Cooperative banks - Personnel and skilled labour

Staff – the most valuable asset of any cooperative bank

Having sufficient human resources is the key to the success for every cooperative bank. However, developments in the labor market and social trends are presenting the institutions with major challenges that need to be addressed.

Challenges in detail

What challenges are cooperative banks confronted with?

Effects of demographic change on cooperative institutions

Cooperative institutions are increasingly impacted by demographic change. They are finding it more and more difficult to cover their personnel requirements. The number of vacancies is increasing. At the same time, the number of qualified applications is decreasing so that vacancies remain unfilled for longer. This fluctuation and dissatisfaction entail high costs and therefore represent an additional burden.

The balance of power on the labor market has changed significantly. The loyalty of employees is in decline, while their willingness to switch jobs keeps growing. Companies are now competing for employees across multiple industries. The somewhat dusty image of the banking industry in general is an additional disadvantage for cooperative banks in this competition. According to our forecasts, by 2030 more than 30% of employees will leave their company for age reasons. Today’s challenges are therefore just a foretaste of a trend that will intensify in the coming years.

Changes in the world of work require strategic action and innovative approaches

The world of work is also changing. New technologies and forms of work, such as mobile working, as well as the increasing demands of employees require us to rethink working and collaboration models. However, these changes are not trivial and entail labor, data protection and co-determination requirements that must be taken into account.
In view of the high level of complexity, cooperative banks must act strategically and pursue innovative paths in order to secure their long-term future viability. They are well advised to pursue integrative approaches that consider staff in a holistic manner and take the individual situation of the respective institution into account.

“Like their competitors, institutions in the German Cooperative Financial Network, too, have to assume a holistic and integrative perspective on staff in order to stand their ground in the highly competitive labor market and be fit for the future.”

Silas Kropf, Manager

Our solutions

Holistic and integrative

The prevailing challenges require more than just selective measures. The personnel cycle must be considered systematically and holistically. Existing systems need to be assessed as part of a holistic HR strategy in order to identify needs for action and address them in a structured manner. The focus should always be on reducing complexity. Convincing both applicants and employees with reliable and modern processes plays a key role in successful talent attraction and retention.

Cooperative banks need to ask themselves how they can increase their employer attractiveness and make it tangible. For one thing, this makes it easier to recruit new employees. For another, it has a significant impact on staff retention. In addition to new working and fair remuneration models that appropriately reward performance and commitment, it is also important to focus on leadership and culture in this context. The active promotion of diversity not only contributes to innovation and efficiency, but also has a positive effect on employer attractiveness and staff retention.
At an individual level, systematic and, above all, skills-oriented personnel development is becoming increasingly important. It allows cooperative banks to adapt their qualitative personnel requirements to changes in their staff’s activities in order to ensure long-term employability.

Strategic role of the HR department
As the labor market and business models continue to evolve, so does the role of HR departments. They must be enabled to play a strategic role in shaping the institution. In order to assess the effectiveness of measures taken and identify relevant developments at an early stage, suitable key performance indicator systems are also required.