Independent Banker - April 2022 - 26

Some companies have even extended their search
offshore to hire talent. This move is possible more
than ever before due to the digital processes put in
place from remote work during COVID-19. This not only
provides a greater pool of candidates to choose from,
but opens up avenues for more diverse talent with
unique experience.
4. FEDERAL STIMULUS
Since the start of the pandemic, Congress has approved
three stimulus checks for millions of Americans to help
cover basic expenses and bills. In addition, some states
have enacted additional stimulus measures to provide
residents with financial relief. Further, advance monthly
child tax credit payments have been issued to millions
of families and will continue through December 2021.
While these payments are not enough to offset lost
wages and benefits from pandemic layoffs and
furloughs, they've provided enough relief to help lowincome
earners move out of poverty and eliminate
the need to work multiple jobs. This, in turn, has given
many Americans the freedom to take stock of their
employment and reevaluate their priorities for more
balanced, higher paying careers.
5. HUMAN LIFESTYLE PRIORITIES
Early COVID-19 quarantining presented people with a
forced break from work and the hustle and bustle of life.
It gave them back a nonrenewable resource: time. With
newfound realization for the value of this time and work/
life balance, many workers are now reprioritizing their
life and family goals, swapping uninspiring jobs with
more purposeful work.
Millennials were among the first to prioritize meaningful
careers with growth potential, desiring benefits such as
flexibility and social responsibility from their employers.
Unwilling to compromise for anything less, Millennials
(making up a third of the workforce), along with Gen
Z, have been leaders in a nationwide quitting spree
(dubbed " The Great Resignation " ) of late, which hit an
all-time high in fall 2021. The main drivers? Restlessness
from working at home, a desire for higher wages, and
greater job flexibility.
How to Respond
Hiring during an era when so many are out of work,
yet so many jobs remain unfilled can be frustrating. It
can seem like the only way forward is to set unrealistic
expectations of a sudden increase in talent or a call for
workers to return to lackluster jobs.
But there's another variable at play as well - the
power of digital. Banks played a crucial role while the
economy was shut down at the start of the pandemic,
implementing digital systems and processes in a way
that was desperately needed, though not necessarily
planned on for many years to come.
Today as business returns to normal, those that adopted
a digital solution early on have not only been able to
scale their impact, but serve more customers, deliver
more capital, and remain " always-on. " This is because
automated software is designed to eliminate employee
burnout by making daily operations smoother and easier
to manage - resulting in smarter (not harder) work.
SPARK Funds the Future with
Technology and Heart
SPARK helps banks and lenders attract the next wave
of talent. As technology becomes a top differentiator
in today's banking hiring landscape, candidates
are looking for intuitive, cloud-based solutions that
streamline work as opposed to the clunky legacy
systems of long ago.
SPARK makes commercial and SBA loan origination
easier, more secure, and ultra-efficient for your bank and
its customers by digitizing the entire origination process
Our platform makes hiring and retaining employees
easier in two ways:
SPARK simplifies the loan origination process
through automation, customer-centered design,
and deep expertise, allowing professionals to focus
on strategy and relationship building instead of
manual workarounds.
SPARK makes it easy to continue business
without interruption when an employee leaves.
Our platform never forgets - it's always
accurate, up-to-date, and equipped with the
latest forms, guidance, and rules, making it
easy to pick up where a former employee left
off and train the next replacement.
Is it time to reevaluate the manual tasks you're asking
employees to perform, the tools you use, and the work
environment you've created?
Request a demo at
lendwithspark.com
https://lendwithspark.com/request-a-demo/?utm_source=independent_banker_magazine&utm_medium=whitepaper_insert_digitallink&utm_campaign=icba_ib_whitepaper_april
Independent Banker - April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - April 2022
