Closing the skills gap in Financial Services

We attended a recent roundtable hosted by our client, the City of London Corporation’s Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce and FinTech Scotland, where leaders from across the financial sector came together to discuss how to tap into this under-represented talent pool.

At Rationale, we’re aware of our responsibilities as marketers as we support our clients in influencing attitudes and behaviours in their target audiences.

In developing employer brand strategies and internal communications campaigns, and addressing challenges related to recruitment, retention and employer branding, we are seeing an increasing focus on culture and, more specifically, how to approach diversity and gender equity. Our blog post on employer brand dives deeper into the priorities of job seekers here.

However, the perceptions of individual firms are affected by sector-wide perceptions such as being traditional, male-dominated, and non-progressive. The strategic narratives we build through brand and content, work towards reframing these perceptions. As a B Corp, repositioning financial services organisations as workplaces offering fair pay and development opportunities, positive cultures, and gender equity – not only drives tangible impact for the business – but also creates social impact by improving access to opportunities and reducing the disparity of economic success for women.

An inside look at the roundtable

Deborah O’Neill, Strategy Steering Board Member for the Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce revealed key findings from a recent report. Women remain under-represented in mid-career level tech roles, and this is costing the UK economy an estimated £6.3 billion in lost productivity. The barriers women face in making a career change to digital roles are well documented:

• Lack of understanding about the pathways into digital careers
• Difficulty finding suitable roles to apply for
• Bias and discrimination in hiring processes
• Limited access to networks and mentors in the industry

Deborah also shed light on the perception that women prioritise flexible working when in fact, the two biggest drivers for women considering a move into digital roles are fair pay and recognition and clear progression opportunities.

One of the most inspiring moments of the roundtable came from Kylie Scott of Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), who shared her journey from politics graduate to personal assistant to software engineer. Her career shift began with a proactive decision to seek out opportunities to shadow teams within the organisation. After shadowing an engineer, she discovered a career that she now loves.

Kylie took part in LBG’s internal coding clubs like WeCode and Women Connectech, started by Reshmi McIntosh, who noted an impressive amount of support from her senior leaders when she suggested initiatives to support women in tech roles. LBG supported Kylie’s application to pursue a university degree, and she was able to work while completing her coursework to become a qualified software engineer.

Stories like this are powerful. Kylie found individual success and has now been a loyal and productive member of the business for over a decade. This highlights the impact of supporting career change for women and should be amplified to encourage other firms to pursue something similar.

Other topics raised included challenges around investment, senior stakeholder buy-in, and a heightened focus on external talent pipelines. When organisations think about their employer brand, is there enough of an emphasis on the value of business skills – soft skills, commercial skills, and knowledge of the business?

A communications challenge

The roundtable discussion highlighted a powerful opportunity for storytelling and communications to shift perceptions and drive action. We’ve seen the immense impact this has in the work we do for clients, realigning their employer brands to connect what they have to offer with what employees are looking for.

There was strong support for a sector-wide campaign to demystify digital roles in financial services and showcase the business impact of pivoting women from non-technical backgrounds. Some of the perceptions that need to be challenged include:

• Stereotypes around tech roles and the financial services industry. 36% of women reported that tech roles didn’t align with their skills or personal interests, when in reality, they may not have been empowered to see the value in their non-technical skills. There is also concern around fair pay and career progression as tech and financial services have historically been stereotyped as male-dominated fields.
• Senior stakeholder buy-in to support investment. We need to bring awareness to the tangible benefits that drive business growth through recovered productivity, recruitment cost-savings and staff retention and loyalty.
• Under-representation. We should create a coordinated campaign with the most influential firms in the industry to communicate the value of women in tech and the value of tech roles to women using individual stories and business successes.

We must strategically communicate to women the value of their skills to inspire confidence and empower action, campaign for a shift in perception of tech roles and convince senior leaders to invest in robust pivot pathways – internally and externally.

Industry Collaboration is Key

One of the strongest suggestions from the roundtable was a coordinated investment fund that would finance integrated campaigns, education, awareness, and structured reskilling initiatives across the sector. Firms are at different stages of thinking about and implementing pivot initiatives, but we can build a common understanding of its benefits and ways to take action through awareness campaigns. If industry leaders can come together with a coordinated effort for a sector-wide challenge, the skills gap can begin to close.

By telling a compelling narrative that breaks down outdated stereotypes, reflects a fulfilling place for women in tech, and influences investment support, the financial sector can recognise the glaring business case for upskilling women into digital roles and recover the lost productivity and talent potential driving the industry-wide skills gap challenge.

Curious how we can influence perception for you? Talk to us here.