Retaining Executive Talent During Economic Difficulties

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Today’s business environment remains challenging for employers of all sizes and within all industries. Difficult-to-navigate economic conditions, underscored by persistent inflation and rising interest rates, have only heightened business leaders’ focus on operational costs and return on investment — and made the retention of key workers critically important. Staff turnover at a senior level is always costly and disruptive, but in today’s market it can be especially brutal to organizations’ bottom line.

Nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans, some of which include bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) policies, are an important piece of the retention puzzle — but in many cases, are being underutilized. When used correctly, NQDC plans are a tool that aligns employees’ behavior with the overall strategy of an organization and even generates better performance for the institution.

Importantly, employee retention is no longer solely a Human Resources issue, it’s an operational imperative. At a time when everyone is looking to offer the right resources and benefits to keep their top talent and mission-critical employees, especially in the financial services industry, implementing innovative executive benefits solutions that go beyond the standard practices can enhance a bank’s ability to succeed and protect a critical resource: their people.

Executive benefits solutions can help employers retain their top talent, but only if employers are aligned with what top their talent wants and have actionable, timely knowledge of the current market landscape. Broad-based benefit plans provide adequate coverage to most employees within an organization. However, regulations means these broad-based solutions leave top employees with shortfalls in areas such as retirement, life insurance and disability coverage.  Executive benefit solutions can help bolster a competitive program to support your top-level talent through strategic design, implementation and administration.

To help address this matter, NFP surveyed several tenured C-suite decision-makers on executive compensation strategies, from a mix of industries that include financial services, manufacturing and real estate. Of those surveyed for the 2023 NFP Executive Compensation and Benefits Trends Study, 78% were in the financial services sector.

Among business leaders, 98% believed it is important to retain top talent, 93% feel executive benefits have been successful in retaining top talent and 82% offer non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans to retain their top talent. The survey also revealed employers have opportunities to improve their NQDC plans, including driving higher usage and better long-term outcomes. Respondents reported their NQDC plan eligibility rates have increased by 45% since 2020, a favorable trend, but have only seen a 32% increase in participation rates over the same period.

Reframing the Conversation
Bank boards should tailor their institution’s plans to the unique needs of their executives and untangle the complicated plan details for eligible participants. Continuous plan communication and knowledge-sharing can also increase executives’ perception of these valuable benefits packages.

Even with a demanding marketplace and focus on retention, companies continue to rely on standard benefits that can seem homogeneous and unchanged. For example, 81% of decision-makers said they don’t plan to select new executive benefits. Employers need to maximize executive benefits to realize their true value. There are several untapped benefits — such as supplemental executive medical insurance and college tuition for children — that are seldom offered but can set an employer apart. Benefits like these can enhance a compensation package’s attractiveness for current and prospective executives.

The Cost of Replacing Top Talent
The 2023 NFP Executive Compensation and Benefits Trends Study data reflected that the retirement behaviors of executives across industries are evolving in a polarized way. Nearly a third of respondents said they intend to retire later than expected, while a quarter anticipate retiring sooner than they had originally planned. With retirement trends shifting in two different directions, companies need to develop benefits plans that fit these varying needs. There’s no question that employers understand talent drives success and that top-tier executive benefits solutions attract and retain top talent. Their challenge is keeping them within budget in the face of rising costs and an unsettled economy.

Though there is a price tag to offering a strong and creative executive benefits package, it is a critical expense that can help with your bottom line: recruiting top talent is expensive and time-consuming, especially as executive demand increases. According to the Society for Human Resource Management and Center for American Progress research, the costs to replace a highly compensated executive are estimated to be 200% to 400%, if counting indirect expenses, of the annual salary associated with that position. Ultimately, businesses are resorting to creative offers to keep their executives satisfied at a manageable cost.

2021 Compensation Survey Results: Fighting for Talent

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Did Covid-19 create an even more competitive landscape for financial talent?

Most banks increased pay and expanded benefits during the pandemic, according to Bank Director’s 2021 Compensation Survey, sponsored by Newcleus Compensation Advisors. The results provide a detailed exploration of employee benefits, in addition to talent and culture trends, CEO performance and pay, and director compensation. 

Eighty-two percent of respondents say their bank expanded or introduced remote work options in response to Covid-19. Flexible scheduling was also broadly expanded or introduced, and more than half say their bank offers caregiver leave. In addition, most offered bonuses to front-line workers, and 62% say their bank awarded bonuses tied to Paycheck Protection Program loans, primarily to lenders and loan production staff.     

