# Technology to the rescue of recruitment in financial service-Magazine Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2017-06-01 Category: TECHNOLOGY Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/technology Meta Title: Talent Challenges in Insurance Industry Meta Description: Discover the difficulties faced by insurance companies in attracting and retaining top talent. Learn how to develop an effective talent management programme to URL: https://financedigest.com/technology-to-the-rescue-of-recruitment-in-financial-servicehtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/imgp3247-1736843801372-compressed.jpg) By **Tony Brookes**, Sales Director, Vacancy Filler Recruitment Software Finding the right personnel for any   business is rarely an easy task – but most companies would agree that it is one of the most essential. The insurance industry in particular did not, until comparatively recently, have much more of a problem in this area than other organisations, but that has changed in recent years. According to a report by PwC, nearly 60% of insurance [CEOs believe skills shortages are a threat to growth and nearly 50% say](https://www.financedigest.com/hungarys-otp-bank-pressured-by-ukraine-to-sell-russian-unit-ceo-says.html "Hungary’s OTP Bank “pressured” by Ukraine to sell Russian unit, CEO says") that it’s getting harder to recruit and retain good people in their industry. More than 30% have been unable to pursue a [market opportunity](https://www.financedigest.com/uv-disinfection-equipment-market-opportunities-demand-and-revenue-forecast-2025-tmr-study.html "UV Disinfection Equipment Market Opportunities, Demand and Revenue Forecast 2025 – TMR Study") because of talent constraints. **Talent in** [Short Supply](https://www.financedigest.com/no-poop-for-you-manure-supplies-run-short-as-fertilizer-prices-soar.html "No poop for you: Manure supplies run short as fertilizer prices soar") The desire to expand into [emerging markets](https://www.financedigest.com/surgical-masks-market-emerging-trends-and-will-generate-new-growth-opportunities-status-2030.html "Surgical Masks Market: Emerging Trends and Will Generate New Growth Opportunities Status 2030"), changes in insurance products, the increasing use of technologies such as predictive analytics, changes in demographics and many other issues all mean that finding talent who can add value in a changing industry is becoming more and more difficult.   In addition, the [insurance industry](https://www.financedigest.com/automated-cyber-risk-quantification-saving-the-insurance-industry.html "Automated Cyber Risk Quantification: Saving the Insurance Industry") is often perceived as less exciting for bright graduates to enter than some other professions and the numbers taking more advanced professional examinations is shrinking.  Companies who want to succeed need to devise a clear strategy not just to attract but also to retain the right people, as well as developing the skills and aptitudes of those they already have. Too many [insurance companies](https://www.financedigest.com/building-stronger-relationships-with-insurance-companies.html "Building Stronger Relationships With Insurance Companies") do not get the right quality of candidate applying, or those that do, take up another offer – or else the candidate, once hired, either does not stay or does not live up to expectations.  As [insurance companies are already suffering from a shortage of experienced professionals at all levels, many have been forced to spread their search for candidates beyond the insurance industry](https://www.financedigest.com/nine-predictions-for-the-insurance-industry-in-2022.html "Nine predictions for the insurance industry in 2022").  A clear talent management programme needs to be in place that is aligned firmly to business objectives in order to retain these precious assets once recruited – high turnover of staff is a real issue in financial services. [Banks are also facing](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-u-s-banks-face-trillion-dollar-reverse-repo-headache.html "Analysis: U.S. banks face trillion-dollar reverse repo headache") similar challenges, according to a recent report from Deloitte, who recently surveyed more than 200,000 business students globally.  They found the popularity of a career in software and computer services has risen by 4.1 percentage points between 2008 and 2015. In comparison, banking fell by 4.3 percentage points during this time. Based on [current trends](https://www.financedigest.com/acne-scar-treatment-market-current-trends-and-future-aspect-analysis-2021-2031.html "Acne Scar Treatment Market Current Trends and Future Aspect Analysis 2021 – 2031"), software and computer services will overtake banking in popularity by 2022. The [research shows that business students rank careers in fast-moving consumer](https://www.financedigest.com/recent-research-waterjet-cutting-machine-consumables-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-4-8-by-2021-to-2031persistence-market-research.html "Recent Research: Waterjet Cutting Machine Consumables Market Is Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of 4.8% By 2021 to 2031:Persistence Market Research") goods first (14.44%); banking second (14.41%) and software and computer services third (9.61%.) Unfortunately companies often lose some of the best applicants right at the outset of the recruitment process. Many candidates still have a poor experience when applying for jobs – and indeed throughout the entire recruitment process.   