BID® Daily Newsletter
Aug 21, 2008

BID® Daily Newsletter

Aug 21, 2008

HIRING BANKERS


Many studies show community bankers struggle to find qualified people to fill open jobs. The shortage of talent is rampant and economic strains are not helping things. In fact, depending on whom you ask, lenders, technology officers, deposit specialists and risk officers are among the hardest to find. In short, banks not only have to deal with heavy competition for deposits and loans, but also for people. To keep quality employees, bankers can do many things, but here are some of the most effective.
Provide opportunity. People want to grow and advance in their careers, so providing additional training and a path for advancement are critical if you want to keep your best and brightest employees.
Reward performers. People want to be recognized for their accomplishments. Money is important, but status and respect from employees and management can also deliver superior employee retention. Executives should look to include top performers in the process of decision making to not only get buy-in, but also solicit new ideas and perspectives.
Build trust. The key to any good workplace is one built on trust. Employees will follow leaders they trust. To gain trust, managers need not only to be open and fair, but honest.
Be consistent. Employees want their managers to provide consistent and fair job evaluations. These should be done at least annually, while coaching and feedback should occur all year long. If you want to leverage people on your bank's team, focus on leveraging individual strengths and talents as often as possible.
Offer education. Believe it or not, people crave education to remain efficient and effective. Top performing banks know they need to broaden the overall employee skill base and do so by creating teams, assigning projects and increasing mentoring opportunities.
Be frank. Industry conditions are rough right now and employees need to hear the good and the bad. Honesty really is the best policy and being candid is critical. Knowing what is happening in the company and pretending not to know is tantamount to burying one's head in the sand. If loan losses have increased, tell employees and be sure their questions are answered. Having open communication and focusing on reducing fear and uncertainty is critical and boosts emotional well-being.
Be flexible. People used to just want money and a decent career. Now, they want more time and job flexibility. Believe it or not, a recent survey found 66% of workers said they would take a pay cut if they could get more flexibility and time to pursue their passions. Bankers that focus on fitting jobs to employee skills and desires, and then incorporating flexibility, have gone a long way toward keeping employees happy.
Give some perks. Even low cost perks can help reduce turnover and improve employee satisfaction. Consider offering employees coffee, free soft drinks, a reading area, dry cleaning pickup, personal shopping, gym memberships, restaurant coupons, free car washes and more.
No matter what you decide to do to keep your best employees, if you are in a management position there is one more thing you should do every single day - say "thanks." Saying "thank you" is simple, effective and let's employees know you really do care about their input and efforts.
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