Dr. Andrea Cullen, CEO and Co-Founder, CAPSLOCK
The UK remains an ‘employees’ market’ for skilled professionals in the financial sector as it continues to experience a shortage of talent. According to the Financial Services Skills Commission, 3 in 100 roles in financial services remain unfilled, with data, software, cyber, risk and product managers outlined as the ‘hard to fill’ categories, some of which have been open for over 12 months.
Understandably, top candidates may take their time to evaluate multiple offers. However, a growing challenge in the financial sector is the trend of ‘cut and run’, where candidates abandon the hiring process midstream for more attractive offers such as a higher salary or benefits such as a better work-life balance.
To address this issue, the financial sector must rethink its talent acquisition for skilled workers, ensuring they offer not only competitive salaries and benefits but also move away from traditional recruitment processes, centred on reviewing CVs and undertaking a series of interviews. Failing to do so will result in losing out on top talent, as well as additional costs associated with prolonged recruitment cycles.
The impact of lengthy hiring timelines
The problem of cut and run hiring is made more acute in roles that have a lengthy hiring and onboarding process, for example it typically takes 4-5 months for security clearance for roles in financial services. Cut and run is not uncommon in such situations as the touchpoints with candidates may be fewer during this period. They drop out of recruitment processes due to prolonged hiring timelines, often finding other opportunities before finalising with the original employer.
This is a huge frustration for those involved in the recruitment process who have worked tirelessly to find the right individual for their organisation. It takes time to hire skilled professionals in a small talent pool, meaning that they’ll likely waste resources and costs channelled into the hiring process. It also impacts the existing workforce as they’re having to wait longer for this long-awaited new colleague. Not only could this negatively impact the morale and engagement among the broader team, but also potentially cause operational disruptions due to the vacancy.
Thinking outside the box
There are ways that organisations can avoid this to retain talent and streamline the hiring process. A proactive approach is needed where organisations leverage the waiting periods for productive training and onboarding as part of the recruitment process.
There is no doubt that some skills can be taught on the job, with HR collaborating closely with the business function on a tailored programme. However, what can’t be as easily learned are impact skills, such as problem-solving and creative thinking. With a shortage of skilled workers, it makes sense for organisations to think outside of the box when looking to fill hard to recruit roles. They should be considering hiring people that may not necessarily fit the mould of what they’d consider a ‘traditional candidate’. And ensure hiring managers are prioritising skills and experience over qualifications to encourage those from non-traditional routes into the respective role or industry.
The months employers spend waiting for their recruits to pass the necessary hurdles could be better spent upskilling them through targeted training. Key cyber security skills for finance professionals include training in topics such as risk analysis, process improvement, auditing and governance and cyber regulations. This keeps future employees engaged in the onboarding process, feeling valued and already invested in before they’ve started. Once they’ve gone through the training schedule, the employer can deploy them into their roles – with them ready to hit the ground running, demonstrating a valuable return from day one.
Reshaping the traditional recruitment process
To mitigate the risks of ‘cut and run’ hiring in financial services, HR teams can adopt a more proactive approach by aligning hiring and talent development strategies. Offering targeted training during the hiring process will keep candidates engaged while ensuring they are equipped with the critical skills needed in the competitive financial market. This will not only ensure organisations retain talent but will also allow them to build a more skilled workforce from day one.
Now more than ever is the time for HR teams to rethink traditional recruitment processes, allowing them to secure the talent their organisation needs to succeed.
