Managing and controlling personnel successfully

Not all the employees form the "human capital" of your bank, but only the "right" ones. However, wrong choices, especially when it comes to managerial positions, result in additional costs that can reach up to three times the annual salary. The so-called soft factors are the hardest requirements for success: Comparative studies covering many years show that companies with high personnel excellence have twice as much success in the market as companies reaching only a low level. At the same time, German banks are in a particularly poor position with regard to utilising their personnel potentials in international comparisons.

Practical experience shows that the core problems are weak links between personnel and bank strategy, a lack of information for controlling and a missing alignment of different instruments and methods ranging from personnel appraisal to the incentive system and personnel management. With regard to personnel management and controlling, we focus on the following success factors:

1. Goal orientation: transparent and operative objectives with a demonstrable relation to corporate success that can be influenced by personnel management.
2. Measurability: key performance indicators that can be collected by the process actors reasonably and economically, that are comparable and objective and that are directly derived from the objectives.
3. Adaptability: a system of key performance indicators that is adjusted to the personnel and corporate strategy and that can be quickly adapted to changes in the enterprise and in the market.
4. Feasibility: orientation of structural and process organisation of personnel management to personnel objectives as well as co-ordination of personnel instruments and methods among each other and with the objectives.
5. Evaluations: a quality-assured key performance indicator system oriented to risk prevention and complemented by measures for further improvements.

Our model approach:

• Competence requirements:
  • Defining core competences for all relevant groups of positions
  • Laying down competence levels (target levels)
  • Assessing the status quo (current levels) and carrying out a gap analysis
  • Drawing up a competence requirement map as well as possible development measures

• Qualitative and quantitative personnel planning:
  • Deriving the type and scope of the relevant tasks for all groups of positions from the bank (sub-)strategy
  • Deriving capacity requirements for each group of positions from activity plans
  • Calculating personnel scenarios for the next three to five years (actual capacities now and in 3 to 5 years)
  • Identifying quantitative and qualitative gaps and excessive resources in groups of functions
  • Defining and prioritising measures

• Road map for optimising personnel management:
  • Target concept of the personnel department as a service provider and driving force
  • Defining core tasks and processes of personnel management
  • Structure and capacities of the personnel department
  • Laying down key personnel processes and checking efficiency potentials
  • Establishing the implementation plan and schedule for developing the personnel department (road map)

Results:

1. Target competence profiles for all groups of positions.
2. Competence requirement map for PD with the resulting measures for the next 3 to 5 years.
3. Detailed qualitative and quantitative personnel planning including an action plan and recommendations for HR indicators.
4. Overall assessment of HR fitness and road map for the next 3 to 5 years.