The QTI Group 2019 Human Resources Planning Survey includes data from 90 finance, banking, and credit union organizations spanning 43 counties of Wisconsin. The Executive Summary is available on this page in addition to links to pdfs of the actual reports.
Survey Overview
The 2019 Human Resources Planning Survey includes data from 90 finance, banking, and credit union organizations spanning 43 counties of Wisconsin.
- Survey participants cover approximately 60% of Wisconsin counties.
- Roughly 78% of participants were privately held companies.
- While organizations of all sizes participated in the survey, 57% of respondents had 51-200 full-time employees.
Many of the top concerns for 2019 focus on recruiting, retention, and employee performance. Attraction of candidates in a difficult labor market, where job openings are outpacing the unemployed and qualified candidates, is at the highest levels of concern we have seen. We would suggest focusing efforts to retain and motivate every employee you have, to avoid getting caught up in the turnover battle. Creating strong connections between the company and employees, by showing that employees are valued, is a key driver of QTI’s work, and a lynchpin to a successful, engaged employee population.
Results Overview
The top HR activities that respondents are expecting a moderate-to-significant challenge for 2019 are:
- Attracting the right talent, 90%
- Building a sustainable workforce through succession planning, 84%
- Benefit cost containment, 81%
- Improving leadership development, 79%
- Higher compensation demands, 78%
Organizations are not only concerned about the above HR challenges, but they also have legal and regulatory concerns. Almost 80% of respondents indicated that data security/cyber security is a concern for the future.
In terms of recruiting, 72% of finance, banking, and credit union type organizations reported anticipating difficulty in attracting the non-exempt office, clerical, and technical employee group such as Bank Tellers.
Respondents indicated that they are highlighting their organization’s company culture and benefit offerings in HR’s recruiting efforts to draw in talent. Also, to increase candidate pools, the majority of organizations have an employee referral bonus program. In the 2019 survey results, the average referral bonus for non-exempt jobs and exempt jobs were $381 and $432, respectively.
When companies would like to or are forced to accelerate the hiring process to obtain “key hires”, the majority of companies reported that they consider hiring high-potential candidates. In addition, many employers are making a “key hire” the best offer out of the gate and are utilizing internal and/or external training programs to overcome skills/talent shortages. However, we recommend being adaptable to other techniques to help fill your unique positions. These techniques may include offering internships or accepting internship experience, providing relocation assistance, mentoring/coaching, etc.
For 2018 actuals, most organizations made no change to their staffing-levels for regular full-time, regular part-time, and temporary/contracted employees. Looking towards 2019, at least 94% of employers are expecting to expand hiring or have no change in hiring of regular full-time, regular part-time, and temporary/contracted employees.
In the past year, 92% of employers reported that they experienced less than 20% voluntary turnover. Only 3% of reporting organizations indicated that their voluntary turnover rate was over 50%. Compared to this past year, 68% of employers believe that their voluntary turnover rate will be the same in the next year.
When evaluating respondents’ compensation design, 62% of respondents indicated using market-based ranges for each job. Additionally, the median base salary increase across for finance, banking, and credit union organizations for 2019 is expected to be 3%, as seen in 2018. For the organizations that have a base pay structure, the median structure budgeted increase for 2019 is 3.0%, which is slightly higher than the 2.8% increase seen in 2018.
Respondents were asked to rank a list of benefits/rewards options by importance according to their employees. Listed below are the top five reported:
- Base pay
- Health insurance
- Company culture
- Paid time off
- Formal retirement
Data indicated that about 78% of the responding organizations regularly review their compensation for external competitiveness and 63% of responding organizations evaluate all jobs at once. Also, to help determine external market competitiveness, 94% of organizations are utilizing formally published compensation survey sources.
Data also indicated that 93% of respondents are currently offering a discretionary bonus and 79% are providing annual incentive plans in addition to base pay and benefits. Furthermore, 20% of respondents indicated an interest in offering a team based incentive. For long-term incentives, 50% currently offer, are planning for next year, or are interested in offering a performance cash plan.
The top two current total rewards concerns are:
- Pay compression between new hires and current staff
- Retaining critical talent to higher paying offers
Employers are offering many great benefits to their employees, yet only about three out of every five respondents indicated that their organization provides an annual Total Rewards Statement to employees outlining the employees’ full total rewards package. Also, only half of the organizations agree or strongly agree that their business objectives/strategy inform their talent management and reward programs.
In conclusion, there are many human resources challenges, concerns, and changes organizations encounter each day. When organizations are faced with these, they should ensure to keep the “human” in human resources front of mind when making decisions. As employees are the biggest asset for most organizations and with such a tight labor market, it is imperative for leaders to find ways to attract, retain, and motivate the right talent. Therefore, it is important for employers to illuminate the perceptions of their employees and ensure that employees know they are valued. When given a choice, employees that feel valued tend to do what is best for the organization rather than what is best for him or her. Consequently, companies are becoming more resourceful in their attempts to attract, retain, and motivate talent with meaningful total rewards packages so employees can be most productive.
2019 Human Resources Planning Survey (Finance, Banking, and Credit Union Wisconsin Survey Results)
2019 Human Resources Planning Survey (Wisconsin Survey Results)
The QTI Group, headquartered in Madison, WI, is a privately owned human resources (HR) organization providing staffing solutions, professional and executive recruiting, HR consulting, and HR partnership services to businesses and organizations. Our key services help businesses compete, gain ground, lead, and succeed.