NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank are still dealing with the aftermath of a severe technical glitch last month which affected millions of customers across the UK. Andy Taylor, Regional Marketing Manager of Employer Brands at RBS, acknowledged “the understandable anger” of the public caused by the knock-on effects of IT problems at the banking group. However, he added “the irony is that when we are in the headlines visits to our website go up and applications go up”.

It seems that although the current negative publicity surrounding RBS and NatWest might not appear to be good news for the banking group’s employer brand – it could have a silver lining as far as attracting talent is concerned. From a recruitment point of view, ‘come fix the bank’ is a novel selling point, and if handled correctly, this fiasco could result in the acquisition of previously untapped talent.

The “absolute key” said Taylor was to ensure that RBS’s brand promise was reflected in the candidate experience and journey. “We are doing a lot of work throughout the organisation to achieve that and to make that the case,” he said. RBS was constantly engaged in understanding and testing how perceptions of the bank translated into the recruitment space, and used “lots of metrics” to achieve this, Taylor added.

In a letter to the Treasury Select Committee, Stephen Hester, RBS’s Chief Executive, blamed the computer problems on an ‘error’ in its Edinburgh office. Mr Hester is expected to be called before the committee to discuss the problem and he has said that the bank would publish the details of its investigation.

The findings of this analysis should, in theory, create a demand for opportunities for Interims who can implement crisis strategies and advise on damage limitation within the domestic financial services industry. This is positive sign for recruitment in the industry, particularly within the IT, PR and HR sectors and especially for those at Interim level.

Human error is inevitable, but by enlisting professionals to develop effective prevention and management programmes, RBS Group and other financial institutions can help safeguard themselves from similar occurrences in the future. Mr Hester has said that this problem had led to “knock-on effects” that were “substantial and required significant manual interventions”. I’m sure there are many Interim candidates up to the challenges that lie ahead

 Robert is Financial Services Director at Venn Group, the specialist provider of temporary and interim staff across the UK. Robert has over twelve years experience of managing recruitment teams within the financial services sector.

To see Venn Group opportunities please click here.

In the current economic climate, the issue of attracting and retaining talent has never been so important. In order to do this, it is vital for employers to understand the needs of both current and future staff, and recognise what they are looking for in a job.

At McGregor Boyall, we have recently addressed this issue by carrying out a survey of 5,350 risk, compliance and product control professionals. They were asked questions surrounding salaries and bonuses, addressing what the current situation is like, how it is likely to change, and what the influencing factors are when job hunting. The survey revealed some interesting results.

As risk, compliance and product control have evolved in line with the financial crisis, it has created a demand for experienced professionals. In light of this, it’s perhaps unsurprising that our survey shows salaries have increased as employers strive to attract and retain talent. 57% of respondents had some form of raise in their pay over the last 2 years, with 29% experiencing no change, and only 14% seeing a decrease.

In addition, a similar pattern can be seen with bonuses, with a large number of professionals (80%) being eligible for a bonus in 2011/2012. Just over a quarter of those surveyed were given 10% of their base salary or less, almost a quarter received over 30% and one in ten obtained between 11% and 30%. Again, the results imply that compensation measures are being taken in order attract talented individuals into financial services, and hold onto existing staff.

However, when it came to thinking about the future, participants were unsure as to how their pay would change. With regard to salary and bonus expectations for next year, there was a mixed bag of results, perhaps reflecting the uncertainty of these difficult times. 71% of respondents thought that, due to current market conditions, their salary would stay the same for next year. With bonuses, just under half (47%) of respondents predicted it would stay the same, with 40% anticipating a decrease.

Looking at these findings, it begs the question: how important is money? When asked what factors would influence their decision whilst job hunting, our survey revealed that salaries and bonuses were significant for the financial services professionals. Base salary and overall compensation were seen as the two most important influencers, but were closely followed by career progression and work life balance.

This suggests that payment rewards are important, but they aren’t everything. There are other motivators that staff are looking for, and businesses can’t afford to ignore them if they want to keep hold of their employees and attract new talent. So, yes, money still talks, but not at all costs, and it’s vital that employers recognise this, particularly in the difficult economic conditions.

Laurie Boyall, Managing Director of McGregor Boyall

Financial Services Recruitment Specialists for – Change & Transformation, Compliance, Executive Recruitment, IT, Marketing, Product Control & Valuations, Risk. To view our vacancies click here!