In simple terms, the employee turnover in the financial services industry globally is on the increase. Employee retention experts, Retensa followed the trend from 2005 when the employee turnover was at 25 months, in 2017 it fell to just 17 months, the figure was 30 months in 1995.

PwC Ireland corroborated the claims of Retensa when it discovered that only 10% of Millennials working in the Financial Services industry are interested in keeping their job in the long term. At every point in time, no less than 48% of employees in the financial services industry are actively in search of new opportunities. Factor in that Ireland boasts 250 of the worlds financial services institutions here and you can start to grasp at the opportunities available for candidates.

There is hope however and a lot can be done should businesses wish to retain their best people. It starts with recognising and weighing the cost of turnover. There’s also a need to understand why the best people are leaving. It’s beyond just the benefits, incentives, and a salary increase. To stand tall in the financial services industry, there’s a need to craft out strategies on how to address this situation.

The question now is what can be done to retain your best people?

IDENTIFY YOUR TALENTS AND BEST PEOPLE
Right from the point of onboarding during recruitment, identify the best people that can benefit your business not just in the short term but more importantly in the long run. Make talent management an essential aspect of your recruitment process. This will allow you to identify and adequately manage these talents from their first day on the job. There is a need to factor into your hiring philosophy that there’s always someone better out there ready to send in his/her CV. Indeed, there’s someone out there, but you need to weigh the cost of recruitment, training, and onboarding. Will it be beneficial to your human resources’ budget to hire someone every 17 months for the same position?

HIRE THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB
One key factor that recruiters in the financial services industry fail is the understanding of the specific role given by the employer to recruit new hires. The simple solution is to make the employees understand what their average day / week / month will look like. A transparent onboarding experience will help you know who is exceptional and should be given extra attention. Never sugarcoat the new job, be clear as to what you expect of the hires. With this, you’ll be able to see who the leaders are. There’s a huge chance for the right person to fall in love with the job. This will make leaving harder as they enjoy every aspect of the job.

GIVE EMPLOYEES A PURPOSE AND VISION
Due to the demands and natures of the financial services industry, some ‘pains’ such as occasional long hours and stress are somewhat unavoidable. However, there’s measures you can take to ensure that the best people perceive their job as enjoyable and not as pain. You need to look at a way of making them see that carrying their jobs carry a purpose not just in the organization but in the wider scheme of things. If your best people ever see themselves as only working, without a purpose or vision you’ll certainly lose them to your competitor.

KNOW YOUR STAFF AND WHAT THEY’RE THINKING
A lot of time is spent with the people we work with, however how much can we truly know you’re your best talent is sitting there on a daily basis with grievances about their role or the organisation then it is best to understand these before it’s too late. By putting in place mechanisms such internal surveys, employee feedback, one-one meetings and paying attention to external trends in the market, these grievances can be unearthed, addressed and hopefully resolved. When there’s an issue that lingers for too long, you are about to lose your best people at short notice.

TALENTS ARE INSPIRED BY IMPACTFUL LEADERSHIP
Look at companies in the financial services market in Ireland where there’s a problem with talent retention; they are being headed by bosses and not leaders. It’s not just about the condition of the job or the working environment. Talented people want to have as leaders, individuals with a clear vision of the future. These leaders are also huge believers in the importance of people and the value they add to the business objectives. Most importantly, they are visible and clear to the employees.

LASTLY, BE A BRAND THAT REPRESENTS POSITIVITY
In short, be a financial services brand that your employees can identify with. A financial services business known for positives. Talented people are moved by being problem solvers, and if your company is in the business of solving problems, you’ll always retain your best people. In everything you do, have it in mind that even though a raise, incentive or financial benefits will never keep your best talent in your office. Go informal with your talents; make them feel like family.

For further advice on what you could be doing to retain your best talent and to attract the best in the financial services market, please connect with us at connect@coopman.ie.

The post How To Retain Your Best People In A Highly Competitive Irish Financial Services Market appeared first on Coopman.

