Finding good employees and keeping them has become difficult for many employers during a nearly unprecedented national and regional economic boom. But many bank executives hope that recent uncertainty in the high-tech and dot-com industries, coupled with the popular view of the financial services industry as a stable one, may help banks compete in the job market.

There are 137,283 positions in the financial services industry in the Bay State, 6,090 of which were added in 1998 and 1999, according to the 2000 Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy, compiled by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Although the financial services field remains the largest employment pool among the nine industries studied, the state may still be at a disadvantage due to low compensation. The study cites the average wage per worker in the financial services industry as $69,514. That lags behind the average salary of $87,862 in the other leading technology states, including New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and Colorado. In the last year, 8,600 residents moved out of state, according to the study. “High housing costs appear to be a key factor in the continued out-migration of Massachusetts residents, and the further depletion of the state’s workforce,” the study states.

So how are financial services institutions supposed to find and keep great employees? The answer isn’t as simple as adding more zeroes at the end of the offer letter, according to industry professionals.

For smaller banks like Capital Crossing Bank of Boston, which has assets of $750 million, the answer can’t be exorbitant salaries. “Our bank is a little different than other banks in that we don’t have a large number of branches so we don’t hire a large number of higher-paid employees … I don’t think salary alone is sufficient to attract and retain employees. I think employees are concerned with upward mobility within a company … and sensitivity to personal lifestyle needs,” said Nicholas W. Lazares, chairman and co-chief executive officer of the bank.

The “sensitivity” comes in the form of recognizing that employees have lives outside of work which are important to them, he said. Accommodating people who have children, providing perks like a workout facility and, most importantly, imbuing employees with a sense of the bank’s mission all contribute toward keeping the most desirable employees, he said.

“I think one of our challenges is to help our employees understand our strategic plan and how that impacts on their opportunities within the institution. That’s sometimes harder to do or harder to communicate than a raise or increase in benefits,” he said.

Lazares also sees the recent upheaval in the financial services industry as an opportunity to attract good people. “We’ve had pretty good success in finding people as a result of the recent merger activity … In addition, Sovereign just announced it will be laying off [people]. I think that will provide some opportunity for us as well,” he said.

But beyond attracting bank executives, the financial services industry must attract experts in information technology to keep up with the pace of more and better technological aids in business. This is another area where the Index predicts good people will be hard to come by, stating that “there is little evidence to suggest that Massachusetts overpays its skilled workers. To the contrary, workers may not earn enough to resist the attractions of other, perhaps lower-cost, competing states and regions.” It is estimated that 850,000 IT jobs will go unfilled in the country next year.

Aversion to Risk
On the technology side, Lazares said he believes the stable history of a bank can help attract IT people. Many dot-coms are “burning through” the last of their investment capital and people may be looking for a more reliable place to work, he said.

“There are people who are risk-averse and they’re not interested in the extreme risks of the dot-coms. There are a lot of people who feel that new product development needs firms that have the capital,” said Charles Wardell, managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles International, an executive search firm with offices in Boston.

Wardell’s firm presents another resource for banks that don’t have the time or manpower for a full-scale search. According to Wardell, it’s difficult for even a recruiting firm to find good employees.

“The financial service industry has expanded tremendously. They’re [employees] certainly available, but to find the level of people with the qualities we like takes a lot of hard work and increased compensation and increased ability to be flexible. For instance, more and more people are commuting, a lot of people have working partners, so if you’re recruiting one, you have to make allowances for the other,” he said. That may include allowing the individual to telecommute during a portion of the workweek.

With the recent wave that’s drowned a lot of venture capital money, dot-coms seem to be sinking fast so longevity is an important asset to tout, he said.

“One of the things that’s increasingly important is the culture of the firm. That it’s not going to be suddenly dynamited,” said Wardell.

The key to keeping the good people you find, said Wardell, is ensuring the search firm or human resources and the potential employee fully understand the tasks you will want them to perform, he said.

Knowing the job that is to be performed, where the company is headed and flexibility that allows for a fuller life outside of work will help keep the valued employees you have, he said.