Top talent principles for the future of work in financial services
It’s clear that the financial services landscape is rapidly evolving. Organizations are currently facing two massive imperatives – technology and people transformation. Gartner research reveals that by 2026, 74% of financial services leaders expect “substantial” or “significant” industry transformation to meet the evolving expectations of their consumers. Nearly 20% expect so much transformation that the industry will be almost unrecognizable compared to that of today.
74% of financial services leaders expect “substantial” or “significant” industry transformation. Nearly 20% expect so much transformation that the industry will be almost unrecognizable compared to that of today.
With technology underpinning almost every aspect of organizational transformation and extensive investments in technology taking hold, the downstream impact of these investments on talent is noticeable. Almost 76% of global workers feel unequipped to learn the digital skills needed by businesses both today and in the future. With heightened, broader workforce disruption and widening skills gaps, digital investments alone won’t help financial services organizations attain business objectives. An investment in education and the career growth of existing employees into priority roles is imperative to drive business, talent, and innovation outcomes.
Lack of career growth is hindering talent attraction and retention in Financial Services
It’s more competitive than ever to attract qualified talent into key roles, many of which require technical skills. According to Gartner, roughly ⅔ of senior executives in financial services stated that they are expecting workforce shortages across lines of business and functions by March 2023. Indeed, 25% of frontline talent in financial services reported a high intent to leave, with nearly ⅔ stating that they would leave their current firm if offered better access to education and career growth opportunities elsewhere. Gartner research also found that only 41% of employees are satisfied with the L&D experiences at their current organization, and most would not recommend their organization’s training programs to other colleagues.
Luckily, out of the two-thirds of workers who want to move into a new role, more than half of them hope it’s at their same company. Employee-led education benefits are no longer enough. Creating opportunities for career advancement within your organization is now table stakes to be competitive and retain existing talent. Yet less than 25% of banking and capital markets (BCM) organizations have reported significant progress in defining the skills needed to drive future growth, according to a PwC survey.
Less than 25% of BCM organizations have reported significant progress in defining the skills needed to drive future growth.
Attract and retain top FinServ talent with Career Pathways
Leading financial services companies are driving outcomes by investing in their current talent pool. By upskilling employees into roles of the future, you can keep pace with technological growth and better retain your top talent by offering career advancement opportunities.
Start by identifying high-priority roles, and then reverse engineer the skills and capabilities needed for employees to grow into those positions. Below are sample wireframe pathways for financial services roles, including the necessary skills and training to enable the growth needed from one position to the next.
| Entry | Gateway | Destination | Entry | Gateway | Destination |
| Call Center | Finance Specialist | Finance Manager | Bank teller | Technology Specialist | Data Engineer |
| Risk and return, capital investments: Financial Management Certificate |
Accounting principles, tax filing: Bachelor’s Finance |
Project management tools: Frontline Management Certificate |
Database management, finite logic: IT Certificate |
Cybersecurity, network technology: Bachelor’s in Data Analytics |
Data structures and retrieval: Python Certification |
Offer equitable, accessible education programs to reskill and transform your frontline workforce
According to Josh Bersin, organizations are in a new era of building internal skills, creating stronger learning cultures and emphasizing increased career development and growth from within. In financial services, the most diverse talent pool is normally disproportionately distributed in the frontline population. In order to engage both frontline and white-collar workers, education programs and career advancement opportunities must be both accessible and equitable for working adults. By breaking down barriers to enrollment with employer-sponsored, tuition-free programs, and providing learning options curated for working adults, employers can engage more employees across the business. This, in turn, fills talent pipelines with newly skilled employees and serves as a key vehicle for talent retention and attraction.
Rocket Central realized this when they took a closer look at their tuition reimbursement process and team member feedback. Chief Learning Officer at Rocket Central, KimArie Yowell, noted that “one of the real challenges in America is access to education for underrepresented groups, and while tuition reimbursement programs may seem to offer a solution, the programs exclude people who do not have the ability to pay for the classes upfront or wait until the end of the course to get reimbursed by their employer.”
In 2019, Rocket Central revamped their program and aligned with Guild, offering 100% tuition assistance to drive education, skilling, and career mobility at scale. The result? An unused tuition reimbursement benefit was transformed into a world-class career growth program with a 500% participation increase in the first 16 months..
“One of the real challenges in America is access to education for underrepresented groups, and while tuition reimbursement programs may seem to offer a solution, the programs exclude people who do not have the ability to pay for the classes upfront or wait until the end of the course to get reimbursed by their employer.” KimArie Yowell, Rocket Central
Amid today’s talent landscape and broader workforce disruption, financial service organizations are facing acute talent pain points that pose significant impacts for the future. See how Guild is working with financial service leaders like Rocket Central, PNC, Discover, and Regions Bank to build career pathways to address these challenges head-on.
15 Critical Competencies for the Future of Financial Services | Gartner © 2022
2New Digital Skills Index from Salesforce Reveals 76% of Global Workers Say They Are Unequipped for the Future of Work | Salesforce © 2022
3Fit to compete: Accelerating digital workforce transformation in financial services | PwC © 2019
44 Reasons Why Financial Services Talent Leaves | Gartner © 2022
55 Critical Competencies for the Future of Financial Services | Gartner © 2022
6Guild’s American Worker Survey Report. © 2022
7Banking and capital markets trends 2020: Laying the foundations for growth | PwC © 2020
9Build Vs. Buy: The Days Of Hiring Scarce Technical Skills Are Over | Josh Bersin © 2022
10Rocket Central Enables Equitable Career Growth and Mobility through Education | The Josh Bersin Company © 2022
11Rocket Central Enables Equitable Career Growth and Mobility through Education | The Josh Bersin Company © 2022
12Career Pathways Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today | The Josh Bersin Company © 2022
