Making the most of your people

Smart management and motivation of talent will be critical in adapting to an increasingly regulated and risk-averse UK financial services market. A key challenge for HR professionals is how to promote a more sustainable balance between risk, performance and reward - without creating compensation structures that are needlessly complex and out of step with overall strategic objectives. As remuneration policies within mainstream banks become more restricted, they are likely to face increased competition for high performers from boutiques and hedge funds. The star talent of the pre-crisis era may indeed not necessarily be the right people to take the business forward as the ability to take a long-term approach to performance and risk whilst working within a more tightly controlled environment come increasingly to the fore.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is working with UK financial services organisations to adapt their HR strategies to an evolving industry landscape. This includes reviewing and upgrading skills requirements, along with the development of reward arrangements which reflect risk-adjusted performance.