right processes in place, the right person will come along.

And now in a post-covid world, we’re also starting to see more and more difficulty in recruiting for junior and graduate-level roles.  

Why?  

Well, this is the generation that only got a fraction of the proper university experience. They’ve spent their uni years studying in front of a computer, locked down in their childhood bedroom of their parents’ house.  

These guys are looking to get out and finally get that independence and those experiences they’ve missed in their late teens and early twenties.  

At Savvi, we’re seeing less and less graduate and entry-level candidates on the market, and it’s getting harder to fill those roles. When it comes to attracting finance talent in 2023, this will almost certainly be another challenge we have to face.

The upshot of all this is that going into Q4 of 2022, resignations may slow down but some job areas may get more difficult to recruit.  And this situation will continue to evolve in 2023.

As well as having a solid finance recruitment strategy in place to mitigate the effects of the ever-changing hiring landscape, we need to look at how we can attract and retain finance talent:

1. Craft a Plan to Improve Employee Retention

Finding ways to increase employee retention is often the first step in shoring up talent shortages. 

If you are unsure why your employees are leaving, that's the starting point. There are many potential reasons, wages and benefits are often just one component of that. 

Before you onboard new talent, consider what makes your existing talent stay and why other highly qualified prospects leave so soon.

So where do you begin when crafting your employee retention plan?

Utilising "stay" and exit interviews to gather insights

A good starting point is to have a frank conversation with your existing team. 

Find out why they stay: What makes them committed to the company? What does your company do that encourages them? 

To determine why talent leaves, conduct exit surveys. 

These surveys create a focal point on what concerns are present. It could be poor training, a poor fit (which could indicate gaps in interviewing), a better job offer (find out why), or many other factors.

Know why employees want to stay

For Generation Go or the Millennial generation that is willing to leave one position to go to the other quickly, there are often a few core ways to encourage them to stay. 

In the financial services industry, focus on these areas:

• Provide holistic pay and benefits that focus on flexibility, including flexibility in work schedules, how they work, and how they take time off
• Encourage flexibility for all, including providing solutions such as extended maternity and paternity package while promoting a fair workforce regardless of gender, race, religion, or stereotypes
• Create a culture of respect where leadership and employees work as a team to achieve the best possible outcomes

Set clear expectations from the start

Another core component of the process is to ensure your employees know exactly what to expect from their job long before they step foot into it. That often means establishing expectations for the work they will do. 

This may include discussing what the work day is like, the challenges, the areas of opportunity, and more. Be sure they are prepared.

Then, set expectations for the long-term opportunities for that employee within the company. 

Is there room for advancement? What have other employees done to move up the ranks? 

Create an expectation of what tomorrow may look like for that employee if they work to meet their objectives.

By taking these steps, organisations can help to encourage their talent to stay. People who interview learn what the company has to offer. They learn what the workload will be like (are they working the typical business hours or not so much?). They also come into the company with a full understanding of what could be if they remain.

Authentic treatment, transparency, and respect are typically key areas to focus on with your team. Provide them with the ability to communicate their needs. 

This combination of hiring with full expectation of what reality is, along with providing a supportive, flexible, and transparent employee relationship, is what helps encourage employees to stay.

2. Consider The Great Resignation and How It May Impact the Financial Services Industry

The Great Resignation isn't something the financial services industry can simply ignore. The Covid crisis resulted in many employees re-evaluating their work-life balance with many deciding it was time to take a break from their high-paced, complex, and challenging jobs to look for opportunities that allowed them the flexibility they desired. 

Without a doubt, this has been felt in the financial services industry across the board. 

And while it seems that resignations will begin to slow down towards the end of 2022, it’s not over yet.  

However, resignation isn’t necessarily something to fear, if handled well.

Don’t fear resignation

Let’s look at how resignation can be an excellent opportunity for financial services:

• You can take the opportunity to embrace natural attrition for fresh talent and new perspectives
• You have the opportunity to learn and improve culture via ‘exit interviews’
• You can internally refresh processes around recruiting and employee offerings
• If staff leave on a good note, it can be a good branding exercise, as they’ll speak well of your organisation to others

The Great Resignation isn't over just yet. 

Those in the financial services industry with an employee-focused strategy are sure to fare better than those without.

3. Create Progression Paths for Your Finance Team

A core way of attracting finance talent is providing them with the ability to see their future. 

Working at an entry-level job used to be enough to encourage people to apply. The "getting your foot in the door" is still important, but for today's employees, a forward thinking approach is just as important. 

Top talent has options. 

They can often pick and choose where they wish to work from several companies.