Knowing how you are viewed is to understand your employer brand around issues such as conduct in the market to the treatment of employees and the overall general perception.

In this buoyant market where talent is fiercely competed for, it is now more than ever essential for business leaders to address their employer brand and here are five reasons why?

ENGAGED EMPLOYEES
Financial service firms with a strong employer brand have more engaged employees. The key is to build a high performing team with an even higher level of motivation driven by their pride to be working for a company with a strong employer image. Instantly one thinks of the US tech companies and the loyalty and engagement they can derive from their superb positioning of their brand in the market. Financial services firms need to follow suit. Having enthusiastic and engaged employees is an important factor in driving growth of the business – ways to achieve this are, to be proactive in your forward planning career paths for employees and to create a strong organisational culture with its own identity.

STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
Having a strong online presence shows that your company places value on remaining up to date and improving itself and should result in the company positioning itself to attract the right talent. Whether it is the company website, LinkedIn or Instagram, jobseekers and the wider public will be observing the company’s online presence placing emphasis and exploring their values and culture which is high on the agenda of today’s job seeker. Furthermore, giving platforms such as LinkedIn more focus through content and engagement should drive more job applications as it creates a direct and intimate relationship with the candidate.

RECOGNITION
Having a strong employer brand allows your company to be recognised and increases your brand awareness. Every company should try to be the first company potential employees will think of. If a company is not popular among the top talents and the community, negative word-of-mouth will spread, and that will affect the company. Therefore, financial services firms should always try to be a striking employer that can provide a sense of belonging to its employees, this can be driven by HR technology that gives 100% personal feedback to employees.

IMPROVED RECRUITMENT CYCLE
If a company pays attention to the previous points then they can expect to realise a more improved recruitment cycle as a result of internal and external pull factors driving top talent through the application process and giving HR a better chance of looking internally for longer term employees.

FINANCIAL STABILITY
Lastly having a good employer brand will ensure your company’s financial stability as well. Studies have shown that financial services companies that invest in employer branding could experience revenue growth as much as 3.5% and a 2.5% profit margin increase.

For further advice on what you could be doing to retain your best talent and to attract the best in the financial services market, please connect with us at connect@coopman.ie.

The post The Importance of Employer Branding in Financial Services appeared first on Coopman.

Setting goals for a year can be a challenge in itself, ensuring that as the SMART theory proposes, goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. However, have you ever given consideration to setting goals for a 10 year period? This is a very different challenge and outlined are some points to consider if you are looking far ahead into your career.

Start by studying yourself

Reflective practice has found prominence in the business world where professionals are urged to spend time understanding ones strengths, identifying areas for improvement and setting out future action points.

In order to understand where you want your career to be in 10 years-time it is important to understand what level you are currently operating at? Do you see yourself as a future C-Suite executive, by reflecting now you may realise that you possess strengths around strategic thinking and technical aspects of your role but lack in terms of leadership and public speaking. From spending time better knowing yourself at this present moment in time will give you the platform to put in place actions to improve on weaknesses.

To build a reflective habit and mindset typically requires three key elements:

A willingness to reflect on your career experiences and personal traits to increase learning from them.
Repeated reflection over the period of 10 years is vital to ensure that you build the learning processes and see the value each time you go through the cycle.
Doing this over a longer time frame will highlight patterns and opportunities for your learning that you may have missed.
Create a career vision statement using your why?

Seeing the bigger picture is what will enable you to drive your career in the direction you wish. By creating a vision of yourself in ten years-time, you will provide a framework from which to evaluate the goals you have defined along the way.

This is something that does not come easy to everyone, and so in order to project your minds eye ten years ahead think about:

How do you define career success?
What do you enjoy doing in your work?
What do you think you are capable of accomplishing given the right resources and circumstances?
Who are the people you most admire and why?
Once you start to map your vision out, it is then important to understand why you want to get to this point? Every person who is successful in creating and realising a vision understands and records the motivation for the vision which will create the longevity and direction for the how, over the course of a decade.