A bad experience can damage a relationship with a promising candidate and even an entire brand – candidates are not afraid to share their impressions online.   The recruitment experience starts from the first view of the website and the careers page right the way through the entire recruitment process.  And while some companies have become very effective at [communicating well with potential hires throughout the experience](https://www.financedigest.com/one-app-for-a-total-communications-experience.html "One App for a Total Communications Experience"), this makes those who are not communicating well look even worse. Good recruitment means of course defining the brief at the outset, but online recruitment [systems are now being widely adopted by companies to help manage](https://www.financedigest.com/the-stone-management-system-market-to-get-digitally-innovative.html "The Stone Management System Market to get digitally innovative") the process from then on.   These platforms normally provide an applicant tracking system (ATS) to promote the role(s) on offer, and the candidate journey should focus on the engagement with the [potential employee so that throughout the various stages the corporate brand and the overall impression given to the candidate is a positive](https://www.financedigest.com/grab-and-go-containers-market-anticipated-to-have-positive-potential-during-the-forecast-period-fmi.html "Grab and Go Containers Market anticipated to have positive potential during the forecast period.: FMI") one.   Such [systems automate](https://www.financedigest.com/automated-weather-observing-system-market-segments-opportunity-growth-and-forecast-by-end-use-industry-2021-2031.html "Automated Weather Observing System Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast by End-use Industry 2021-2031") a great deal of routine work, including personalised acknowledgement of communications from a candidate. **Mergers and Acquisitions** One way of solving [financial service  industry issues such as the need to take on board new technologies](https://www.financedigest.com/financial-firms-can-use-technology-combat-todays-cybercriminals.html "How financial firms can use technology to combat today’s cybercriminals") and enter new markets is through mergers and acquisitions.   In its report Insurance 2020: A Quiet Revolution – The [Future of Global Insurance](https://www.financedigest.com/insuring-themselves-for-the-future.html "Insuring themselves for the future") M&A, PwC predicts that ‘the next few years will see a quiet revolution in global insurance M&A.’ However, in an M&A scenario, managing issues such as avoiding job duplication and having to make redundancies can be challenging.  [Restructuring programmes rarely go exactly to plan](https://www.financedigest.com/sri-lanka-to-unveil-debt-restructuring-plan-to-creditors.html "Sri Lanka to unveil debt restructuring plan to creditors").  Cuts sometimes go too far and at some point, staff may need to be re-hired, perhaps for slightly different roles.   Sometimes the people a [company wants to retain are the very ones who leave](https://www.financedigest.com/unilever-cfo-pitkethly-to-leave-company-by-may-2024.html "Unilever CFO Pitkethly to leave company by May 2024"), due to uncertainty about the future, perhaps a loss of morale in an organisation going through significant change and the ease of finding another job elsewhere.  There are other employee recruitment and retention factors such as natural churn, early retirement and essential roles that still need to be backfilled. And then there is staff re-deployment.  Re-hiring, re-training and re-skilling programmes are cheaper and more cost effective that hiring an outsider and a great deal more motivational too.  However, re-deploying staff is not very different from hiring externally including assessing candidates for eligibility and suitability, shortlisting, interviewing, sometimes testing, and offer management. In the [last four to five years](https://www.financedigest.com/crypto-investors-step-up-risk-management-after-last-years-meltdowns.html "Crypto investors step up risk management after last year’s meltdowns"), the way business applications and IT systems are now deployed has been a silent revolution.  Many organisations can implement a base system in 7-10 days.  This agile approach means that as the system can be implemented very quickly the returns are also very quick. A business case for an integrated recruitment process using an online recruitment system includes internal and external recruitment process efficiencies, reduction on dependency on agencies and expensive job advertising, improvement in the quality of candidates as the net can be cast more widely and the process is more efficient which means fewer good ones drop out along the way, consistency and alignment to the strategic HR and wider organisational objectives and better [management information and compliance reporting](https://www.financedigest.com/the-dysphagia-management-market-report.html "The Dysphagia Management Market Report"). Some things those considering these systems should look for include:- - Ease of  use,  quick to implement, agile, requiring minimal training - Integration with careers pages, Job Boards and Social media to eliminate the need for expensive advertising - A choice of online application forms or