By creating progression paths for your finance team, you'll build a way to encourage people to come to you over the competition. 

While wages and benefits matter, some may be more interested in what they could be doing in a year or more. 

Could it be possible to advance their position quickly? Is the company looking to just fill these minor positions?

Create a path and let others know about it

Consider the first positions many people take within your company. 

What upward movement is possible there? What types of opportunities exist? If there is not a clear, defined career map available, create one. 

Some companies have taken it so far as to create an interactive career map. It's a tool that allows people working with the company and those applying to see the organisational structure of their employees. 

That way, they can determine what steps they need to take to move up into leadership positions. It provides insight into the opportunities employees working there have for the future.

Be sure that, once you create these paths and outline these opportunities, that you let others know about them. That may mean talking about things like:

• Career advancement opportunities available
• Training programs to help talent gain the skills they need to advance
• Programs to help with career planning

Make it clear what your company does to support an employee's growth and upward movement within your organisation.

Doing this allows that prospective employee who is considering numerous positions and opportunities to see themselves within the company at different levels.

Recognise the speed of change in the industry

One area that is commonly considered a focal point for prospective employees is just how well the company adapts to and changes when new technology, financial products, or customer needs change. 

As you consider educating your prospective employees about how they could progress within the company, be sure to address how you handle the speed of change within the finance industry.

Does the company create learning opportunities to enable them to achieve their goals? Are there tools and workshops to help with new advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning as they become available?

Make it clear to prospective employees that there are opportunities for them to not only take a job to get into the door but to move into various sectors of the company and into the corporate world, leadership, and other positions. 

That's going to help attract more people to your company on a consistent basis.

After all, you may not just be looking for a person to fill an entry-level role. 

You can firm up your hiring and spend less money seeking top talent when you bring in a person that's eager to learn and move up the ropes.

4. Create a Policy for Flexibility and Remote Working

Attracting finance talent means creating an environment in which people are able to do their job but also enjoy their life. 

The days of long hours on the stock market floor are long gone. 

While technology can do a lot of that type of work, today's employee – from financial investor to office manager – wants to see a better level of work-life balance. 

Their benefits package should showcase those opportunities.

Flexibility is the cornerstone

Employees want and need more flexibility. 

They may wish to better balance childcare or simply work when it is best suited to their lifestyle and living habits.

Organisations that build flexibility into their benefits package may attract more of those individuals, people who want to work and often are some of the most reliable but just need a bit more flexibility in terms of the hours worked or their number of days off. 

Many financial departments have set out to create that type of flexibility, often removing, when possible, the specific hours an employee works to just setting a weekly hourly goal, allowing employees to work as it fits.

Building a remote workforce

There are several positions in the finance world that require in-person service to meet customer needs and demands. 

Beyond this, virtually every other position can be done remotely. 

In 2020, companies learned that they could provide the same level of customer service and care without having employees all working from a single office space in the heart of the city. 

Employees learned that working from home – even carving out a small nook in a kitchen – could mean better opportunities for them.

Companies that build benefits packages that provide the opportunity for remote work, or even create an opportunity to work from home fully, may attract more of the well-qualified talent they need. 

Most importantly, it's essential for organisations to be specific. 

Have a plan for remote work, including how it may be structured, and then ensure that your prospective employees understand what opportunities exist for their needs.

5. Create a Benefits Package for Your Finance Team

Build benefits packages that attract talent. 

Doing some market research to understand what your company can do to meet the individual needs of your employees is always worthwhile. 

The days of offering a competitive salary and holidays are not enough. 

Many of today's organisations benefit by creating packages that directly apply to the specific needs of their employees. 

That could sound difficult, but there are typically some core components of these benefits packages that make sense.

We know the value of incorporating flexible scheduling and more remote work opportunities. 

What else do your prospective employees need to make the decision to work with you? In the finance industry, there are a few core factors that are typically part of that decision.

Consider insurance products

Discuss with existing team members and research the competition. 

Determine what type of insurance packages employees desire. This could include life insurance, medical insurance, dental insurance, and more. Quality coverage is just as important as offering the insurance package itself.

Pension and retirement contributions

Though the younger generation may not seem to care about long-term needs like this, that's often not the case. 

Many of today's employees want a company that's committed to them long term. These types of benefits offerings provide that type of flexibility to them.

Maternity and paternity package

Quite important when attracting a younger crowd is to provide financial protection and support to employees who may wish to build a family. 

Providing an enhanced maternity and paternity package could be one of the best benefits components for many of today's finance companies.

