Over decades of working with hundreds of banking organizations, I don't believe I've ever spoken with a leader who didn't believe that
The answer to the question, "What differentiates your organization from the competition?" inevitably revolves around people.
So, suffice it to say that the actual processes of attracting and bringing good people onto their teams should be of paramount importance.
Yet, I often find that even well-intentioned and conscientious leaders have little to no working knowledge of how difficult and frustrating it might be for a prospect to join their team. Beyond that, a good number of leaders do know, but they seemingly only shake their heads at how challenging their application and hiring systems are for prospective employees.
I've had middle managers share with me that after they personally recruit someone for a job, they go out of their way to apologize for the processes that will follow. One leader recently told me, "I assure people I recruit that we're not as hard a place to work as the application process suggests."
Now, I'm fully aware that some things are difficult for a reason. I have empathy for human resources professionals who feel the pressure to be overly meticulous in the screening of candidates.
But I fear that many organizations do not fully grasp how many potentially great hires are never given a meaningful look or simply quit trying during the application process.
It's a subject I've mostly been on the periphery of for many years. That said, I've had many friends and colleagues share both maddening and hysterical stories about their adventures in job searches.
The subject came into fresh focus for me recently when a member of my family was encouraged to consider a position with a large institution. Now, this family member is content with where they are and not in need of a job. That said, I strongly believe they would be an amazing fit for the role being offered.
Feeling like this might be a solid opportunity, I felt obliged to assist and offer advice to this person through the process. Within five minutes of starting, my opinion of the company plummeted. I wondered: If they made what should be a straightforward initial interaction so tedious, what must working for them be like?
I half-joked that maybe the job requires such high levels of patience that they intentionally make the application process as frustrating as possible.
The Long Island-based thrift, long associated with multifamily and CRE lending, saw business lending spike the past year as it onboarded 15 banking teams. Other banks that did significant hiring have also reported more deposits and wider margins.
Perhaps the application process itself is part of aptitude screening?
This company's process had all the cringe-inducing features people often share in horror stories. For instance, you had to upload your resume, only to then be required to manually recreate it, job by job, on their website.
As if it were some kind of cruel joke, the system grabbed data from the resume and pre-filled certain fields — but did so incorrectly. This forced you to painstakingly review and delete the wrong data before re-entering the correct information from the resume you had already uploaded.
Honestly, this gave the impression of incompetence on the part of the company. Either that, or they believed they were doing applicants a favor by allowing them to apply for a position, so they didn't care if the process was confusing or frustrating.
Again, I have empathy for the folks trying to screen out likely unqualified applicants to optimize the time spent on qualified ones, while also respecting the time of those responsible for interviews and hiring decisions.
I strongly believe that the people and departments responsible for attracting and onboarding team members deserve the attention, resources and status needed to excel.
Few tasks or departments are as crucial to a company's long-term performance and growth as those involved in building and staffing our teams.
A streamlined, transparent and respectful recruitment experience is not just about filling positions — it's also about setting the tone for the kind of workplace culture you want to build and project.
After applying (or attempting) to join your team, would an applicant think more highly of your organization, or less? Is your process something you'd consider a competitive advantage in building a team?
Are any organized efforts made to stay in contact with quality individuals who may not have been the selection this time around?
Leaders should regularly review and experience their own hiring processes firsthand, implementing improvements where necessary to ensure they are not unintentionally turning away the very people who could help drive the company's future success.