Share your vision

Depending on your current role/situation will determine who you communicate your vision to. If you are a business owner or heading up a division you may have a 10 year vision that is more closely aligned to your company and the team’s performance, in which case it is important to share the vision with them to create alignment. You may be at the start of your professional career in which case sharing with your current company will ensure they can work with you to meet your career goals moving forward.

The process of sharing creates a commitment that bounds you to stick with your vision, to continue to drive yourself and create an environment where you can seek support.

Work backwards from your vision with a flexible timeline

You now have an idea of the future you in your career, you have understood where you want to be, why you want to be there and have shared this vision with others. The framework is in place so now it’s time to put the plan into action, the best approach is to work backwards from your ten year point.

The reason it is important to reverse plan is to ensure that you focus on the outcome rather than on things that can go wrong.

In order to put this into action you should look to do the following:

Identify the steps and sequences required to reach your vision.
Create a deadline driven timeline by committing plans and dates to paper to support each step or sequence. It is important to be flexible with your timeline and give yourself a range of time to work within so that you can reduce anxiety/stress on hitting the specific dates.
Seek support. As mentioned sharing your vision will ensure people are aligned to your overall goal and to seek support along the way will keep you on track to meet the steps and sequences set out.
Recognise progress as you go

If you only reward yourself on the turn of 2030 then you will find it very difficult to maintain the drive to reach your end goal. Look at ways that you can give yourself a pat on the back and recognise the progress you have made. Referring back to the first point in this article you can see how building a reflective habit is important as it will show you how far you have come, where your wins are and what you need to focus on. How you reward your progress is the fun part and also entirely up to you.

The post Your Career – The Next Decade appeared first on Coopman.

Trevor Micks, the Chief Risk Officer of CNP Santander, a cross border insurance company with 100+ employees in Ireland.
Niamh Derivan, the Chief Financial Officer and board member of Atradius Re, a credit and bond reinsurance company located in the IFSC.
Matthias Naumann, the Chief Executive Officer of Companjon, an insure-tech start up headquartered in Dublin.
The discussion ranged from how their companies transitioned into a remote workforce, to how they tested and prepared for this, to the day to day aspects of managing a remote team before taking a quick look at the future. We’re sharing key takeaways from the conversation to shed light on what is being done and what managers need to take into consideration moving forward to effectively manage remote teams/workers:

1. WHEN FACING CHANGE, ANTICIPATE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, TEST AND GET FEEDBACK.
As many businesses did, Trevor and Niamh also faced the challenge of setting up their full workforce at home in a short turnaround. To ensure a successful transition, it was vital to anticipate what was coming in order to be best prepared. They looked at decisions and trends in other countries and so began early execution of their business continuity plans, tested them thoroughly and when government announcements were made they were ready. The key to this success however was obtaining as much feedback in the early days to ensure people had the right equipment, were set up correctly and most importantly were happy with the new way of working.

2. COMMUNICATION FROM MANAGERS HAS TO BE CLEAR, CONSISTENT AND WITH A PURPOSE.
As Niamh alluded to in our discussion, over the past number of weeks, management have had to manage fear that their colleagues and employees were feeling as Covid-19 took hold of Ireland and the rest of the world. To do this in normal circumstances is difficult, so doing so remotely required even more of a focus to deliver daily communication. Matthias, CEO of Companjon had the task of doing this for new employees he had yet to physically meet who were working in different parts of the world.

From the initial messaging around company health and objectives the need for clear and consistent communication is essential in driving activity, maintaining team and company cohesion and giving purpose as a whole. One way Matthias achieves this with his team is to drive daily check ins (morning) and check outs (evening) with his employees, giving purpose and creating an opportunity to include people across the organisation which has been especially key for new joiners.

