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Headhunting remains the best way to attract top talent in finance sector

Executive search firms continue to be the best source for securing the talent needs of Financial Services firms. A combination of tighter regulation with increased scrutiny and a greater need for transparency within the Financial Services sector have made it more difficult for firms to find top talent.

Paul Coleclough, CEO of Joseph Executive and a former finance director, said: “The post-recession era has seen some removal of intermediaries – or ‘disintermediation’ – in the recruitment supply chain.

“However, this by and large is restricted to more junior and middle management roles. For senior and C-suite positions, Financial Services organisations are increasingly turning to executive search firms to fill these business-critical roles.

“This is partly because of the need to reduce the risk of executive transitions, which remains relatively high when compared to other sectors. But it is also being driven by the need to recruit talent that is more nimble and agile to effectively balance planned growth against a backdrop of shrinking margins and a tightening of regulations.

“These roles are generally filled by those already ‘in’ the market rather than ‘on’ the market, which is where high street recruiters tend to operate.”

Despite the proliferation of targeted advertising formats and the increased use of technology to streamline the recruitment process, organisations are struggling to accurately identify the right talent or reduce the risk of executive transitions, which continue to rise.

Indeed, recent industry figures show that demand for executive search firms has seen an 8.3% rise year-on-year, with some analysts suggesting that the Financial Services sector accounts for 20% of net fee income.

“A partnership approach would appear to be the talent attraction strategy of choice within the sector,” add Mr Coleclough. “Finance organisations look to partner with experienced talent providers who not only understand the specific nature of the role being recruited for, but also have a deep expertise and familiarity over the nuances and unique set of challenges that within the Financial Services.”

Established in 2001, Joseph Executive has built a reputation for establishing long-term partnerships with its clients, such as VAT IT.

Headquartered in Luxembourg, VAT IT is a global cross-border VAT specialist and Joseph Executive has been the preferred executive talent provider of choice for the company for several years, having successfully sourced and placed 12 candidates over the last two years alone.

Their most recent hire is Juan-Pablo Doniz – a Business Development Manager for the VAT Reclaim division who joined VAT IT in September.  Joseph Executive carried out a full search for this role and they had interviewed a number of candidates before approaching Juan-Pablo, who was working for a direct competitor at the time.

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