Recent research by KPMG and the Financial Services Skills Commission revealed, almost half (44%) of financial services workers are considering a career change.

The findings prove what we’ve long known, that organisations need to look much further than remuneration and career progression. In this article, we examine some of the key areas that companies should be focusing on if they are to attract and retain the best talent.

Digital upskilling

As recently discussed, digital upskilling is a key area for consideration – providing ongoing training to ensure that employees have the necessary training and skills to navigate an ever increasingly digitised world is imperative to business success. This is especially critical now, more than ever, as a result of the pandemic and how it has impacted our working lives. The same survey revealed that only 15% of staff felt that the training offered was a reason to stay with their current employer.

Flexible working

The current new world of work reality faced by many workers has also provided organisations with an opportunity to rethink their attitudes and policies towards flexible working. With many employees working remotely, and likely to do so for the foreseeable future, companies have realised that not only can they save on their office costs but they can also offer their staff the possibility to work from home more regularly with the associated work-life balance benefits that this brings.

Feeling valued

Furthermore, employees want to feel valued and recognised for the work they do. As we highlighted in our series looking at the fantastic ‘behind the scenes’ work done by functions such as payroll, ER and IT, people not only need to know that they are appreciated, and in times like these, remote management and regular communication with HR and managers has also become key, not least for employee wellbeing but also as for new joiners who may have undergone remote onboarding.

Improving diversity 

Ultimately as an employer, you want to encourage applications from diverse demographic groups. Whether it’s hiring the neurodiverse, people with disabilities or ex-offenders, there are many rich untapped pools of talent. A diverse workforce leads to diversity of thought and a greater potential for ideas that can capture new market share and generate much-needed business income. In the current climate, the ability to innovate and stay ahead of the competition is priceless.

Despite adverse trading conditions and a difficult macroeconomic landscape, there is still a big opportunity for organisations to make their mark and stand out as employers of choice. What better time to change and put these things into practice?