3. BE CONSCIOUS OF EACH EMPLOYEES SITUATION.
One thing is for certain, the experience of Covid-19 has led management to better understand their people, as they get more of an insight into the personal life of the people whom they work with. For management this point is ever more crucial with remote working. Understanding the personal circumstances of your team will allow for more flexible approach towards time management, allowing you to instead focus on output and task driven deadlines. Ensure that each team member has an up to date calendar shared amongst everyone on a daily basis so that availability and accessibility are crystal clear which will go a long way towards efficient communication across the team(s) taking into account people’s various schedules and working hours.

4. EMBRACE TECHNOLOGIES.
It is clear that all our panellists have embraced the use of technology to effectively manage their teams remotely. Trevor Micks, of CNP Santander highlighted how they are creating a bespoke Qualtrics tool to drive engagement, whilst Niamh mentioned that when they started to utilise the video conferencing software over phone calls, engagement levels improved greatly. Matthias mentioned that using this software to organise team pizza evenings and beers had allowed new colleagues to bond quicker and start to create a culture having never met one another. **

5. MANAGE AS IF EVERYONE IS IN THE OFFICE
When we eventually transition back to office working, there are several points our panellists mentioned they could take from this experience. The ability to trust their team more and the confidence to conduct big business issues remotely were highlighted with the stand out point to make sure to manage the team as if everyone is in the office. Don’t reschedule meetings for when people are all together, if there are social events find a way to get those working from home involved virtually and create as meaningful touch points throughout the day, preferably via video conferencing.

[There were other notable issues raised such as the need to continue CSR initiatives over the coming months as much as possible without full fundraising capabilities, to what a free flowing office culture might look like.]

CONCLUSION
Whilst it is was evident from our discussion that many of us have had the opportunity to learn and adapt from this experience, there are also so many unanswered questions around what the future workplace will look like when we start to come out of this pandemic.

A huge thank you to those who attended and a special thank you to Trevor, Niamh and Matthias for their time and insights.

If you would like to participate in a webinar or have topics that you would like to see addressed, contact us at connect@coopman.ie.

The post How To Effectively Manage A Team Remotely – 5 Tips appeared first on Coopman.

1. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR A COMPANY TO FOCUS ON THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF THEIR EMPLOYEES?
Focusing on wellness in the workplace is vital not only for supporting employees’ physical, mental and emotional wellbeing but also proactively helps address key issues which can arise in the workplace such as stress and absenteeism. A wellness programme can boost productivity, promotes employee engagement across the business and increases employee morale. In summary, wellness has never been so important!

2. AT AGL, HOW DO YOU SUPPORT EMPLOYEES’ HEALTH AND WELLBEING?
For quite some time AGL have supported various polices such as flexi time, flexi leave along with the introduction of a wellness allowance as part of our remuneration strategy. We provide online yoga, mindfulness classes, virtual running clubs, a virtual book club, wellness webinars, podcasts and other useful resources along with our Employee Assistance Programme…

3. HAS REMOTE WORKING INTRODUCED ANY OPPORTUNITIES/CHALLENGES FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING?
Remote working has provided us with both the challenge and opportunity to support our employees particularly whilst working remotely.

4. HAS AGL HAD TO DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT TO SUPPORT YOUR EMPLOYEES’ HEALTH AND WELLBEING WHILE REMOTE WORKING?
Yes, listening to our employees and keeping connected has been a challenge. Simple things such as increasing opportunities for communication is even more important than ever before and pulse survey to garner feedback on employees remote working experience has been helpful.

5. AS THE COMPANY GROWS, DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO SCALE YOUR HEALTH AND WELLBEING SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES?
Yes, we would like to invest further and have plans to do so…WellMark initiative from IBEC is something we are exploring.

6. AS A HR PROFESSIONAL, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE LOOKING TO IMPROVE THEIR HEALTH AND WELLBEING?
I would say it’s the most important investment you can ever make as a person. It shapes our emotional, physical and mental wellbeing along and makes us happier!

