When Fintech emerged in the 21st century, the term was mainly used to describe technologies that lived at the backend systems of established banks. But things have changed significantly.
With algorithms, software and apps now at the heart of most vital business functions from money transfers to contactless payments, Fintech has become part of the fabric of most business sectors. And with new banking mechanisms like peer-to-peer lending and cryptocurrency emerging every day, the Fintech evolution shows no signs of slowing.
However, as the Fintech industry’s technologies, systems and software have emerged rapidly, so have its unique HR challenges. As a result, the industry has seen the rise of a variety of Fintech HR firms, promising to help these companies survive and thrive.
But what are the particular challenges faced by Fintech businesses, and how can these specialist firms help tackle them? Let’s take a look.
Top challenges facing Fintech HR firms
Talent and skills shortages
The 2008 financial crisis saw the loss of many experienced people from financial services and as a result there is a lack of senior talent in the Fintech industry today. Add to this the pace at which technologies and regulations have evolved, and it’s clear that there is also a challenge to ensure staff remain abreast of the latest industry developments.
HR firms have a vital role to play, and the challenge is two-fold; helping find individuals with the skills needed to navigate the new world of financial services and finding ways to upskill existing employees to ensure they can meet the demands that their roles now present.
How can HR firms ensure Fintech firms have the skills they need?
Mentorship programs
Pairing high potential employees with seasoned leaders enables senior professionals to share experiences and institutional knowledge not found in formal training, helping to accelerate development while limiting risk associated with tackling high level challenges for the first time.
Succession planning
An important part of ensuring enough high quality leaders for the future of any company, is creating a culture of promotion of those who deliver against their objectives and demonstrate potential.
By embedding this promotional cycle into appraisals and reviews HR firms can help organizations to identify the next generation of leaders and prepare for any gaps that may arise as early as possible.
Clever recruitment
HR firms can help companies develop partnerships with universities and professional organizations that specialize in financial technology and regulation to create key channels through which to source talent with the very latest industry knowledge and education.
Training and resources
HR firms can both develop a program of regular formal training to ensure staff remain fully qualified for their roles, and also explore which partnerships and membership of professional bodies might also help staff stay abreast of the latest Fintech developments.
Scale up struggles
One of the things that makes the world of Fintech so exciting is the prevalence of startup businesses. Startups are flexible, innovative and rich with risk-taking that can reap incredible rewards and create a vibrant and attractive work environment for employees.
But when the time comes to scale up these positive characteristics can bring challenges that threaten success and on top of this, 80% of Fintech business leaders report also experiencing struggles with retaining their carefully crafted culture.
How can specialist HR firms help Fintech companies scale up successfully?
Provide consistency
Changes that occur during upscaling can be daunting and unsettling for the workforce. Fintech HR firms can help alleviate this uncertainty by installing a regular program of staff updates that keep employees feeling that they are an important part of the company as it evolves.
Outsource projects
As a business grows, capacity does not always perfectly match demand. HR firms can play a vital role in smoothing over these cracks by helping companies to outsource work to external agencies, contractors and partners.
Foster positive culture
By dedicating time to closely collaborating with staff, HR firms can identify the elements of company culture which matter most, and ensure they are preserved wherever possible as the company grows. This combined with sensitive communication of any new benefits arising from upscaling, such as better coverage of absence, enhanced development opportunities and corporate health insurance can help keep employees feeling positive about the company’s evolution.
Wellbeing and retention issues
With its long hours, tight deadlines and high performance expectations, two thirds of Fintech staff experience burnout, resulting in many firms facing huge employee turnover.
When employees leave, the impact extends far beyond a lack of capacity to a loss of valuable institutional knowledge, operational continuity and recruitment funds.
How can specialist HR firms help Fintech companies retain staff?
HR firms can play a vital role in building a positive workplace culture, creating pathways for career advancement, and helping companies to recognize staff achievements.
Career advancement programmes
Employees need to see a clear path for growth to stay committed to their company. By helping to design mentorship programs, training initiatives, and leadership opportunities HR firms can help organizations send a clear message to employees that they’re valued and worth investing in.
Success recognition
Recognising hard work and achievements is vital to morale and can help foster healthy competition that drives performance. HR firms can weave this culture through the fabric of Fintech companies by crafting and implementing awards programs and performance-linked bonus schemes that help ensure staff successes are recognized and rewarded.
Flexible working
Flexible work arrangements, wellness programs, and mental health support systems that help staff better manage their work, home and health can help to significantly reduce burnout. HR firms can play an important role in designing these schemes to ensure that they support staff to navigate challenges outside of work while having a positive impact on business delivery.
Performance tracking
Regular 1:1s and formal appraisals create junctures for managers to assess employees’ performance against their targets and quickly handle small issues informally. HR firms can help to ensure rigor behind these key meetings so that details are streamlined and organizations have a clear picture of preceding support available for occasions when they need to implement a performance improvement plan.
Poor inclusivity
Despite efforts to promote diversity and inclusion the Fintech industry continues to struggle; marginalized communities remain underrepresented and still only 15% of Fintech leaders are women. But increasingly, clients and stakeholders are demanding change.
Faced with this challenge, many organizations fall into the pattern of just taking part in national and international diversity days, unsure what more meaningful action they can take.
Specialist Fintech HR firms can help with this by supporting businesses to engage authentically with those who are underrepresented, understanding what they need to feel welcome and creating programmes which deliver positive change both in recruitment and daily operations.
How can HR firms help Fintech companies to be more inclusive?
Bias-free recruitment
It can feel daunting for companies to tackle the subject of unconscious bias in their recruitment, but doing so is essential to eliminating unfair disadvantages experienced by some candidates.
Fortunately, there are a variety of interventions that HR firms can help with, from installing blind recruitment systems that remove details which may give away candidates’ gender, race or socio-economic background, to AI tools that eliminate biased language in job descriptions.
Employee networks
Establishing staff networks of employees who share specific minority characteristics can help underrepresented staff receive peer support and provide clear channels through which to receive opportunities and mentorship.
Ensuring representation on organizational boards is an essential part of this, as it sends a clear message that network members are recognized and taken seriously, while also helping to ensure that they can effect change at the highest levels.
The unique offer of Fintech HR firms
It’s clear that specialist HR firms are a huge asset to the Fintech industry, able to influence and improve almost every aspect of business.
Because of their deep understanding of the sector, they can meet complex challenges with specialized solutions and implement initiatives in ways that are proven to work.
As a result, they are able to quickly and efficiently create a more inclusive and welcoming workplace comprised of people with the right skills and experience to keep Fintech companies at the forefront of technology, on the right side of the law and at the top of their industry.
