Here are the top news stories in talent & organization from this week.
Why it’s good to be in banking
Banking is a righteous career because its focus is on helping consumers and business owners realize their dreams, claims Paul Hickman. “Most people go into regular banking because they want to make a difference,” he told Bruce Weinstein in a Forbes interview. “You finance a business, it does well, you drive by it and think, ‘I helped do that.’” Hickman, the president and CEO of the Arizona Bankers Association, also believes that it’s crucial for the finance sector to be populated by competent and ethical people. “I think it’s more important in banking and law than in most industries,” he says. “You’ve got to be beyond reproach in both of those industries, otherwise you’re not going to have the confidence you need to do your job from your constituents, from your clients and your customers.”
Wall Street’s boys-club problem
The gender gap in finance was back in the news last week when Citigroup disclosed that its female employees earn 29 percent less than its male employees globally. “It’s no secret that women are lagging behind their male counterparts in the financial industry,” CNBC reports. “But it’s not just about a pay gap—there are also fewer females working in the business.” Women account for less than 17 percent of senior leaders in U.S. investment banking, according to a Catalyst study released last year. And Morningstar found that less than 10 percent of all U.S. fund managers are women. “Wall Street’s been a boy’s club forever,” Ritholtz Wealth Management’s Blair duQuesnay told CNBC. “Whatever we’ve been doing to try and encourage more women hasn’t worked. So I think we need to shake it up and try something different.” Last week, in an op-ed for The New York Times, she pointed out that while years of research show female investors outperform men, women still only account for 20 percent of financial advisors. “Our clients are women too. Women are half of the population and they are only one-fifth of advisors, a number that hasn’t changed in the 15 years that I’ve been doing this,” duQuesnay said.
Aging workforce as an opportunity, not a problem
The aging of the U.S. workforce is a major opportunity to create a more inclusive society and a vibrant economy, according to Chris Farrell. The senior economics contributor to “Marketplace,” American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio program, Farrell argues that a more engaged older population will shape everyday life—everything from housing markets to public transportation, urban design and healthcare. “We have this image of the way life unfolds—you go to school, work and raise children and then retire somewhere else,” he told Reuters in an interview. “Plenty of our institutions have reflected that. But as people work longer and stay in urban areas longer, the impact will be profound—just for one example, older people tend to want public transportation, and so do younger people.” Participation in the labor force by older workers has been rising steadily in recent years, creating an inflection point where employers will be forced to accommodate older workers due to the overall tight labor market. “It’s not that employers have suddenly become enlightened, but they will have to look at older workers with a different eye, and think about hiring differently,” he said. “Do they want to fulfill their missions and grow their businesses, or not?”
Top talent trends to watch in 2019
How can companies continue to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly tight labor market? Here are the top 10 emerging talent trends to watch in 2019, according to experts in the Asia Pacific region: 1. Don’t mind the resume gaps of candidates. 2. Make artificial intelligence more intelligent by feeding it more objective modifiers. 3. Personalize pay for different generations of workers. 4. Rethink the annual performance review by opting for ongoing feedback. 5. Dig deeper into the diversity and inclusion pipeline. 6. Survey candidates about the recruiting process. 7. Create more interesting titles to reflect the emerging roles. 8. Talent analytics is just as important as business analytics. 9. Approach talent analytics holistically from hire to retire. 10. Balance short-term hiring needs with long-term business goals. “To succeed in attracting, developing and retaining top talent as we head into another year, companies will need to stay ahead of the rising importance of artificial intelligence and talent analytics while being agile and forward thinking in their talent management strategy,” said Pip Eastman, Managing Director, Asia Pacific Regional Solutions for Korn Ferry.
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