7. ARE YOU SEEING ANY NEW TRENDS IN THIS SPACE?
Getting the basics right will be as important as seeking out new trends. Although holistic wellness is a new concept for healthcare ..wellness to cover the mind, body and soul and healthcare providers are stepping up to leverage this opportunity. 🙂

The post Workplace Wellness “Has Never Been So Important” appeared first on Coopman.

Insurtech refers to the use of technological innovations to redesign the current insurance model, looking to seek more savings and efficiency.

Venture capitalists are betting that the insurance industry is ripe for disruption as the more established firms have been in existence for long as 300 years with very little change to the way they offer their products. Through innovation and artificial intelligence, insurtech companies are looking to offer ultra-customised policies, social insurance and dynamic price premiums.

Traditionally, insurance works by applying broad actuarial tables to assign policy seekers to a risk category, putting enough people in similar categories to make the policies profitable. These policies are then signed up to on a long-term basis with little room for manoeuvre in the policy.

HOW IS INSURTECH CHANGING THE GAME?
Insurtech will tackle this on two fronts. Firstly, by looking at big data and pricing products more competitively. This is done through:

1. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
Insurance by definition and as explained is built on risk and making predictions of how big a risk a company, person or event is. The more information an insurer has about the consumer, the more accurate the prediction. AI is capable of analysing data and situations faster, increasing accuracy and enhancing customer customisation.

2. INCORPORATING BLOCKCHAIN
Blockchain is inherently safe. As a result, once the insurance industry fully integrates blockchain, insurance companies can quote rates for new clients faster than ever before. The traditional model where the company has to gather records from various sources will prove unnecessary. The data can move directly from one party to the other, further enhancing transparency and eliminating human error.

3. LEVERAGING THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT)
The IOT deals with connecting non-traditional devices to the internet. Insurtech start-ups are taking advantage of this aspect to access more data about potential clients via devices such as smartwatches that provide real-time online data.

Secondly, insurtech is providing on demand policies where customers can purchase insurance for their home, car and travel when they actually require it. This on demand offering is still in its infancy with only 1% share of the global insurance market, however given millennial’s willingness to purchase usage and on demand products, it is expected that this offering will be become more mainstream in the Irish market once it can meet the needs of the majority of customers.

SO, WHAT TYPE OF INSURTECH COMPANIES ARE OUT THERE?
Some of the key players include:

1. LEMONADE
Lemonade claims to be the “world’s first open source insurance policy.” Headquartered in New York City, USA, Lemonade offers homeowners and renters insurance powered by AI and behavioural economics and successfully listed on the NYSE in recent weeks.

2. COMPANJON
A new and innovative start-up headquartered in Dublin, Companjon operate across Europe and is a well-funded corporate venture offering fully digitalised insurance products to the experience sectors such as travel.

3. ZEGO
Zego is an on-demand insurtech company headquartered in London and offers flexible insurance cover for food and courier delivery drivers when they are working.

4. SLICE
Providing pay-per-use insurance for the on-demand economy, founded in 2015, the firm offers an insurance cloud service platform that caters to the gig economy.

5. QUANTEMPLATE
Quantemplate is a London-based insurtech firm than offers machine learning, data transformation and analytics solutions for insurance professionals. The insurtech business is supported by leading investors and financial and insurance companies such as Anthemis, Transamerica and Allianz.

TO WRAP UP
Depending on the success of insurtech in the coming years, we could witness what is anticipated to happen in Ireland with fintech, that is that the major insurance companies will create partnerships. Insurtech partnerships could enable insurance companies to position themselves as dynamic, connected, and potentially disruptive – helping them to rise above their current image.

What’s more, the prospect of being part of the adoption, enhancement and development of innovative technologies may assist with employee attraction and retention in Ireland. Employees are more satisfied when they have opportunities to up skill and learn at their own pace. The innovation that is closely associated with insurtech focuses on constant learning and growth, so it will be interesting to see how the insurtech industry develops and impacts the talent market.

To understand how Coopman can partner with your insurtech organisation and find you the right individuals to join your team, contact us at connect@coopman.ie.