And in a year that witnessed massive unemployment, most banks kept employees on the payroll.

Just a quarter of the CEOs, human resources officers, board members and other executives who completed the survey say their bank decreased staff on net last year, primarily branch employees. More than 40% increased the number employed overall in their organization, with respondents identifying commercial and mortgage lending as key growth areas, followed by technology.

The 2021 Compensation Survey was conducted in March and April of 2021. Looking at the same months compared to 2020, the total number of employees remained relatively steady year over year for financial institutions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

Talent forms the foundation of any organization’s success. Banks are no exception, and they proved to be stable employers during trying, unprecedented times.

But given the industry’s low unemployment rate, will financial institutions — particularly smaller banks that don’t offer robust benefit packages like their larger peers — be able to attract and retain the employees they need? The majority — 79% — believe their institution can effectively compete for talent against technology companies and other financial services companies. However, the smallest banks express less confidence, indicating a growing chasm between those that can attract the talent they need to grow, and those forced to make do with dwindling resources. 

Key Findings

Perennial Challenges
Tying compensation to performance (43%) and managing compensation and benefit costs (37%) remain the top two compensation challenges reported by respondents. Just 27% say that adjusting to a post-pandemic work environment is a top concern.

Cultural Shifts
Thirty-nine percent believe that remote work hasn’t changed their institution’s culture, and 38% believe the practice has had a positive effect. However, one-quarter believe remote work has negatively affected their bank’s culture.

M&A Plans
As the industry witnesses a resurgence of bank M&A, more than half have a change-in-control agreement in place for their CEO; 10% put one in place in the last year.

Commercial Loan Demand
More than one-quarter of respondents say their bank has adjusted incentive plan goals for commercial lenders, anticipating more demand. Ten percent expect reduced demand; 60% haven’t adjusted their goals for 2021.

CEO Performance
Following a chaotic and uncertain 2020, a quarter say their board exercised more discretion and/or relied more heavily on qualitative factors in examining CEO performance. More than three-quarters tie performance metrics to CEO pay, including income growth (56%), return on assets (53%) and asset quality (46%). Qualitative factors are less favored, and include strategic goals (56%) and community involvement (29%).

CEO Pay
Median CEO compensation exceeded $600,000 for fiscal year 2020. CEOs of banks over $10 billion in assets earned a median $3.5 million, including salary, incentives, equity compensation, and benefits and perks. 

Director Compensation
More than half of directors believe they’re fairly compensated for their contributions to the bank. Three-quarters indicate that independent directors earn a board meeting fee, at a median of $1,000 per meeting. Sixty-two percent say their board awards an annual cash retainer, at a median of $21,600. 

To view the full results of the survey, click here.

In Nonqualified Benefit Plans, One Size Does Not Fit All

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Employers have long struggled with the ability to attract, retain and reward key talent at their company.

Government limits and restrictions on the amount that employees and employers may contribute toward qualified retirement plans such as a 401(k) leave many highly compensated executives without enough retirement income to sustain their current standard of living.

A supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) is a defined benefit and a great way to solve both governmental limits and the ability to attract, retain and reward talent. SERPs are typically designed to make up for a retirement income shortfall, because executives at most companies tend to be in their late 40s and 50s.

But when consultants design SERPs solely for retirement income — because the decision-makers are concerned about retirement — they often make the mistake of designing a plan that fails its primary goal: attracting, retaining and rewarding key talent.

Consider the following: Executive A is 57, married with no children. He is maxing out his company’s 401(k) plan but still has not saved enough for retirement. His employer wants to reward him for his 15 years of service and keep him for another 10 years until his retirement. Putting a SERP in place that promises to pay him 40% of his final pay for 15 years will accomplish the employer’s goal because he is only 10 years from retirement and concerned about it.

Now let’s take a look at his successor in training. Executive B is 40 years old, married and has three kids, ages 4, 6 and 8. He is contributing very little to his 401(k). His employer wants to retain him to succeed Executive A. The employer offers him the same SERP that will pay him 40% of final pay at retirement. Three years go by, and Executive B leaves the company for a higher paying job. The plan failed the employer’s goal because to most 40-year-olds, short-term incentives are king. Promising a benefit 27 years down the road does little to retain an executive in the short term.

That is where many consultants and employers make mistakes during the design process. They don’t ask themselves: If they were in a similar stage in life as the executive, what would matter most? They also fail to ask the executives being considered what’s important to them. Many employers and executives hesitate to answer honestly. That’s where a consultant can be invaluable during the planning process. Asking the important questions to establish goals is key to making a plan work effectively.

