Navigating the Top 7 Recruitment Challenges in the Financial Industry: Expert Tips for Overcoming Hiring Hurdles

Key-challenges-in-financial-recruitment

The finance service market is expected to grow by 10% by 2026. It means the businesses will boom, and you need to hire the right team to make it happen.


But unfortunately, the finance and accounting industry isn’t that lucky when it comes to hassle-free hiring. Despite over 253,000 available jobs, recruiters struggle to bag the top talent for hire.


But where is the gap?


In this article, we will explore 7 key hiring challenges the financial industry face and how one should tackle them head-on.


Attracting & Retaining Young Blood


According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the workforce aged 24 and under comprises only 5% of accountants and auditors. And not just hiring, retaining millennials is another challenge that can tank your money in cost-to-hire and training as only 10% of them plan to stay for the long haul.


That also means there aren’t enough resources to fill in the shoes of the retiring employees. It even limits the flow of new perspectives and ideas to the organization.


How to handle this challenge?


1) Build a Positive Brand Image


What’s in the name? A lot.


All candidates prefer a company known for good reasons. Millennials especially value a healthy work culture more than anything.

 


So, make your existing team your advertisement face. You can use employee testimonials or reviews to publish on the websites.


Use social media to attract the young generation of talent and interact with them closely.


2) Analyze Behavioral Insight


Your employee activity data should not be merely eye candy and must add real value to your hiring processes.


Stay in regular touch with your team members through quarterly or monthly meets to get their experience feedback. Encourage them to share their honest opinion so that you can take necessary action in time. Also, get in touch with the managers to utilize a performance analysis to identify early signs of dissatisfaction.


Bridging the Skill Gaps


There is no dearth of candidates seeking a job. But it’s not necessary that they all possess the right skill set to qualify for the jo/templates/conv_template/b.


Finding a skilled workforce in the finance service industry is another big challenge you have little control over. But how can you make the most out of the existing pool?

 

How to handle this challenge?


1) Deploy an Employee Referral Program


Leverage the network of your employees to build a talented line-up for hiring. Incentivize them for each successful hiring. You can implement an employee referral tool where your employees can drop the resume of suitable candidates, and you can track the progress.


2) Take Learning & Development Seriously


One needs to keep up with the regular changes in the finance and accounting industry. Otherwise, even top talent can quickly turn rustic.


Avoid your team from falling behind and attract suitable candidates by investing in training programs for your employees. Set up an L&D program where employees can enroll and improve their skills.


Burning Out of Talent


There is no doubt that finance and accounting are demanding professions. It often leads to quicker burnout and employee attrition.


How to handle this challenge?


1) Maintain Work-Life Balance


You may get talent into the company, but if the work culture isn’t healthy, it would be challenging to retain that talent.


Start with clearly communicating the role and responsibilities of the team members. The next thing should be to educate the managers on being reliable leaders. You can even include management programs in your learning & development modules.


2) Introduce Better Leave Policy


Make it easier for the employees to take breaks. Remove the unnecessary red tape and keep the leave application and approval process easy.


Never-ending Screening Process


Unlike other industries, one or two interview rounds might not be enough to gauge a candidate's capabilities fairly. But that doesn’t mean you take the assessment lightly, as it can lead to a bad hire.


Finding a sweet spot is what you need to sustain wisely.


How to handle this challenge?


1) Implement an Applicant Tracking System


If you don’t have one, get it right now. And if you have an applicant tracking system, it’s time to upgrade it.


A good tool will give you complete visibility on the candidate pipeline and help you move things quickly to the next step.


Look for one which is mobile-friendly and can support you with detailed performance analysis. Also, ensure that you are not choosing an ATS loaded with so much that it starts intimidating you.


2) Gamify the Assessment Process


If your evaluation process is long and tedious, candidates might forget or ignore it completely.


To start apart from the crowd and hold the candidate’s attention, gamification of the recruitment process is your best bet.


It breaks the weight of the assessment into engaging and digestible modules that introduce a fun element to the whole process. But while doing this, ensure that your tests serve the primary purpose and aren’t only a gimmick.


Matching the Candidate’s Pay Expectation


The finance industry requires skilled candidates, and such employees don’t come at a low price.


How to handle this challenge?


1) Restructure the Salary Package


There are ways to incentivize the employees without stretching your budget. You can restructure your payouts by breaking them into fixed and variable salaries, where the variable can be decided by employee performance.


You can even add health insurance to support a more wholesome payout for the employees.


2) Benefits Over Perks


With the recent developments, many teams have migrated to a remote environment. So, perks like an office gym, sports room, or canteen don’t mean much to the candidates.


Convert those perks into benefits by adding internet or food allowances, parental leaves, and healthcare insurance.


Shortage of Experienced Candidates


Not just fresh graduates but even mid-career candidates are hard to find in the accounting and finance industry. Many started their own ventures or changed sectors in the last recession, while the remaining are already engaged with some or other organizations.


How to handle this challenge?


1) Make Sourcing a Habit


Candidate sourcing is a failsafe strategy to keep a healthy database of suitable candidates at all times, irrespective of whether there is an open position.


Keep in touch with your previous applicants who weren’t selected. Send them tips on what they can improve while applying the next time. Candidate sourcing is a great practice to ensure you don’t have to start from scratch whenever a position is to be filled.


2) Engage on Relevant Channels


If you wish to attract experienced candidates, building a brand image is critical, and social platforms are perfect for it.


Posting regularly on professional channels like LinkedIn can boost your outreach and will engage candidates with your brand.


You can even use ads to improve the job or company visibility.


Poor Candidate Experience


49% of the candidates turn down a job offer if the recruitment process is flawed. And often, slight inconveniences add up into a blunder. So, you should always be on the lookout for optimizing your recruitment process.


How to handle this challenge?


1) Introduce Automation for Quicker Hiring


Use technology to fast-track your hiring process. You can implement chatbots to answer or take resumes from interested candidates.


Even screening can be done using voice bots.


2) Use Candidate Feedback


It’s hard always to guess what went wrong when a candidate rejects a job offer. But candidate feedback can be your go-to help for this.


Send out feedback forms to everyone, whether they are selected or not. Understand which areas need improvement and where you can save time.

 

Step Up Your Recruitment Game


Jobseekers always have more options. Unfortunately, you might not have that luxury.


That’s why it’s critical to manage your candidates effectively. Replace the reactive approach with a proactive one and start working towards your hiring goals even before an open position pops up.

 

The finance sector is a competitive industry that becomes even cutthroat when other industries can poach your candidates. So, it’s important to stay at the top of your game. Use the right technology to move faster and hire quicker.


Transform your hiring process with RippleHire’s intuitive talent acquisition cloud and employee referral system. Its easy-to-build workflows give you complete autonomy over your candidate selection and management. And on top of that, you get detailed audits and reports that make your decision-making more data-driven.


The bottom line is that convincing talent to join your team will never be easy, especially in the financial industry, where there are more and better options. And that’s why you need all the right tools in your arsenal to win the hiring battle.

 

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