Time to manage illness

Paid sick leave can also be a factor for many people. A benefits package that offers competitive offerings in paid sick leave could be quite attractive to prospective employees. That's especially true when you consider their needs after the pandemic. Many people felt the financial pinch when they didn't have help to overcome their illness.

Ample time off

Having ample paid time off is always beneficial in the eyes of employees. It shows that you respect your team and want them to enjoy a higher quality of life. Your benefits package should be competitive in terms of how many days off employees have, including public holidays.

The best way to learn how to attract finance talent through the use of a benefits package is just to open the conversation. Talk to your team to determine what they need. Learn more about what the competition offers, too.

6. Formalise Employee Engagement

Attracting finance talent is not just about great benefits and strong job descriptions. 

It is also about, comprehensively, the relationships you build between your leadership team and your employees. Relationships lead to better retention. That does not mean you have to spend your off time with your staff. It does mean creating genuine relationships that allow you to best support the individual needs of your team.

How do you build employee engagement?

That's the hard part for many finance companies. The work is often very static – it's numbers and decision making. 

Yet, relationship building is more complex and takes creating conversations and opportunities.

Create an exceptional onboarding experience

How you interact with and support your new team members is the first step in creating strong engagement. 

To do this, be sure that you are putting time into connecting with your new hires. Meet with them enough. Get to know them. Provide a more personal experience rather than a software-focused onboarding process. It's a good idea to set them up with a mentor and create social connections for them.

Ensure remote employees remain part of the group

Remote employees can easily become less connected to the rest of the company. 

Yet, with more employees working from home, it's critical to find ways to build engagement. Set up those video conferences. Hold a lunch in the office once a week. Create opportunities for staff members to get to know each other rather than just focusing on the work at hand.

Build a positive company culture

To attract new talent in finance, you need others looking into your company to recognise all that it has to offer, especially a positive, welcoming company culture. 

Outline your company values. Make sure everyone knows what is expected of them and deal with challenges in a positive light. 

Work to encourage and support your new team as much as possible. Encourage employees to work together to support each other, too. This may include ensuring that any negative attention or tension is alleviated as soon as possible.

Engage with your employees on a routine basis. Let them know they can talk to you at any time. Encourage them to interact with you, too, when there are good and bad things to discuss. 

This type of open conversation allows employees to feel valued and respected. That provides opportunities for better retention.

7. Nail Down Advertising Channels for Your Finance Roles

To attract finance talent, you need to post opportunities and positions where they will see it. That’s easier said than done.

 With so many online websites, job boards, agencies, and LinkedIn opportunities, it’s important to zero in on what works for this industry.

Seeking top talent?

Networking with finance talent on LinkedIn is often the best step to take when it comes to high-end talent. 

That includes leadership and management positions and experienced professionals. Many people use LinkedIn for networking and work to consistently build their network with the objective of creating opportunities for the future. It’s often beneficial to focus your search on LinkedIn because of that professionalism and higher caliber of talent.

But not to become over-reliant on LinkedIn, there are other advertising channels you can explore.

The little black book

A top Savvi tip would be to reach back into your ‘little black book’ of old candidates - think back to who you have interviewed in the past that made a great impression but didn’t quite make the cut. Use old contacts to recommend people they know who might be a good fit.  

Your network is everything.

Finding other avenues

When talent is needed and you’re willing to train, job boards and websites can be an excellent choice, especially for entry level candidates. 

However, if you plan to go this route, you’ll need to spend some time focused on creating highly detailed job descriptions that make it clear what you need.

Utilising an agency like Savvi is often best for very senior or specialised positions as well as for organisations that want to alleviate a lot of the frustration and time consuming process of hiring. 

Even if you have an internal hiring team, utilising an agency opens the door to new opportunities, especially when you have very specific job requirements that must be met. 

Research these organisations to ensure you are turning to those that have specific finance industry experience, as that can prove to be the best overall decision for your organisation.

Advertising finance roles should be one step in the bigger picture. That is, you need to be sure you are communicating within the team to fully understand the requirements of the position, including soft and hard skills. 

At the same time, you want to be certain that you are reaching out to organisations that can support your efforts and who take the time to truly get to know your company.

Employee retention can define the success of a company. When you hire and train team members, you are investing in them. It’s costly to have high turnover. 

Yet, “fixing” this problem may not be too difficult with the right programs and tools in place to support your employees. It enables you to provide a positive place for people to work, and that helps further in attracting finance talent.

Book your complimentary recruitment strategy workshop with our finance recruitment experts today! We will use this time to help you resolve your key recruitment challenges.

​We offer insights and guidance on:

• Available talent pools and market salaries
• Market trends on flexible working arrangements
• Employer branding
• Your recruitment process
• Employee retention strategies.