The post The Rise of Insurtech appeared first on Coopman.

WHY DO COMPANIES USE DIFFERENT JOB TITLES FOR THE SAME ROLE?
PRE-APPROVAL CONTROLLED FUNCTIONS (PCFS)
The Central Bank of Ireland is putting pressure on new entrants into the market to fill PCF roles. These roles include Head of Finance, Head of Compliance, CEO, CRO and such. Applicants for these roles must satisfy minimum regulatory requirements and be pre-approved by the Central Bank before taking up a relevant position. However, the requirements for such roles between a start-up and an established company for example, will be very different. A start-up company may not require a person with 20+ years of experience in the industry. So even if the job advertised appears to be a very senior position, the requirements of the role may be different to that of a larger company advertising a similar position.

COMPANY PREFERENCE
Ireland is a hub for foreign direct investment with many of the world’s successful companies establishing or expanding their Irish operations. Depending on the nationality of a company, when advertising new opportunities that arise, they may use different job titles to others in the industry. The role however, may be similar in terms of responsibilities and candidate requirements. This results in the ideal individual overlooking the opportunity perhaps because the advertised job title does not match their current title. Whether you are applying to a US or European company or companies with their headquarters in the APAC region, the key to knowing if it is the right role for you is to review the job responsibilities.

WHAT SHOULD INDIVIDUALS DO WHEN SEARCHING FOR JOBS?
EXPAND YOUR SEARCH
If you’re currently looking at new opportunities in the market and you’re a mid-senior finance professional, you should enter a number of different keywords in your job search to give you the best results. Consider using job titles that are comparable to the work you’re doing in your current role, allowing an extended search with more job options. For example, if you’re currently a Senior Financial Accountant, use titles such as Finance Manager or Financial Controller.

FOCUS ON THE JOB DESCRIPTION
To an extent, ignore the job title of new opportunities that arise in your industry. Instead, look at the intricacies of the job and ask yourself: “what does the company want the person in this role to do?”. If a smaller company is looking for a CFO, are they really looking for a person that has 20+ years of experience in a PLC? The answer is probably ‘No!’. By reviewing the details of the job description, you may find that in fact you have the experience for the role despite the job title.

COMPLETE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE
It’s vitally important to have your LinkedIn page updated with as much relevant content as possible so you’re ‘visible’ to recruiters. Include a detailed summary at the top of your page and list your responsibilities for your current and previous job titles. Why? Often recruiters search for a specific job title that may be different to your job title, however the role is similar in terms of responsibilities. If your profile contains relevant keywords within the detailed descriptions, you will appear in a recruiter’s search despite your job title being different.

To understand how Coopman can assist you in your job search, contact us at connect@coopman.ie.

The post Job Titles: What Do They Actually Mean? appeared first on Coopman.

1. ENSURE WORKSPACE FLEXIBILITY
A change in scenery is often a great way to recharge the creative batteries. Perhaps it involves moving your office setup to a new room that has a great view or some colourful paintings hanging on the wall, or maybe it is a complete shift in location to a relative’s house or even a park bench. Whatever the choice, the change will be sure to enhance your creative process.

2. FIND YOUR CREATIVE HOURS
Depending on your role or personal circumstances, you may find the best time to be creative is first thing in the morning, or last thing at night before going to sleep. It is important to adjust your work hours accordingly to allow for this time, ensuring that the appropriate resources are available for you when you are at your peak creativity (even if it is just a pen and notebook on the bedside locker!).

3. SCHEDULE VIRTUAL BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS
Ideas often develop and build in-depth as you discuss them with people. Carve out the time in your working week to run your thoughts by team members in the form of a video call. Encourage a healthy discussion and ask for their input and feedback – they may have a unique viewpoint that you have not yet considered.

4. USE YOUR COMMUTE TIME
Often when you were commuting to and from work, you thought about your day or a project that you were working on. You might have jotted notes on your phone about a new idea or sent an email to your personal account to remind yourself of an important action or next step. Try to re-create this headspace by using your commute time to think – consider going for a walk and dedicating an hour of your day to being creative.

