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Banking is a less popular career option among business students than it was five years ago. The Deloitte Talent in Banking Survey 2013 reveals that banks' ability to attract and retain the best and the brightest is under threat.

There are, however, opportunities for banks to make sure they capture the emerging generation of talent, beginning with refining their image as employers and focusing on projecting the key qualities that talented future bankers seek.

Banks are "boring"

The Deloitte survey of 108,000 global business students from 1,350 universities found that students who do not consider banks ideal employers, associate banks with:

• Boring work
• Lack of career opportunities, and
• Limited potential for professional development.

Business students seek innovation and creative and dynamic workplaces but they do not expect banks to provide this. Banks need to adapt their employer branding to clearly project that they embrace, and are seeking and rewarding, attributes such as innovation.

Training and development trumps salary According to the study, students considering a career in banking rate training and development ahead of salary. Of 40 job attributes:

• Training and development is ranked the most important
• Competitive base salary is ranked 7th, and
• Performance related bonuses is ranked 19th.

While students associate banks with good training, they do not associate banks with providing a supportive individual approach from managers. Kevin O'Reilly, head of Deloitte's Insight Programme in London, emphasises that, "banks must respond decisively if they are to continue to attract the best graduates and it is in their interests to recognise these changing attitudes and highlight attractions other than pay."

Banks should emphasise tailored styles of training and mentorship when recruiting.

Do ethics and corporate social responsibility really count?

Banks place importance on demonstrating ethics and corporate social responsibility and work hard to incorporate this into their brands. Despite this, students tended not to associate these attributes with banks. Furthermore, they also ranked these attributes low on their list of priorities they expect from future employers. Of 40 job attributes:

• Ethics was ranked 32nd in importance
• Corporate social responsibility was ranked 33rd, and
• Environmental sustainability was ranked 39th.

The retention challenge

In addition to struggling to attract talent, banks are also challenged with retaining talent. This is a concern given the resources banks invest in training and development. The survey revealed that:

• More than half of business students intend to move on from their first employer within three years
• 85% intend to stay for five years or fewer
• Only 10% intend to stay with their first employer for ten years or longer.

While these statistics represent the views of business students as a whole, banks in particular are seen as "a good place to lay the groundwork" for a future career. Graduates are willing to "undertake an intense few years in banking to increase the chances of fulfilling their broader career goals later on".

To secure more years of loyalty, banks need to offer students a clear career path and emphasise delivering (personalised) training and development along the way.

Flexibility

The top career goal of those students contemplating a career in banking is work life balance, with job security as the second most important. Although students want work life balance, they do not expect it from banks.

Interestingly, students expect even less from investment banks, which are viewed as extreme versions of other banks; more money, prestige, and international travel or relocation, but less job security, equality and friendliness.

Banks may find that offering more flexibility could extend employee loyalty.

What about women?

Of the students surveyed, 65% did not think banks support gender equality. This strongly suggests that banks need to do more to attract and retain female graduates.

Karen Silk, Head of Corporate and Institutional banking at Westpac, believes that gender diversity is something banks need to think about and states that Westpac has a clear focus on building its options to retain and attract talented female employees.

In terms of retaining women, offering greater flexibility coincides with some of the demands that women in particular face in relation to family. "Not all work needs to be done in an office between 8.30am and 5pm."

ASB has also set clear goals around gender diversity. CEO Barbara Chapman points out that ASB's current goal is to move from 21% of women in senior leadership roles to 35% by 2015. Initiatives to attract and retain top female talent at ASB include:

• Mentoring
• Participation in leadership development opportunities
• High potential development programmes
• A range of flexible working options.

In a nutshell

The gap between the image of banks as employers and the needs of prospective talent is growing. The Deloitte survey reinforced that, "If banks wish to avoid losing further ground in employer popularity rankings, they must listen to what students want and respond appropriately".