Once the bank has a good understanding of what is important to top talent, they can design a plan to accomplish the goals. Plans can pay out benefits at certain pre-set dates or life events while still employed to accomplish goals other than retirement. Here are a few examples:

  • Lump sum in 5 years for mission work.
  • Four annual payments starting in 10 years to help pay for college.
  • Lump sum at age 50 to buy a boat.

Consider the following alternative benefit design for Executive B and its value to him. Executive B is 40 years old. He is married with three children, ages 4, 6 and 8. After being interviewed, he is most concerned about paying for his children’s college. Therefore, instead of offering him a SERP that pays out at retirement, his employer offers him a SERP that allows the executive to receive some payments while still employed.

This plan allows Executive B to direct up to half of the employer contribution into a short term or “college funding” bucket. This bucket will start paying in 10 years, when his oldest child starts college. The other half of the contribution goes into a “retirement” bucket. This is set aside for supplemental retirement income.

Will this accomplish the employer’s goal? It definitely has a better chance. This two-bucket approach is of great value to Executive B, because it addresses his immediate need to save for college and also starts to build a retirement account.

Using alternative approaches to the traditional design of focusing on retirement is more important than ever. Employer can accomplish their goals using a nonqualified plan, as long as they remember that “one size does not always fit all.”

Insurance services provided through NFP Executive Benefits, LLC. (NFP EB), a subsidiary of NFP Corp. (NFP). Doing business in California as NFP Executive Benefits & Insurance Agency, LLC. (License #OH86767). Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Kestra Investment Services, LLC is not affiliated with NFP or NFP EB.
Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures

Unlocking Meaningful Compensation to Keep Essential Talent

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Banks are no strangers to using nonqualified deferred compensation plans to attract, retain and motivate their employees and strengthen their succession plans.

According to the American Bankers Association’s 2019 Compensation & Benefits Survey, nearly 65% of banks report utilizing deferred compensation plans. These plans can include supplemental executive retirement plans, or SERPs, which are typically designed for the seasoned bank executive talent. Unlike a 401(k) plan, a SERP has no contribution limit or rules that mandate that all employees must be able to participate. They are purposely designed for highly compensated executives and key employees for whom the 401(k) contribution limits act as a form of “reverse discrimination” toward retirement. These limits can cause a whole host of problems if not addressed by the introduction of a SERP.

Meaningful, thoughtful compensation will be essential for banks interested in motivating and retaining key executives and talent as they continue navigating through these unprecedented times. Guaranty Bancshares’s CFO Cappy Payne called the SERP a “cornerstone” of the Addison, Texas-based bank’s compensation approach.

“[W]e have a wide variety of executive compensation and benefit plans for our senior level management,” he says. “We purposely diversify their compensation such that it increases our ability to attract, retain and motivate the talent we need to differentiate in this incredibly tough economic environment.”

SERPs are often offered alongside several other types of long-term incentive compensation vehicles. Long-term plans can include stock options, stock appreciation rights, phantom stock, restricted stock, restricted units, performance shares of units and combinations of two or three plans. All of these programs are also a form of deferred compensation, like a SERP, but don’t offer as much customization as a SERP. Additionally, most institutions use bank owned life insurance as an indirect funding approach.

A bank may design the SERP so the executive receives a benefit at a later date — like retirement or after 15 years of service. The benefit of the SERP may be issued as a lump sum, a series of payments or combination thereof. It can also have performance criteria added as a motivational incentive. And because there are no contribution limits, this ability to customize and design around one executive team generates a significant ROI. Payne says Guaranty “strongly believes” in the customization of its long-term compensation plans.

“We find customization increases the appreciation of our efforts. In addition, when used with other plans like the annual incentive plan, and other stock-based long-term incentives, we believe we are able to sustain bank leadership that creates a successful banking atmosphere,” he says.

But SERPs aren’t perfect; just like any other executive compensation and benefit plan, it’s critical that bank executives and boards understand their disadvantages. One disadvantage is the funds that accumulate for a SERP are not protected from bankruptcy and creditor claims in the event of insolvency. SERP participants become general creditors of the bank. Still, the plans offer significant advantages and can be incredibly attractive to banks as employers.

  1. They are easy to implement.
  2. The don’t require IRS approval.
  3. They can be customized to the executive team and included as a retirement benefit.
  4. Banks can use BOLI to help recover their costs and offer a split-dollar life insurance benefit while employed.

