Talentmangel in europäischen Banken

Einige große europäische Finanzinstitutionen werden Schwierigkeiten haben, Positionen zu besetzen, die für die Ausführung ihrer im Entstehen begriffenen Strategien in den kommenden fünf Jahren zentral sein werden, so ein Forschungspapier, das im Juli 2008 im McKinsey Quarterly veröffentlicht wurde.

While the best talent managers can tap strong internal contenders for key roles, many others will be forced to fill pivotal jobs with second-tier internal talent or external candidates, according to the study, which warns of the risk of missing „important growth opportunities“.

The research is based on a poll involving top human resources executives at 13 large European universal banks – ten of which are among the top 30 in the region by market capitalisation – across eight countries. Most banking executives said they currently do not have enough qualified people in their organisations to fill critical positions. Within three years, McKinsey estimates that the talent gap will expand, „leaving most banks unable to use top internal talent to fill 25% to 40% of their senior-executive positions and other roles with economic or strategic significance“.

Moreover, in the next three to five years, banks may be desperate for capable people to work in specific areas that are vital to the banks‘ evolving business plans. In retail banking, for example, McKinsey foresees that „almost half of most banks‘ critical functions will be deprived of talent“. 

What’s more, „bank functions such as cross-border integration, turnaround management, push marketing, third-party-channel development and underwriting and monitoring retail credit all will require skills that are in relatively short supply“. 

The study highlights several trends behind the growing need for more sophisticated skills in these areas. „One is the banks‘ rapid growth in emerging markets, which frequently involves mergers and acquisitions. Others include the increasing sophistication and declining loyalty of customers, heightened competition for deposits, and the effects of the subprime-lending crisis.“

„Very few banks have benefited substantially from their talent-management efforts,“ the poll suggests. Only a third of the respondents said that their organisations manage to fill critical vacancies quickly and effectively with internal talent. 

Some banks do not treat talent management as a priority. As a result, they tend to rely on external recruiting for their evolving talent needs. To retain top talent, many also tend to emphasise compensation and brand names rather than career prospects and inspirational leadership, the reseach reveals. 

Other banks do better by putting in place basic practices centered on identifying and reviewing talented mid-level and senior executives, McKinsey found. Most effective in the war for banking talent are those where the top team make talent management a top priority, developing and applying key processes and creating a specific, centralised unit to handle it. 

To further boost the effectiveness of institutions, the study says „members of the top and senior management teams must work harder to incorporate talent-management activities into their own weekly routines, for example, by personally advocating, endorsing, and communicating key messages to middle management and to frontline employees. 

„Such commitment drives active participation in talent management, rather than mere compliance with it, throughout the organisation and shows employees that it is a top priority,“ it concludes.