[May 15, 2017] |
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Study Finds Employee Engagement Critical to Fixing the Financial Industry
The financial services industry is experiencing a stronger need to
prioritize its focus on workplace culture to better attract and retain
talent, according to a new survey commissioned by Kronos
Incorporated and conducted by Future
Workplace®.
The new survey found that 62 percent of financial services employees
working in banking, insurance, and asset management feel that the 2008
financial crisis still impacts how they view the industry, with many
desiring more transparency from senior management. Nearly 75 percent of
employees also believe that the financial services industry can continue
to recover strongly and a fourth say it could do so by giving more
charitable donations and offering employees time to volunteer.
"The Financial Industry" survey's primary focus is on what the financial
services industry can do to attract, engage, and retain employees in the
current hyper-competitive environment. In this national survey of more
than 800 financial services employees, flexibility, philanthropy,
meaningful work, transparency, and innovation emerge as the defining
issues that matter most to this multi-generational workforce.
News Facts
-
Good Pay and Benefits Matter, but So Do Flexibility and Philanthropy
-
When it comes to what makes an attractive employer, 69 percent of
employees say competitive wages; 68 percent say a good benefits
package; 52 percent say flexible work arrangements; and 51 percent
say opportunities for career advancement.
-
Seventy-six percent of employees say they are driven by more than
just money when they seek a new job and 73 percent say they need
to see what a company stands for before joining. In addition, 52
percent of employees say they need their company to have a strong
philanthropic mission.
-
When it comes to what they have given up to work in the financial
services industry, the top answers were work-life balance (36
percent) and flexibility (23 percent). Millennials and members of
Gen Z were especially sensitive to this loss with 70 percent
feeling as though they had given up flexibility (as opposed to
only 12 percent of Baby Boomers) and 83 percent feeling as though
they had given up work-life balance (as opposed to 29 percent of
Baby Boomers).
-
In fact, 80 percent of employees say they wish their employer
offered flexible or compressed schedules, 37 percent say they wish
they could telecommute, and 69 percent say they need flexibility
and telecommuting options to stay in the financial services field
- that pay alone is not enough to keep them there.
-
When asked how their managers could best support them, flexibility
again emerged as a frontrunner with 42 percent of employees saying
that giving them more flexibility would be the most effective
means of support. Additional ways that managers could provide
support to employees included investing in learning and
development (41 percent); helping employees achieve their personal
goals (39 percent); being challenged (30 percent); giving more
frequent feedback (30 percent); and mentoring (29 percent). In
every category, Millennials and members of Gen Z found these
strategies to be more effective than their Gen X and Baby Boomer
counterparts.
-
Employee Engagement Driven by Meaningful Work, Opportunities for
Growth, Rewards, and Reduction in Red Tape
-
When asked how they thought their company could better engage them
in their work, 45 percent of employees say they wanted to be shown
that their work made a difference, 39 percent say lessening office
politics would help; and another 39 percent say that removing
bureaucracy would be an effective tactic.
-
In addition, 36 percent say that supporting their personal and
professional goals would help and 19 percent say removing silos
would heighten engagement.
-
When asked what their employer could do to attract and retain
talent, 54 percent of employees say that companies should reward
people more than once a year with a bonus; 47 percent say the
company should recognize people more often; 38 percent say that
the company should provide ongoing coaching and development; and
29 percent say their companies should provide more training for
managers. Employees also felt that time off for professional
development (28 percent) and volunteering (20 percent) would help
attract and retain great talent.
-
In terms of who impacts an employee's engagement the most, 29
percent of employees say their manager had the biggest effect
while 26 percent say it was their colleagues; 22 percent say it
was executive management; 15 percent say it was the CEO; and six
percent say that HR was the biggest influencer.
-
Innovation, Transparency, and Women's Leadership Development: Room
to Grow
-
Seventy-nine percent of financial sevices employees say that
working for an innovative company is important to them. While 75
percent of employees say they view their companies as being
innovative, many still see ways for their company to improve
including allowing for the free flow of ideas (53 percent); having
a budget for investing in ideas (37 percent); holding idea
competitions (35 percent); and hiring entrepreneurial employees
(31 percent).