5. TAKE TIME OFF
If you are in a position to take a day (or more) of annual leave, do it! Often our best ideas come to us when we least expect them. By taking some personal time to relax with family or friends and let the mind freely wander, you will feel rejuvenated and re-energised returning to work – and hopefully with a few new creative ideas.

Whether you are looking to get into that creative mindset or inspire your team members to think outside the box, keep the above tips in mind and implement them in your or your team’s working day. Most importantly, lead by example – when you focus on creativity and innovation, the people around you will feel motivated to do the same. And don’t forget to reward creativity with positive recognition.

To discuss how Coopman can support your hiring processes in the current market, please get in touch with Director and Co-Founder Mark Fallon at mark.fallon@coopman.ie

The post Five Useful Tips To Encourage Remote Creativity appeared first on Coopman.

1) WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
The work that we do can change people’s lives – that’s what makes me passionate about recruitment! As people progress in their careers, their personal circumstances change; perhaps they are moving to a new house, or going back to college, or starting a family. In recruitment, you can help these individuals to find a position that supports them in whatever stage they are at and it is a great driving factor! In order to do that, however, you have to know the person on a personal level and ensure you put their needs first when it comes to a role. That is why engagement is one of our core values at Coopman, to ensure we always get to know the people in our network.

2) WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO CANDIDATES ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE MARKET RIGHT NOW?
The market is quiet but there are certainly pockets of work there. The volume of positions coming through, however, will remain low for the remainder of this year. In saying that, companies have adapted to remote working and are somewhat more comfortable remote recruiting, hiring and onboarding. And where there is work available, it is more in the mid senior professionals’ market as opposed to the newly qualified market. The advice I am giving to individuals is to put on your recruitment hat – setup your job alerts, have your CV, cover letter and LinkedIn updated and broaden your job search to include more titles, as they are often loosely used in the market. So, for example, the Head of Financial Reporting could expand their search to Financial Controller, Head of Finance, Finance Director, or potentially CFO in a smaller company. It is also a great time to upskill, with online courses so accessible, as are online events with professional bodies and companies.

3) WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?
Personally, scoring two goals in Croke Park during the junior club championship final in 2017 for my adopted village of Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath – I’ll take that one to my grave! On a professional note though, it is the creation, building and development of Coopman Search and Selection. We had a set idea for the business, from the brand to the culture, and it is great to see that idea come to life as we expand our team and further evolve our service offering to our network.

4) WHAT IS THE KEY TO BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS?
Building a culture of complete transparency and trust, setting clear objectives, and recognising individual and business successes. Our approach is simple, we find out what motivates our team members, turn them into career goals and then set clear roadmaps and incentives for them to achieve this, whilst also ensuring continued personal development. So, take for example a team member that loves to travel; we would take that personal goal and turn it into a professional goal, so that if that individual meets their targets, it gives them the opportunity to see places they’ve dreamed of. We also set a collective goal to encourage collaboration, perhaps on a quarterly basis or annual basis, and if it this is met, we celebrate with a team activity. When people buy into the culture, without a doubt, success will come.

5) WHY SHOULD A CLIENT WORK WITH COOPMAN?
We will always find the right solution for our clients, and we only put forward people that we feel are the right match for a role and for a company. We take a consultative approach, ensuring the people we work with get our full attention and engagement on every call. Our team members have extensive experience in the financial services recruitment market, with the expertise and knowledge to manage the recruitment process from start to finish to the best standards. I have no doubt in our delivery. We are adaptable and reliable, with extremely high conversion rates. We are open and transparent with our network and we believe in the power of information sharing, by providing market insights to our network at every available opportunity.

