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» Articles - Financial services industry staffing issues
Key management issues in attracting and motivating staff; and skills and business. Is there currently shortage of staff generally or specifically a shortage of skilled staff?
The Financial Planning Association has recognised the shortage of staff in the financial planning profession this year by announcing the establishment of a Future Financial Planners Council. To raise awareness of how financial planning careers can be rewarding, they plan to tackle educational institutions, develop marketing material for their members and use mentoring and other activities to support students who choose this path.
So how do SuperInvestor members view the skills shortage in their sector and have they developed any tactics to attract and motivate staff?
Just Super managing director Stephen Doulgeridis is feeling the skills shortage acutely, as a result of what he said was the issue of accountants not wanting to work in superannuation fund administration.
"I have found it very hard to find managers who want to specialise in this field", he said. "It has taken me on average six months to find a suitable manager.”
Finding suitable candidates was not aided by employment agencies because, he believed, they didn’t properly understand the field of self-managed superannuation funds. The only answer he had found for his business was developing attractive employment packages to secure and retain quality staff, featuring bonuses, time in lieu, weekend getaways with their partners, paid internet services at home, income protection and a $500,000 life insurance package – after three months’ service. "It is the only way to keep good staff", Doulgeridis said.
Plus One: Networking for Professionals convenor Adam Wydeman said the answer lay in a change of attitude.
"It’s an employees’ market, not an employers’ market. If a company wants to grow, they need to recognise what the employee wants", he said.
And that included not regarding the wage as the top priority. He believed money was now the second or third concern for an employee who was actually chasing the intangible benefits.
"Flexible hours would be number one on a prospective employee’s list", he said. "And it’s about being slow to hire and fast to fire, getting the right people on the bus."
Mr Wydeman saw a big role for the Federal Government in solving this problem by allowing more skilled workers from overseas to fill the shortages.
"In IT, people are not filling the need – 30 per cent of jobs are unfilled in Australia", he said. "From a Federal Government standpoint, importing more IT professionals would be an option."
Innov8 Group chief executive officer Terry Tsemelis operates a boutique company that doesn’t employ a lot of people – it fluctuates between two and 10 – but he does need to work with reliable people to develop the business strategies he specialises in. He said finding legal people, accountants and graphic designers, with whom he mainly works, who have a good work ethic was the greatest challenge.
"You definitely need to find reliable people to deliver what you need to move forward", Mr Tsesmelis said. "I can’t have people who are just in it for the money.”
Tsesmelis said communication was the key to success on the personnel front.
"I have a tight group of people who are working for the same goals", Mr Tsemelis said. "The biggest challenge is the right communication, collaboration and co-ordination. It’s a harder challenge to get that right than finding people. If it was easy, more companies would get it right."
Eliza Adamthwaite
www.SuperInvestor.com.au
Now that you have read this, what do you think? Do you have other ideas? Please share you views with other members (eg by blog or discussion form) and/or request professional member(s) to contact you directly.
