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Every month in Connect magazine, ViewPoint puts forward a key question facing one of the island's main industry sectors - and then a group of leading practitioners give their take on the answer, and what it means for Jersey.
This month, Denny Lane, Phillip Callow, Julian Burrows and Joe Mckenna discuss how getting enough business is not as much as a problem as finding enough skilled staff.
"Future Finance began almost 10 years ago in the midst of the financial crash. Other lenders who were tied to banks/institutions felt the impact of the turbulent financial environment and as a result, retrenched back into their core markets; leaving a gap in the market that Future Finance sought to fill, with a fresh approach to lending and a focus on doing the very best for our clients.
"This approach has served us well - but as the business continues to grow, we’re finding it harder and harder to find and recruit the right people. Being able to build relationships with our clients is a skill that almost every employee in our business needs to possess, along with the technical skills needed to do their job. Our roles are very diverse, so finding people who are comfortable and competent at fulfilling a diverse role within a small/medium sized business can be a challenge.
"I believe that technology has also played a part in the sourcing of skilled individuals. We have invested heavily in developing proprietary technology as we evolve into a fin-tech business. Whilst I don’t profess to being a tech expert, it’s surprising to find that many individuals are a little off-pace when it comes to understanding the current technology that now drives most local businesses. To combat this, I believe that we should be making technology and business core subjects at school in order to equip future generations with the practical knowledge needed to excel in the workplace."
"50% of Channel Islands businesses say that skills gaps and shortages are a key concern in 2018. That’s more than the 41% who are worried about Brexit, to give some context to what a serious issue this is. The figures come from Moore Stephens 2018 Owner-Managed Business (OMB) Report, compiled following responses from entrepreneurs across the UK and crown dependencies.
"The report shows that 60% of UK and CI OMBs are confident in their general outlook for 2018; however, a high number, (78% in UK and 75% in Channel Islands) were concerned about the strength of the UK economy in 2018. This lack of confidence could be affecting businesses plans for investment, particularly in skills. The survey shows that only 20% of OMBs are planning investment IT and technology, demonstrating that a lack of skills and knowledge in this area could be affecting businesses negatively.
"OMBs need certainty to be able to develop their business and will be hit harder if the economy suffers once the UK leaves the European Union. The focus of CI businesses on skills could be down to it being more challenging to bring skilled professionals to the islands or to train our own – a situation that will become more complicated after Brexit.
"The survey shows that despite the presence of many concerns keeping business owners awake at night, getting the skills they need into their businesses should be at the top of the to-do list."
"Jersey’s funds industry has grown by 25% since 2009, according to Jersey Finance.* While efficiencies in technology will help meet the growing demand, the speed of growth is outpacing that of the enabling technologies. This is therefore driving the demand for motivated and talented individuals. However, as an island with a limited population, and plenty of financial services businesses, the battle to attract recruits is on!
"At MUFG Investor Services, we depend heavily on customer service and technical excellence, so highly engaged and talented employees are essential to taking advantage of this massive growth potential.
"At MUFG, we are acutely aware that an attractive core salary and an exceptional benefits package are essential, but not enough, to attract the best individuals. We must therefore go beyond that in creating a working environment where people feel valued and enjoy working, and that helps everyone excel in their careers. We recognise the importance of training and development both as an incentive to employees and as a way of filling any skills gaps. In the same way that customer retention is more efficient than acquisition, so too is staff retention.
"At MUFG, we have policies in place to develop and grow our staff, which have proven successful. For example, our three most senior appointments in the business were all local promotions. So yes, 'getting enough business isn’t the problem,' provided you can find enough skilled staff.”
*Jersey Finance, based on the NAV of regulated funds.
"In 2014 I published a paper which identified the emerging employee ‘seller’s market’ conditions and reasoned a strategic approach to exploiting this trend. Four years on, and talent is still in short supply across Jersey’s high-value service industries.
"‘Seller’s market’ conditions, where employees have a greater degree of control and choice over the selling of their time and expertise to their current, or prospective, employers, have arisen and held steadfast. When viewed with perspective, such an environment, where the average tenure for up-and-coming talent is two to four years before migrating their skills to a competitor down the road, is more akin to supply chain management for employers rather than typical employer-employee relations.
"The market has been stuck in a costly spiral of hyper-competition and bullish negotiations, a trend catalysed by many firms failing to value talent in real-time, instead resorting to making counter-offers after departing employees are already emotionally 95% of their way out of the door.
"The few benefitting from the current market conditions have done so through realising the value of efforts aimed at positioning themselves as an Employer of Choice, and have invested accordingly. The ‘per-seat-filled’ return that this investment provides, when offset against the cost of otherwise using recruitment agencies, are respectable, whilst the less-direct returns of having first pick of talent and then continuing to retain this talent, and the business and client continuity that this permits, provides for impressive organic growth."
You can read the rest of Connect magazine here.
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