All of these advantages combined make for a powerful compensation cocktail that, when used in conjunction with other plans and communicated appropriately, is dynamite.

Banks are under more pressure than ever before to succeed. The pandemic, low interest rates and political uncertainty all contribute to questions and uncertainty in the workplace — including among top executives. SERPs can be a powerful tool in the hands of visionary banks. The flexibility afforded in a SERP is second to none. Finally, it’s just smart business to make sure banks can differentiate themselves while being sustainable by attracting, retaining and motivating the best talent possible.

Compensation, Talent Challenges Abound in Pandemic Environment

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The coronavirus pandemic has not altered the toughest hiring and talent challenges that banks face; it has accelerated them.

These range from finding and hiring the right people to compensating them meaningfully to succession planning. Day Three of Bank Director’s 2020 BankBEYOND experience explores all of these topics and more through the lens of investing in and cultivating talent.

Institutions looking to thrive, not merely survive, in an environment with low loan demand and heightened credit risk need talented, diverse people with essential competencies. But skills in information security, technology, lending and risk have been getting harder to find and retain, according to more than 70% of directors, CEOs, human resources officers and other senior executives responding to Bank Director’s 2020 Compensation Survey this spring.

On top of that, the remote environment that many are still operating under has made it harder to interview and onboard these individuals. And managing employees working outside the office may require a different approach than managing them on-site. There are a handful of other timely challenges, pandemic or not, that banks must be prepared to encounter.

Compensation Challenges
The pandemic has also compound challenging trends in hiring and compensation that banks already face. Headcount and associated compensation costs are one of a bank’s biggest variable expenses; in a tough earnings environment, it is more important than ever that they control that while still crafting pay that rewards prudent performance. Executives and boards may also need to contend with incentive compensation plans containing metrics or parameters that are no longer relevant or realistic, and how to message and reward employees for performance in this uncertain environment.

Retaining, Hiring Employees
Banks must recruit and retain younger and diverse employees who fit within the organization’s culture. Half of respondents to our survey indicated that it’s difficult to attract and retain entry-level employees; 30% cited recruiting younger talent as a top-three challenge this year, compared to 21% in 2017.

But banks and many other companies may encounter another trend: parents, especially women, leaving the workforce. Child-rearing responsibilities and distance-learning complications have forced working parents without effective support systems to prioritize between their children and their career. More than 800,000 women left the job market in September, making up the bulk of the 1.1 million people who opted out. Those departures were responsible for driving most of the declines in the unemployment rate that month.

Diversity & Inclusion
Fewer women working at banks means less gender diversity — which is an area where many banks already struggle. That could be in part due to the fact many banks haven’t prioritized measuring that and other diversity and inclusion metrics like race, ethnicity or status of disability or military service.

In Bank Director’s 2020 Governance Best Practices Survey, almost half of directors expressed skepticism that diversity on the board has a positive effect on corporate performance. Perhaps it’s not surprising that in our Compensation Survey, 42% of respondents say they don’t have a formal D&I program.

To access the 2020 BankBEYOND recordings, click here to register.

Survey Results: Crisis Reinforces Need for Talent

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Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, banks have relied on their employees to counsel customers and process billions of dollars of Paycheck Protection Program loans — not to mention working behind the scenes as they adapt to a virtual work environment.

The crisis reinforces the old adage that good talent is hard to find. “Hire right,” investor Ray Dalio once wrote. “The penalties of hiring wrong are huge.”

Bank Director’s 2020 Compensation Survey, sponsored by Compensation Advisors, confirms that talent can be difficult to find in key areas. More than 70% of directors, CEOs, human resources officers and other senior executives responding to the survey point to skills that are particularly difficult to hire and retain, such as information security, technology, lending and risk.

But hiring less-skilled staff also proves challenging: Half indicate that it’s “somewhat” or “very” difficult to attract and retain entry-level employees who fit into the organization’s culture. What’s more, concerns around recruiting younger talent have risen slightly in the past three years: 30% cite this as a top-three challenge this year, compared to 21% in 2017.

Yet, 79% believe their bank offers an effective compensation package that helps attract and retain top talent.

This apparent disconnect could stem from the generation gap between bank leadership and younger staff. Two-thirds of survey respondents are over 55, while more than half of their bank’s workforce is 45 or younger. One can infer that these employees, mostly Gen Z and millennials, primarily occupy entry and mid-level positions.

