Sentiments of Gulf Financial Services

ProfessionalsBy Paul Clarke

Editor, eFinancialCareers

WHITEPAPER SERIES

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Sentiments of Gulf Financial Services Professionals

By Paul Clarke – Editor, eFinancialCareers

For HR professionals in the Middle East banking sector, retention of employees should be high on the agenda. Keeping hold of scarce talent has always been an issue – particularly in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where localisation initiatives have given national candidates a strong negotiating position – but a growing sense of dissatisfaction among financial services professionals in the Gulf suggests it could once again become a huge concern.

Before the global financial crisis of 2008 hit the Middle East, job-hopping among financial services professionals in the Gulf was rife, with the prospect of large pay rises prompting many to switch jobs every 12 months. Now, however, as most banks preach prudence over pay, HR professionals need to keep their employees happy by other means and our research suggests that, broadly, they are failing to do so.

In a survey of over 9,000 financial services professionals globally by eFinancialCareers, the Gulf emerged as the location with the least happy and most restless financial services employees. The majority of respondents in the region said they were actively looking for a new job – the only location in the world where this occurred.

A Growing Sense Of Unease Among Gulf Financial Services Professionals

Despite a widespread perception of unhappiness in the financial services sector after six years of regular headcount reductions, smaller pay packets and reduced job options, our research suggested a general sense of satisfaction.

Only 23% of financial services professionals in the UK said they were unhappy in their jobs – the lowest proportion of any country – and, while the Gulf had the highest number of dissatisfied respondents, just 38% said that their current employer was an unenjoyable place to work.

However, 53% of people in the Gulf said that they were currently actively seeking a new job, 10% higher than its nearest competitor New York. A further 40% of respondents in the Middle East said they would be open to a new opportunity, meaning that only 6.6% were not interested in changing jobs.

Financial services employers in the Middle East need to work harder to engage their employees from the outset. While the largest proportion of respondents (38%) said they actually changed jobs every 4-5 years, over 43% of those actively seeking a new job opportunity said that they started their search less than a year into their current

position and a further 21% said they began after just 12 months. The message is clear – Gulf financial services professionals feel little loyalty to their current employer and dissatisfaction sets in early.

Chris Roebuck, former global head of talent management at UBS and visiting professor at Cass Business School who works with banks in the Middle East on training and retention, says dissatisfaction in the region often goes hand in hand with antiquated leadership style.

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Why Finance Professionals Move There’s a clear correlation between time in the industry and dissatisfaction in the workplace. Just 25% of respondents aged 20-24 – namely, those starting out – said they were unhappy in their current job. This figure rises to 39% for those aged 25-34, 42% at 35-44 and 45% when finance workers reach 45-54. This may be down to simple disillusionment with working in the sector for an extended period of time, but the data suggests one over-riding reason why financial services professionals in the Gulf switch jobs so regularly – a lack of career progression.

Pay is still clearly a big concern for those working in the Gulf financial services sector. In a separate survey by eFinancialCareers on banking bonuses for 2014, nearly 60% of respondents cited dissatisfaction with their payment for this year – despite the fact that 46% said they received an increase. Similarly, when questioned about how much of a salary increase they would expect to switch employers, the largest proportion of respondents (29%) said they would demand an uplift of 20-29%. The second biggest group (17%) said they would expect between 30-40% to move jobs.

This seems out of touch with the new reality of cost-cutting in the banking sector, but our research suggests that despite expectations of large salary uplifts, pay is not the primary issue for financial services professionals.

Instead, the largest number of those actively seeking a new opportunity (25%) cited a lack of career progression as their main trigger to move employers. This was followed by a lack of recognition in their current position (11%) and then relationship with their line manager and compensation both of which were highlighted by 9% of respondents.

The quick fix of hiking up pay is unlikely to retain financial services employees in the long-term – they have high expectations anyway, but value active career management more than monetary gain.

“The command and control leadership style in the Middle East is still practiced and it’s at odds with the more collaborative approach adopted in Western locations. These are ongoing issues in the region, where there’s a lot of churn in the job market.”

Chris Roebuck, Former Global Head of Talent Management at UBS

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The Stress Factor

Stressed employees and the prospect of burnout should be a particular concern for employers in the Middle East. In a 2013 survey of Middle East HR professionals by recruiters Robert Half, 89% of respondents said that they were worried about losing top performers because of stress brought about by increased workloads, a lack of recognition and economic pressures.

