Back on the hiring road – 56% of financial services CEOs to increase headcount in coming year

Gamers, government relations & social media specialists on the most wanted list.

Financial services CEOs have hiring on their minds with more than half (56%) planning to take on extra staff in the coming year, according to a recent report issued by PwC, entitled ‘Remoulding your workforce for a new marketplace’. CEOs are also looking to increase their headcount by at least five per cent. The insurance industry is especially bullish with 40% planning to expand their workforce by more than five per cent – compared to around 30% among banks and asset managers.

Tom Winterboer, PwC Financial Services Leader for Africa, says: “The optimistic outlook rises as the recovery in developed markets picks up pace and confidence within the FS sector increases. However, the kind of talent Financial Services (FS) organisations need, where they recruit from and how they manage them are going to be different from the last surge in recruitment and growth.”

The report draws on the key findings on talent in the financial services industry, based on responses from 338 financial services CEOs in 53 countries and in-depth interviews.

With FS organisations strengthening their customer profiling and engagement, industry leaders plan to bring in people from diverse backgrounds, including people from internet and social media companies, or specialist analytics companies. The report highlights game designers as of interest to FS employers, specifically with companies planning to improve digital appeal and interactivity. Yet, simply hiring the same people to do the same jobs in the same way could leave financial services organisations of the pace in a marketplace being reshaped by technology, regulation and changing customer expectations. “We’re not only seeing shift in what businesses need from their people, but also what they want in return,” adds Winterboer.

Technology is reshaping customers’ expectations and changing the ways companies make decisions and engage with clients. It’s also opening the door to tech-enabled and data rich new entrants, who can use their advanced analytical capabilities and low-cost routes to target financial services business. Strengthening cyber security is crucial as more financial services business passes through online and mobile channels - more than 60% of financial services CEOs see cyber-attacks as a threat to growth (70% for banks). Winterboer explains: “It’s essential to bring in people with intelligence backgrounds or even ex-hackers to get ahead of these threats. Also, it’s critical to ensure that cyber security is everyone’s business, rather than just IT – with implications for training and appraisal.”

The information age is also set to change the way people are organised. This includes the creation of virtual teams that can be based anywhere in the world. On top of the obvious cost advantages, there are opportunities to widen the talent net.

Aligning with government

With continued scrutiny from governments, including additional regulations, more than 40% of financial services CEOs believe their relationship with government has deteriorated over the past five years – notably more than customers and clients (18%).

Gerald Seegers, PwC Head of Human Resource Services for Southern Africa, says: “Having the right people in place to manage government relations is critical, especially when trying to encourage a culture of integrity and being transparent around risks. We’re going to see more people brought in from the public service and NGOs as community and government relations become as important as investor relations.”

According to the report, re-engaging with society and reputation building among financial services organisations continue to be key focus areas. A significant percentage (70%) of industry leaders recognises the need to satisfy societal needs while balancing the interests of all stakeholders.

Seegers explains: “Financial services organisations are re-thinking their core values and objectives – taking into consideration their customers and the larger commerce community when expanding their business model going forward.”

Other findings of the report include:

• Millennials on the move: The research shows that hardly 10% of financial services millennials are planning to stay in their current role for the long-term. Organisations will need to refine and customise traditional one-size fits all employee engagement models around the needs of individual employees.
• Flexibility wanted – Increased urbanisation in growth markets, notably India and China, have not only created infrastructure demands, but also heightened focus on work-life balance. Employees are expecting greater flexibility in how and where work is carried out.
• Sophisticated automation – Computerised priorities will shift to devising solutions for more complex needs such as pensions and mortgages. Automation has also reached high value areas like trading, credit analysis and insurance underwriting,

Slow to respond

Almost 60% of financial services CEOs see the limited availability of skills as impeding growth, yet barely a quarter of respondents have initiated changes to their talent strategy and only 35% believe HR is prepared to make necessary changes.

The report suggests financial services organisations are restricted by the sheer scale of required changes. Other may find it difficult to respond to talent trends and challenges and amend HR strategies accordingly.

“FS organisations need to start communicating their brand more widely – including to people from government, industry and technology companies. HR has to be at the forefront of these changes – judging what skillset will be needed, developing new ways to engage and motivate people and supervising the transition to real-time performance monitoring and response,” concludes Seegers.