Talent management 'biggest challenge in financial sector'

Performance management and talent management are both expected to be the biggest challenges in the financial sector over the coming years, with 31 and 34 per cent of HR professionals respectively citing these as major problems for the industry as staff suffer from itchy feet in the current climate.

On the bright side, remuneration is likely to remain one of the sector's bright spots - HR teams in more than half of banks are predicting an increase in fixed pay to offset the bonus cap planned by the European Union, according to new Towers Watson research.

Some 53 per cent of survey respondents anticipate a growth in overall salaries, while only seven per cent expect that the new regulations from the EU will lead to an overall drop in how much financial services workers are being paid.

Mark Shelton, managing director of Towers Watson's financial services talent and reward practice, claimed that business leaders are aware of the need to make up for the drop in salaries by using different approaches.

"Some will do it through higher fixed pay or increased pension contributions, but many companies are planning to invest in training and career development, healthcare and flexible working programmes in order to continue to motivate and engage employees despite the potential impact on their annual pay," he added.

Two-thirds of the HR professionals canvassed predicted that politicians and regulators were likely to have the greatest impact on banking industry rewards over the next three years, underlining the pressure the sector is facing - shareholder, employees and the media were all to be less influential.

Finally, the markets highlighted as likely to benefit from a talent exodus in the UK's financial services sector were New York and Hong Kong, followed by Singapore and Switzerland. According to the report, this could lead to firms developing rather than recruiting talent.