Our own research again singled out the Gulf as the most stressed region for financial services professionals, with 31% of respondents saying they felt “very” stressed compared to just 13% in the UK and 19% on Wall Street.

The Middle East also has decidedly higher levels of burnout than more developed financial centres, despite the fact that the vast majority of respondents (77%) saying they worked no more than 50 hours per week. Between 73-77% of Gulf financial professionals aged 25-44 said they experienced some degree of burnout, compared to 60-65% in the U.S. and UK.

“It doesn’t help that people end up making far less money than they’d expected – it’s very easy to earn and spend a lot here and people can get frustrated at how difficult it can be to do business,” bemoaned one anonymous banker in Dubai.

How To Engage And Retain Your Employees

One of the first things any HR team can do to actively engage their employees is, quite simply, encourage more open communication. 51% of respondents to the eFinancialCareers retention survey said that they didn’t have regular meetings with their manager to feedback on their performance and discuss career progression.

This is a shame, because employees value them. Of those respondents that did meet with their managers regularly (46% said it was a once a month encounter), 63% said they were either useful or very useful for managing their career and increasing engagement. When the question was asked whether regular meetings with their manager was something they would like, an overwhelming 80% said it was.

The concept of more open communication extends to highlighting opportunities to move within the company. Formal internal mobility programmes may not be present in all financial services organisations in the Gulf, but firms certainly don’t make an effort to shout about them.

The largest proportion of respondents (42%) said they would consider a position in their current employer before looking externally, but 48% suggested that – to the best of their own knowledge – their company does not have an internal mobility programme. Only 34% said they knew of such a scheme and 18% were unsure.

“Internal mobility programmes depend on the culture of the organisation,” says Keith Pogson, EY’s managing partner for banking and capital markets. “In some, roles are just advertised internally, followed by interviews. But in others taking ownership of your own career is actively encouraged and frank dialogues with bosses or mentors are appropriate. Stronger managers will clearly understand the benefits of sharing skills and building internal networks that comes from internal mobility.”

Finally, banks in the Gulf need to take a leaf out of the book of their global counterparts. With guaranteed bonuses unlikely in London and New York and compensation generally on a downward keel, financial services firms are instead now focusing on developing their current staff. Banks are now working harder to keep their employees “motivated, engaged and committed to the organisation when times are tough”, says Andrew Pullman, founder of People Risk Solutions, which consults with banks’ HR teams.

“After years of slicing and dicing the past 12 months have been more about retention. Banks are spending more money on training and development, ensuring their existing employees can acquire a broader range of skills and that they’re really buying into the values and culture of the organisation,” he says.

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Conclusion

As a hub for international financial services professionals, HR teams in the Gulf have always struggled to retain a relatively transient group of employees. They are also further hamstrung by localisation targets that create an aggressive bidding war for talent. However, throwing money at the problem is not the answer to solving the retention conundrum – employees want open channels of communication, mentoring opportunities, visibility on their career path and regular opportunities to learn and develop.

About the Author

Paul Clarke is news editor at eFinancialCareers in London. He writes for the UK and EMEA English-language sites covering investment banking, asset management, hedge funds and technology in banking. Before joining eFinancialCareers, Paul spent six years working for various titles within Financial Times’ business publishing division and two years working for specialist publisher Hedge Fund Intelligence. He has a degree in Journalism, Film and Broadcasting from Cardiff University.

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eFinancialCareers is the leading global online job board for recruiters and hiring managers who need to source high quality finance professionals. Our Gulf site allows you to target local candidates from recent graduates to senior hires, across the whole spectrum of Financial Services and related areas including IT, Insurance, Accountancy and Professional Services.

The HR Observer is the region’s first of its kind initiative aimed at becoming a platform for HR professionals to exchange insights freely both online and offline in efforts to help develop the profession in the Middle East. Visit www.theHRobserver.com to know more.

The HR Summit and Expo is the Middle East’s largest show dedicated to HR professionals in the region. Running for more than a decade, the show has grown to become the ultimate platform to feature the latest innovation, strategies, insights and international best practices by the most influential and respected HR leaders and practitioners from around the globe.Visit www.hrsummit.com for more information.