-
Employees felt that the financial services industry could become
more transparent by encouraging straight communication (49
percent); eliminating layers of titles (33 percent); hiring and
engaging transparent employees (30 percent), creating a feedback
forum (28 percent); and promoting the use of social media (20
percent). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Millennials and members of Gen Z
were the biggest believers in promoting social media use (54
percent) while only six percent of Baby Boomers felt this would be
an effective strategy.
-
Seventy-two percent of employees say that women's leadership
development is important and 57 percent say their organization
currently had a female leadership development program in place.
-
Overall, 66 percent of financial services employees say they have
sometimes suffered from workplace
burn-out. Women seemed to feel the burn more with 74 percent
saying they had been burned-out as opposed to 59 percent of men.
When it came to the reasons for burning out, unreasonable workload
(32 percent); unreasonable performance expectations (26 percent);
not being fairly compensated for work (24 percent); poor
management (24 percent); and a negative workplace culture (22
percent) were the leading culprits.
-
Financial Services Remains a Strong Career Choice, But Not as Much
for Younger Employees
-
Sixty-eight percent of financial employees are interested in
remaining in the industry, with more than 25 percent stating that
they are more interested in working in the technology industry.
This is especially true for Gen Z and Millennial employees (39
percent) compared to Baby Boomers (22 percent).
Supporting Quotes
-
Malysa O'Connor, senior director, financial services practice
group, Kronos (News - Alert)
"The financial services industry may have been
in a state of flux over the last decade but there is no doubt the
industry continues to grow. Today it is important for financial
services leaders to take a proactive approach to engaging and
retaining employees as the workforce is the key differentiator in this
industry. The intention of this survey is to uncover human capital
trends that the financial services industry should address to manage
evolving consumer demands and stay ahead of the competition."
-
Dan Schawbel, partner and research director, Future Workplace; New
York Times best-selling author, Promote Yourself
"This survey
provides valuable insight about how to overcome the residual
perception effect of the 2008 bailout among job seekers and employees.
Employees today care about competitive pay and benefits but they also
care deeply about flexibility, meaningful work, and choosing an
employer that is a good corporate citizen. By promoting flexible
environments, investing in philanthropy, and connecting work done to
positive changes in the world, financial services institutions can
continue to succeed and grow in today's global economy and remain an
attractive industry for the younger generations."
Supporting Resources
About Future Workplace
Future Workplace is an executive development firm dedicated to
rethinking and re-imagining the workplace. Future Workplace works with
heads of talent management, human resources, corporate learning, and
diversity to prepare for the changes impacting recruitment, employee
development, and engagement. Future Workplace is host to the 2020
Workplace Network, an Executive Council that includes 50 plus heads of
Corporate Learning, Talent, and Human Resources who come together to
discuss debate and share "next" practices impacting the workplace and
workforce of the future. For more information, please visit: www.FutureWorkplace.com.
Survey Methodology
Research findings are based on a survey conducted by Morar Consulting
fielded across the U.S. between March 27-April 4, 2017. For this survey,
806 finance professionals were asked about their views on working in the
finance sector. The study targeted finance professionals from C-level
executives to employees across different age brackets and industry
sectors. Respondents are recruited through a number of different
mechanisms, via different sources to join the panels and participate in
market research surveys. All panelists have passed a double opt-in
process and complete on average 300 profiling data points prior to
taking part in surveys. Respondents are invited to take part via email
and are provided with a small monetary incentive for doing so. Results
of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the
variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and
the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular
study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary,
plus or minus, by more than 3.5 percentage points from the result that
would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in
the universe represented by the sample.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is a leading provider of workforce management and human capital
management cloud solutions. Kronos industry-centric workforce
applications are purpose-built for businesses, healthcare providers,
educational institutions, and government agencies of all sizes. Tens of
thousands of organizations - including half of the Fortune 1000®
- and more than 40 million people in over 100 countries use Kronos every
day. Visit www.kronos.com.
Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works.
© 2017 Kronos Incorporated. All rights reserved. Kronos and the Kronos
logo are registered trademarks and Workforce Innovation That Works is a
trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. See a complete
list of Kronos
trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their
respective owners.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170515005127/en/
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