The Café Generation: how tech culture is spreading to financial services

A massage between meetings, a table tennis break in the atrium before the three-day weekend. The war for talent is raging with tech companies competing to offer staff the most extravagant workplace perks. Now, this new work culture is spreading to financial services firms, which are now focusing more than ever on their employees’ welfare and personal development. Just plain altruism? No: to attract – and retain – the best talent.

Working anytime, anywhere

Working remotely from home, a co-working space downtown or a café next door is becoming increasingly common for financial services’ employees thanks to mobile technology. “Gone are the days when employees wielded a simple set of tools to get work done. In today’s world of anytime, anywhere work, employees use whatever device is most convenient: desktop at home, laptop at work, tablet in a client meeting, or smartphone everywhere.”

Forrester Research’s 2013 Mobile Workforce Adoption Trends report said. This is not just about being more flexible: recent research by Stanford University has found that remote working led to a performance increase, fewer sick days and an improvement in overall job satisfaction. At GE Capital, the financial services branch of American conglomerate General Electric, flexible working is one of the reasons, with an open and inclusive culture, why the company took the top spot among all other financial services groups in the FT/Glassdoor ranking.

Amazing office perks

“I believe that we are currently witnessing a cultural shift in the workplace. Technology has enabled us to work from anywhere. This has blurred the lines between home and office. Instead of our offices being a place we have to go they are becoming a place we want to go. More progressive companies are recognising this shift. They are introducing more flexible working arrangements and creating more compelling work places,” says Paul Boag, a digital user experience consultant, author and speaker.

Indeed working at the world’s largest tech companies does not feel like work. The dress code is relaxed, the food and drinks are free and recreation opportunities abound, from pool tables to games consoles or yoga. It will take a while until bank employees bring their dogs to the office like AirBnB employees, or staff get up to US$20,000 worth of family planning benefits like those of Facebook. It may take even longer for insurance employees get to travel between floors with a slide, Google-style. However, Paul Bennett, Associate Director for London occupiers at global real estate services provider Savills, told me he has seen things changing a lot since the credit crisis hit. There is a movement away from the more corporate way of working – with suspended ceilings, raised floors, and blue carpets. A lot more design is now going into offices.”

In a context of “war for talent” financial services are now adopting the methods of tech and creative companies and providing better working conditions. At investment firm Citadel, ranked 10^th in the best places to work in financial services by Great Rated!, perks include free breakfast, lunch and dinner, beverages and snacks throughout the day, onsite fitness centres, concierge services, and ’Citadel After Hours‘ social events.

Death of the cubicle

Financial services companies are also getting out of cubicles to make more space for collaboration and innovation. As Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs, famously said: “ideas don’t happen in the boardroom, they happen in corridors.”

Paul Bennet explains  that he has seen a big movement in the City towards loft-style space, with exposed ceilings  and very flexible, open-plan co-working environments, which provide more opportunities to interact. There are also more informal meeting areas and cafeterias to reflect the café culture of the Millennials. Which is exactly what they do at Australian bank Macquarie’s headquarters in Sydney: the building has a kitchen on every floor and encourages employees to walk some distance to get there. The company calls it ‘functional inconvenience’ – a calculated move to make staff connect more on their way to grab a latte.

To win the war for talent, new weapons have to be used. Competition for quality staff is high, forcing employers to look for novel ways to attract employees beyond just salary. Paul Bennett sums it up: “And how do you attract bright staff? You pay them well but you also create a creative and stimulating environment. So you need a building with great facilities – gyms, showers, big communal facilities where people can have meetings, cafes, bars – spaces that give back to staff.”

I hope you found the above information interesting and useful  – please see below for links to other financial markets blogs which may be of interest to you and your teams:

• Why modular banking means flexible candidates
• Too much pessimism clouds silver lining for China’s economy
• Digital destruction: Could Fintech kill banking jobs?
• The basics of business partner functions
• Business partners should be seen, and heard
• Intrapreneurship and labs: How banks are fostering innovation
• China stock market jitters: Keep calm and carry on
• Marty McFly, Twitter & better Investor Relations
• How banks are changing old ways to attract Millennials

Author

Carolyn Dickason

Director at Hays Finance Technology

Linkedin

Carolyn first joined Hays Accountancy & Finance in 2002, starting as a trainee recruitment consultant and developing her skills in recruiting part qualified finance professionals within the commercial sector. After early success in developing and servicing key clients, she progressed to a management role and furthered her development through taking responsibility for managing a region of offices. After five years combining these responsibilities, an opportunity arose to lead Hays’ tax business. Carolyn took on an excellent group of people, growing the business and the capabilities of her team through always focussing on the client and candidate experience.

In 2009 she transferred to our Australian operations, where Carolyn managed our specialist business units incorporating our Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, Retail, Legal, Contact Centres, Office Support, Procurement and Life Sciences. Her focus was in developing the business into a cohesive unit that continues to deliver a high quality service to Hays Clients and Candidates alike.

After six years in Australia she returned to the UK in 2016 and now heads up our Finance Technology division based in the our flagship office on Cheapside in London. With a naturally inquisitive nature and high expectations, she prides herself on delivering agile and cutting edge solutions that meet clients’ ever-changing requirements to support their rapidly evolving world of work.