Independent Banker - January 2022 - 20

PORTFOLIO LEADERSHIP AT ALL LEVELS
Revisiting recruitment
By Lindsay LaNore, ICBA
here's much talk these days
about talent acquisition and
retention, with the three Rs-recruit,
retain and reward-taking center
stage. Let's start the year by looking
at recruitment. To that end, we asked
Valerie Utsey, ICBA's chief human
resources offi cer, to pinpoint some
key areas we can all consider.
Focus on your brand. Before you
start to recruit, Utsey suggests you
look at your public image. How does
the community bank present itself
to candidates? It's essential to think
about your brand in every channel:
your website, the local paper, social
media and live events. Wherever you
have a presence, that's a place for
customers and potential candidates to
get to know your bank.
Create a great candidate
T
experience. A candidate needs to
be motivated to apply, and that starts
with the job description. " Often, it's
just a laundry list of tasks, " Utsey
says, " so why not be creative and
tell people what they're going to
do? Why do I need to have great
communication skills? Because you're
interacting with customers, solving
their problems and making their day. "
She also recommends changing
skills from " required " to
" recommended " or " preferred. "
Hire for human skills like character,
motivation and energy. You can
teach the technical skills, and ICBA's
Community Banker University has
great resources that will help them
become top performers.
Make applying easy. Think
about making your application
process easier, especially if you're
trying to reach out to different types
of candidates. They may prefer
to fill out an application that's
mobile-friendly, and you may drive
people away if they have to file an
application in person. Make it easy,
and if possible, make it mobile.
Power up the interview process.
Acknowledge receipt of applications,
and let candidates know when you'll
respond. If you are going to conduct
three interviews before deciding, tell
them that. You don't want them to take
that other job before they talk to you.
Once you've set up an interview, make
sure it's engaging. Give candidates a
holistic view of the bank by bringing in
other team members to explain what
it's like to work for you. Show them
around the space they'll be working in.
" Having a visual ties the person
to the job, " Utsey says. " If they're
doing 10 interviews, you've got to do
something that separates you from
the others. "
Be flexible. Many people have
fallen out of the workforce, so how do
you pull them back in? Try off ering
fl exible positions that attract, for
example, parents with school-age
kids. Prior to the pandemic, Utsey
says, the mantra was, " Leave it at the
door. " Now, it's, " How do I bring my
whole self to work? "
Stress your mission, communicate
transparently and think outside
the box. That way, your future
employees can bring their whole
selves to the workplace, and that is to
everyone's advantage. 
Lindsay LaNore (lindsay.lanore@
icba.org) is ICBA's group executive
vice president and chief learning
and experience off icer
20 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q January 2022
Photo by laflor/iStock
Independent Banker - January 2022

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