78% of companies are struggling to hire the right talent in the UK, 3% more than the global average.
Attracting, retaining and nurturing talent became a priority for organisations while employees’ priority shifted to more attractive benefits and work-life balance, it has become apparent that in today’s competitive market having a positive end-to-end work experience is non-negotiable.
Accounting & Finance are among the top seven most challenging roles which struggle to attract and retain talent, so what more can you do to attract talents within this industry, and most importantly keep them?
In this article, we will explore strategies for attracting and retaining top finance talent, including leveraging social media, offering unique benefits, and showcasing company culture.
Understanding challenges in building a Finance Team
Recruitment, retention and succession planning have become key risk issues for the finance industry – talent management has not always been the purview of the CFO, but the current environment of talent shortages, evolving employee demands and the great resignation have created risks for the finance industry that demand their attention.
Shifting roles and company-wide reorganisation are redefining roles and relationships between talents. The finance industry relies on highly skilled workers with increasing needs for skills diversification as a third of workers admit they need more technological and digital skills. As senior executives are heading toward retirement, more than 700,000 over 50s have left the workforce since the Covid pandemic.
“33% of UK Workforce unable to even complete 1 digital skill”
Therefore, one key challenge is looking attractive to all demographics such as Gen Z and Millennials while bridging the skills gap as clients’ requests call for a need for a more tech-savvy and digitalised service.
Company Culture & Benefits
Another point to consider is fostering an inclusive work environment that is more casual such as collaborative work areas, casual dress code, flexible hours etc. Analysis from end of 2022 reveals that 26% of UK finance and accounting workers are unhappy with their current salary and almost 30% receive no added benefits at all. CFO’s need to create an organisational structure that is balanced and appealing to all demography. Indeed, millennials have different requirements and expectations as culture is a decisive factor in retaining talent – transparency and communication is primordial in fostering a culture that appeals to everyone. Thus, try focusing on these areas:
Provide competitive pay and benefits
Adjust compensation packages to align with the severe imbalance of talent to demand
flexibility in work schedules
Recognition of their work
Promote a fair workforce regardless of race, gender or stereotypes
Promote remote working
Upskilling and reskilling training programs to help talent gain the skills they need to advance
The new generation of workers is demanding in many aspects, small and large companies have every interest in developing an HR strategy to attract and retain talent. Many topics such as work-life balance, the quest for meaning, personal development, well-being at work, business transformation, etc. will have an impact on the satisfaction rate of your employees, and therefore turnover of your company. Conversely, you can differentiate yourself and improve your competitiveness if you put people at the heart of your corporate culture.
Fuel the performance culture
Set clear goals and share them transparently! Each of your employees contributes to the performance of your company. It is therefore completely normal to give them visibility on the overall and individual results. Thus, the “objective key results” method, initiated by Google, allows the implementation of a system for monitoring tasks and objectives at the level of the company, teams and individuals, accessible by all, and correlated to concrete metrics and results.
Thus, by offering a clear vision of your short and long-term prospects, you will nurture the motivation of each person, who not only strives to achieve their goals but to surpass them. There are no “rewards” or “penalties”, but a direction to follow and performance indicators to improve everyone’s efficiency and effectiveness. Similarly, talk about your successes and involve everyone involved. You have just renewed a great contract, you have received feedback from satisfied customers, you have obtained a trophy…? Thank your teams, they will thank you again.
Adapt to the new situation
Today, many employees expect more from their jobs than just compensation. They attach great importance to the purpose of the company and the sense of belonging, and they want to work for companies whose purpose is not limited to making a profit. For example, in our latest ESG Insights survey conducted we found out that the next generation of customers expects companies to have an opinion on social and environmental issues and to act ethically in the interests of their clients, their communities, and the environment. Organisations must go beyond target-setting to expedite significant improvements in environmental action, social impact, and good governance (ESG), with a greater emphasis than ever on progress over pledges:
8 in 10 companies have identified and worked on a ESG strategy
94% of organisations are falling behind due to a lack of talent to implement it
Employees want to work for companies committed to adopting sound ESG practices. Companies that adopt these practices can gain a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining talent. Finding measures to improve employee retention is frequently the first step in addressing talent shortages.
Be proactive
Using social media platforms such as LinkedIn to network with Finance talent is often the best solution when it comes to sought-after talent. Which includes management and leadership positions as well as experienced professionals. Consistently build your network with a prime objective of creating opportunities.
However, before hiring new employees, develop an employee retention strategy which evaluates what keeps your current employees happy and why other highly skilled candidates depart so quickly. An excellent way to have an open discussion is to use “stay” and “exit” interviews to acquire data:
What motivates them to stay with the company?
What do they think about the company’s overall culture?
What does your organisation do to motivate them?
How can Brook Street help?
Businesses must demonstrate inventiveness, agility, and confidence in their recruitment methods in order to succeed in 2023. Brook Street is ideally placed to help businesses to hire, retain, reskill, and retrain top talent, partnering to build talent strategies to overcome labour market difficulties.
Brook Street is one of the UK’s biggest recruiting firms, pairing thousands of people with relevant career opportunities at over 4,500 organisations. We offer a personal service – from offering 24/7 support to enhanced compliance checks, and more – our tailored approach means we’ll find the right people to join your business.
