Addressing the Need for Talent Transformation in Banking

Only 10% of millennials, or Generation Y, consider finance a long-term career, according to PwC. That percentage is even lower for Generation Z, or zoomers. Banks are certainly feeling that strain. Research by CPA firm Fortner, Bayens, Levkulich & Garrison (FBLG) revealed that 60% of banks “believe millennials aren’t interested in working for a bank.”

Those millennials and zoomers who do seek employment at a financial institution tend not to stay long. A Gallup report found that 60% of millennials are open to new job opportunities, and only half plan to remain at a company for more than a year. The average cost of this turnover is $15,000 per employee, according to the Work Institute’s 2020 Retention Report. 

The evolving banking landscape

Adding to the complexity of the issue is an aging workforce. As baby boomers retire, they take information and experience with them, leaving a knowledge gap behind. A number of people also left the financial services industry during the economic downturn. 

The rebounding of the industry has put mid-level managers in high demand — so much so that inexperienced people have been promoted or banks have had to hire people with no financial services experience whatsoever. Both solutions have resulted in higher training costs. To alleviate that, many banks are setting up alumni groups or contracting long-term veterans to help train and educate young middle managers. 

Clearly, banks need a way to attract younger candidates. Making finance careers — any careers, really — appealing to a younger audience can come down to benefits. Millennials and zoomers want to know their work makes a difference and that their contribution matters. 

In fact, CNBC reported 86% of millennials would take a pay cut to be in a workplace where they feel understood and valued. Only 9% of baby boomers would do the same. Yet, cost-cutting initiatives are the priority at financial institutions as they continue their recovery from the financial crisis. 

Talent acquisition challenges

The success of banks in the future will come down to adaptability — the ability to evolve rapidly. That requires finding the right people with the right skills to do the right work at the right time. Traditional talent acquisition practices won’t suffice. 

Applicant tracking systems and cloud technology have simplified the talent acquisition process, but those solutions weren’t enough, limiting data quality. In an effort to create better hiring experiences, talent acquisition teams found ways to treat candidates like customers and reduce friction.

Data collection throughout the job application process has improved, but managers often don’t have access to the information they need to make hiring decisions. Recruiters face inefficient processes, and candidates feel the resulting disconnection. 

Josh Bersin reported in The Year Ahead: Reinventing Work, Reinventing HR, Reinventing Ourselves, “The latest research shows that the average large company now has 11 core systems of record, 22 learning tools and platforms, and more than 15 different technologies in recruiting.”

Needed: A single source of truth

A new approach is needed — one that consolidates data to help you understand capabilities across talent pipelines and prioritize candidates that have the skills you need. A talent data platform can provide a single source of truth of talent-related information by unifying and enriching data — while helping you protect candidate privacy and meet compliance regulations. 

Aggregating talent, recruiter, job, company, market and graph data can eliminate silos and provide: 
•    A single view of all candidates and their skills
•    Skills and capability gap analyses
•    Dynamic workforce planning
•    Proactive, predictable recruitment
•    Frictionless mobility and talent retention
Equipped with that data, you can segment candidates by interests, age, recent roles, and so on. You can then use the segmented candidate data to plan targeted employer branding campaigns that use branding or messages that will resonate with your intended audience. 

For example, you can create pools of younger candidates and then develop opportunities for personalized engagement through events or tailored content. Invite them to mixers with current employees their age, share employee case studies of internal mobility and things like that. 

Nurturing these relationships is vital to delivering a good experience that makes candidates feel valued and recognized for their skills — and keeps them interested in a potential role with your organization. 

In this way, you can build a pipeline of high-quality candidates to draw from as soon as a role opens, putting you steps ahead of your competition. You’ll also save time — and money — in recruiting, hiring and training.

Learn how Beamery can help banks attract, engage and retain younger generations.