CVs - Online shortlisting and scoring against essential and desirable criteria to ensure hires are made with no bias,  all notes regarding candidates are made online - Automatic but personalised candidate communications resulting in significantly less manual intervention - The option of video interviewing - Integrated background and criminal records checking - ‘Onboarding’ where new starter information is collected, employment contracts [generated details posted to electronically to the HR and payroll system](https://www.financedigest.com/rising-investments-in-renewable-power-generation-to-amplify-demand-of-substation-monitoring-system-market-fact-mr-report.html "Rising Investments in Renewable Power Generation to Amplify Demand of Substation Monitoring System Market: Fact.MR Report") and departments notified about the new starter - The facility to accumulate a ‘talent pool’ of retained candidates who may be suitable for [future roles](https://www.financedigest.com/the-role-of-fintech-in-shaping-innovative-future.html "The Role of Fintech in Shaping Innovative Future") thus further reducing the time to hire and re-advertise costs. [Retail Merchant Services](https://www.financedigest.com/automobile-shortages-spending-shift-to-services-hurt-u-s-retail-sales.html "Automobile shortages, spending shift to services hurt U.S. retail sales"), the largest independent card processing provider in the UK, is an example of a company that has found an online recruitment system very helpful. With over 240 employees, Retail Merchant Services receives more than 15,000 applications every year in addition to 6,000 candidates who are pro-actively approached by its in-house recruitment team.  With a fast-paced [growth trajectory](https://www.financedigest.com/passendo-signs-new-strategic-partnerships-as-it-continues-growth-trajectory-entering-the-italian-and-german-markets.html "Passendo signs new strategic partnerships as it continues growth trajectory, entering the Italian and German markets") forecast across the business, Retail Merchant Services recruitment requirements are also set to grow. Prior to implementing the Vacancy Filler system, Retail Merchant Services used a manual process to [recruit candidates](https://www.financedigest.com/recruitment-in-a-candidate-tight-market.html "Recruitment in a Candidate Tight Market "), which was heavily reliant upon Excel tracking spreadsheets and a hardcopy filing system. As the company has grown, recruitment needs have increased substantially and the manual process was becoming too time-consuming, particularly with a team of recruiters managing multiple vacancies.  The company decided to automate the process, evaluating a number of recruitment software suppliers. Vacancy Filler was chosen because of the functionality, job board integration and customisation  the solution offered, and  within a week of going live the [system managed](https://www.financedigest.com/a-report-on-global-clinical-trial-management-system-market-by-pmr.html "A Report On Global Clinical Trial Management System Market By PMR") over 50 candidates.  The flexibility provided by the Vacancy Filler software allowed it to be tailored to existing processes, meaning its impact was immediate, negating the requirement for the recruitment team to undergo retraining to be able to operate the new system. Colette Lamb, Recruitment & [Talent Acquisition Manager at Retail Merchant Services](https://www.financedigest.com/how-financial-services-organisations-can-win-the-battle-for-talent.html "How Financial Services Organisations can win the Battle for Talent"), said: “We were looking for a solution that could grow with us and streamline our recruitment. We wanted our candidates to be able to get maximum value from our website, and we needed access to reports on advert response, time to hire metrics and candidate engagement.” She continued: “The seamless integration with our existing careers page was one of the main reasons we purchased the Vacancy Filler system.  For us, it is critical that the Retail Merchant Services’ brand – something we have spent a long time developing and nurturing – is maintained throughout the user experience.” The need for a good recruitment and talent [management](https://www.financedigest.com/freelancing-finances-managing-income-and-taxes-as-a-freelancer.html "Freelancing Finances: Managing Income and Taxes as a Freelancer") strategy in the financial services sector has never been more vital and will remain key to the success of this industry going forward. 1 [http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2012/industry/insurance.jhtml](http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2012/industry/insurance.jhtml) 2 **https://www2.deloitte.com/sg/en/pages/financial-services/articles/deloitte-talent-in-banking-report-2015.html** [**Talent in Banking report 2015, ‘The sting in the tale – Are banks attracting the right talent?’**](https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/sg/Documents/financial-services/sg-fsi-deloitte-talent-in-banking-2015.pdf) http://www.pwc.com/en\_GX/gx/insurance/assets/pwc-insurance-2020-a-quiet-revolution-the-future-of-insurance-m-and-a.pdf (This article was published in Finance Digest Magazine, April 2017) ``` “Original publication in Finance Digest Issue 1 https://www.financedigest.com/finance-digest-print-magazine/” ``` --- This blog is powered by Superblog. 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