Talent Management and Succession Planning Brochure

Difficulties in attracting and retaining employees in the banking industry

IT’S A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT— AND ABA CAN HELP

Everyone loves a thriving economy, but in a time of labor shortages, it’s harder to recruit qualified candidates—and more challenging to hold on to valued employees who may have other opportunities to choose from.

Attracting and retaining a strong bench of high-performing employees is a key competitive advantage. To be successful, organizations of any size need to establish an organization-wide approach to hiring and retaining high-performing employees and have a plan to prepare employees to step into key roles from middle management through to the c-suite and the board.

Invest in Your Most Important Asset— Your People

If you ask bank leaders what makes their organization great, they’ll tell you their people—the talented bankers who steer the ship, serve the customers and drive organizational performance.

Today’s employees want to be part of a profession where their contributions matter and they can make a difference. They want to feel included in their workplace and valued for their contributions. They want an opportunity to develop their talents and grow their careers both in the short term and in the future.

What better industry to meet those needs than a career in banking?

And what better way to energize and develop the skills of these rising stars than through a well-planned talent development program, combined with an established succession plan covering key positions from middle management to the executive suite.

Talent Management

A bank’s ability to manage talent effectively has never been more important than in today’s financial marketplace. The goal of a talent management plan is to build your organization’s bench strength, attract the best employees and retain them by developing their skills through ongoing training and development programs.

Where to begin?

We know that employees are more likely to join—and stay—with an organization when:

• They feel challenged and appreciated.
• Their values fit with the organization’s values.
• The employer is investing in training and development to help them succeed and advance in their careers.

To help in this process, ABA has developed a series of comprehensive training options aimed at helping bankers develop employees throughout their careers. These strategically designed offerings will help you develop your employees through all the stages of their careers, including:

• Early career
• Middle management
• Emerging leaders
• Senior leadership Talent Management

Talent Management Resources

ABA provides an abundance of training and development options for employees at any stage in their career. Below are a few examples:

Industry-Wide Talent Management Survey Report

Free to ABA members, this report allows banks to benchmark themselves against their peers in the following areas: recruiting, training, retraining, budgeting, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Community Bank Suites

These suites of online courses help you quickly and effectively train new and existing employees to perform at a higher level. With input from community bank CEOs, they are cost-effective options for onboarding, building foundational banking skills, developing sales proficiency and management skills. Any courses can count toward ABA certificates. aba.com/CommunityBankTraining

Leadership in Action Online Training Suite

This suite of five courses explores techniques and best practices for cultivating a collaborative team environment, from empowering individuals and positively handling change to creating a team-supported vision and achieving goals. Completing this suite provides strategies for using leadership skills in day-to-day practices and developing those skills in others. Employees can immediately apply content on the job. aba.com/LeadershipSuite

ABA-Wharton Emerging Leaders Online Certificates

ABA has joined with the prestigious University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School to offer three leadership certificate programs featuring preeminent Wharton faculty. Top-notch training in an accessible and cost-effective online format, combined with challenging content, helps develop leadership skills and critical thinking. aba.com/ABAWhartonCertificates

Emerging Leaders Forum

The Emerging Leaders Forum, held in conjunction with the Washington Summit, is an opportunity for new voices in banking to share challenges and strategies, network with peers from across the country and gain new perspectives on leadership. aba.com/ELForum

Do You Have a Plan for Who’s Next in Line?

Identifying new leaders and successfully managing critical staffing transitions are two of the most important tasks a bank faces. Thoughtful succession planning ensures the future of the organization, while helping a bank deal proactively with change.

Successful planning requires identifying key positions throughout the organization and developing individuals who can replace employees when they leave or retire.

The succession planning process includes:

• Identifying positions critical to your organization’s success
• Insisting on a diverse slate of potential candidates and identifying ways to diversify leadership personnel to increase performance and value
• Making sure senior leadership is on board
• Determining if internal candidates exist or whether to look outside the organization
• Considering moves that may be lateral as well as linear
• Communicating the plan to successors in each area
• Developing and communicating defined training and development plans

ABA has created a series of comprehensive training options aimed at helping banks ensure continuity. These programs will not only help you identify potential internal candidates to fill key leadership positions at the bank—but lay the groundwork for a development plan that will ensure they succeed.

Succession Planning Resources

Succession Planning Toolkit

Designed specifically for banks, the Succession Planning Toolkit offers practical steps and resources for developing and implementing a customized succession plan to meet your bank’s needs, from middle management, to c-suite and board of directors. Through scenarios and customizable materials, the toolkit helps senior management identify potential internal candidates to fill key positions, as well as the development opportunities that will set them up for success. aba.com/SuccessionPlanning

Bank Director Training

This series of informational training videos for your board members will help them better understand their role in oversight of your institution. Topics include digital trends in blockchain, cybersecurity, payments, board oversight compliance, fair lending and more. Free to ABA Members. aba.com/BankDirectors

Stonier Graduate School of Banking

Identify your rising stars and prepare them for leadership positions through the prestigious and rigorous executive education provided by Stonier. As the nation’s original graduate banking program, Stonier has established a reputation for innovation and leadership, and through its partnership with Wharton, graduates earn both a Stonier Diploma and Wharton Leadership Certificate. aba.com/Stonier

ABA-Wharton CEO Leadership Lab

Once identified, prepare your future president or CEO by attending this one-of-a-kind event. Developed exclusively for today’s bank presidents and CEOs, this dynamic program is a prestigious extension of our partnership with the Wharton School. Imagine spending two intensive days in a small group setting at the Wharton School’s Aresty Institute of Executive Education with leadership experts from the Wharton faculty. This intimate, top-tier learning is unmatched in the banking industry. aba.com/Wharton-CEO

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” Harvey Firestone