6) WHAT IS YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE?
It is important when you build a team that you engage with them on a personal level as well as a professional level. I establish professional working friendships with my team, ensuring open lines of communication and honesty. I get to know the people I work with through regular engagement, providing support where it is needed. I think that when you have trust and transparency, if there is an issue or an obstacle, it is addressed quickly as people feel comfortable voicing their concerns. I do have high standards and expect the highest performance from my team, but to support this, I set expectations from the outset and guide individuals on how to reach their best professional selves.

7) WHERE DO YOU SEE COOPMAN IN A YEAR?
As I previously mentioned, engagement is a core value for Coopman. In a year’s time, I see the Coopman team back in the office in Dublin, engaging with people every day. Through a hybrid working model, our team members will likely spend three days in the office and two working from home. This approach will facilitate a strong culture of collaboration and information sharing, while also focusing on building those valuable relationships with clients and individuals through in-person meetings. We will continue to build out our team with the right individuals, while cementing our foothold in the market and evolving our brand. We have great ideas for the direction of the company and how we get there, but I can’t share that information just yet.

8) HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORKLIFE BALANCE?
A general rule of thumb is that I don’t work weekends. I’d say 99.9% of the time I take the entire weekend off, very rarely would I work on a Saturday or Sunday. It is important to take the time to relax with family and friends to ensure you don’t get fatigued. It is certainly something we encourage at Coopman with our early finish on Fridays. At the weekend, I like to spend time with my two kids and wife, Nancy and I do a lot of ‘bad’ DIY around the house and in the garden. I’m heavily involved with Multyfarnham GAA, training the underage girls team whilst playing with the intermediate team also.

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Over 350 participants took part in the survey, from associate through to executive level, with the majority of participants working in financial and professional services.

The study found that 67% of professionals expect working from home to be more difficult this winter.

Cold and dark weather conditions, increased restrictions and rising Covid-19 cases are cited as concerning factors for professionals working from home this winter.

Employees also anticipate longer working days due to increasing workloads, growing demands from employers and the likelihood of escalating absenteeism.

These factors are expected to discourage employees to leave their homes for exercise and social interactions, causing increased risk of feelings of isolation, loneliness and stress.

CHALLENGES OF REMOTE WORKING
The survey found that 68% of employees are currently working longer than their normal hours, 55% use their laptops at least once a week after 9 pm for work commitments and 61% work at least one weekend every month.

A further 57% do not expect to take their allocated annual leave this year.

59% are working in locations at home that may not be fit for purpose, such as a kitchen table, bedroom or sitting room.

34% said finding a work-life balance has been the most difficult aspect of remote working in the last six months, 24% said communication with colleagues has been the most challenging, while 18% said managing their workload.

“Evident from these results is that many employees are facing challenges while working from home, in particular working longer hours and not finding that separation between work and home life. As winter approaches, opportunities to offset these challenges will be reduced and could negatively impact employees’ mental health” said Mark Fallon, Director at Coopman Search and Selection.

EMPLOYER SUPPORT
The survey found that 69% of employees have received equipment from their employers to effectively work from home. 58% also said their company have the necessary policies and procedures in place for remote working.

57% feel they have received adequate resources from their employer to combat stress while working from home, while 66% said they would feel comfortable talking to their employer if they were experiencing stress.

“It is great to see that many employers are providing their employees with the support and resources they need to work remotely” Mark added.

“There are further actions that can be taken, the most important of which is to encourage an honest, open dialogue with employees right throughout the winter months to ensure that they are ok.”

“Flexible working hours to allow employees to get outside during daylight hours, non-work related virtual events to allow employees to socialise, less or no communication outside of working hours to allow employees their down time, and work-life balance and wellbeing initiatives are some other ways in which employees feel employers can further support them.”

“These measures may help to reduce or possibly prevent feelings of isolation, loneliness and stress.”

To see the full results and to find out more about how employers can support their employees working from home this winter, download “Working from Home this Winter: A Guide for Employers”.

Listen to Mark Fallon, Coopman Search and Selection Join Gavin McLoughlin on Newstalk’s Breakfast Business to talk about the survey.

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