Talent retention: understanding the front line

Swiss bank Julius Baer also targets those outside the industry, especially students from prestigious hotel management training academies and those from industries related to luxury goods and services. Many of these intakes are bilingual and are able to cater for sophisticated and sometimes demanding clients.

So what does this mean for Australian private banks? Although severe staff shortages and staff poaching are yet to happen in Australia, some private banks here have experienced high staff turnover in recent years – from client-facing relationship managers through to general managers and heads of the business. To control this, private banks will need to focus more on achieving internal stability, direction and cohesion. And investment in staff training and development – the most valuable asset of an organisation – can go some way to achieving this.

Alan Shields is a director of Retail Finance Intelligence – www.rfintelligence.com.au