The survey was distributed in March and April, as the coronavirus forced banks to rapidly shift operations to work-from-home arrangements and adjust branch procedures. Ninety-two percent of respondents indicate their bank instituted or expanded remote work, and 80% introduced or expanded flexible scheduling in response to Covid-19. As the industry emerges from this crisis, how will this impact corporate culture moving forward, as well as expectations from prospective employees?

Key Findings

Covid-19 Response
In addition to adapting to remote and flexible work arrangements, more than half expanded paid leave to encourage staff to stay home if they showed symptoms of the virus. In addition, 81% have limited service to drive-thru only, and 78% limited in-person meetings to appointment only, in order to keep customers and staff safe.

Top Compensation Challenges
The top two compensation challenges that respondents identify remain the same compared to last year: tying compensation to performance (48%), and managing compensation and benefit costs (44%).

Few Measure D&I Progress
Stakeholders have increasingly paid attention to corporate efforts around diversity & inclusion. However, 42% of respondents say their bank lacks a formal D&I program, and doesn’t track progress toward hiring and promoting women, minorities, veterans or individuals with disabilities. Of the metrics most frequently tracked by banks, 58% look at the percentage of women at different levels of the bank, and 51% at the percentage of minorities. Less than half track the gender pay gap, participation of women or minorities in development programs, or participation by employees in D&I-focused education and training.

CEO Retirement
More than 20% expect their CEO to step down within the next three years; an additional 7% are unsure whether their CEO will retire. This metric is, naturally, age dependent: For CEOs over the age of 65, more than half are expected to retire.

CEO, Board Pay Increased
Median total CEO compensation increased in fiscal year 2019, to $649,227. Pay ranged from a median of $251,000 for banks under $250 million to $3.6 million for banks above $10 billion. More than 70% measure CEO performance against the bank’s strategic plan and corporate goals.

To view the full results of the survey, click here.

The High Cost of Good Talent and the Value of Retention

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How would your bank fare if your top-performing lenders left tomorrow?

A bank succeeds because of its employees who grow the bank and keep it safe. The departure of these employees can impose massive costs to a bank in lost relationships and the effort to find new personnel. Has management at your bank adequately assessed the financial cost and risk of losing its key employees? What would be the financial impact to the bottom line and shareholder value if a key employee is not retained?

The direct cost of replacing a high-performing employee is up to 213% of the annual salary associated with the position, according to research by the Society for Human Resource Management. Total costs can rise to as much as 400% when considering indirect expenses. Direct costs include screening, interviewing, acquisition cost, onboarding and training, while indirect costs include lost productivity, short-staffing, coverage cost and reduced morale.

The following are hypothetical examples that help illustrate both the costs and risks associated with replacing a key employee at a bank:

Example 1: A lender in their early 40s who maintains a $40 million loan portfolio with a 4% margin joins a competitor bank. The estimated earnings on the lender’s portfolio were $1.6 million. If 30% of the portfolio moves to the competing bank, that would create an annual impact of $480,000. The bank stands to lose $1.4 million in three years. Assuming this lender generates $10 million in new loans annually, that adds another $400,000 in additional lost income. Losing this one lender results in lost annual revenue of almost $900,000.

Now imagine the bank has seven lenders with similar portfolios and margins. If the entire team left, the lost revenue potential could be over $6 million annually.

Example 2: A bank loses its compliance officer. In addition to the direct financial costs of replacing the officer, this could cause both short- and long-term regulatory and financial risks and challenges. If the officer had a salary of $90,000, the cost to replace them is between $191,700 and $360,000, using the 213% and 400% of base salary replacement cost assumptions. There could also be additional costs associated with potential outsourcing the compliance services until the bank can hire a new compliance officer.

Fortunately, in both of these examples, management preemptively responded by strategically designing compensation programs to retain the officers. Quantifying the lost revenue and costs to replace the employees demonstrated the substantial risks to the bank, and convinced executives of the  inadequacies of the compensation plan in place.

It is critical that banks design and implement competitive compensation plans that provide meaningful benefits. Some compensation committees believe a salary and an annual performance bonus are adequate to retain key employees. But based on our experience, banks with higher retention rates offer two to four types of compensation plans, in addition to salary and bonus. Examples include employee stock ownership plans, stock options, restrictive stock, phantom stock, profit sharing, salary continuation plans and deferred compensation plans. These plans provide for payments either at retirement or while employed, or a combination of pre- and post-retirement payments. Banks can strategically design and customize these plans in ways that incentivize strong performance but fit the demographics and needs of the key personnel. There is no one-size-fits-all plan.

Additionally, nonqualified executive benefit programs such as supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs) and deferred compensation plans (DCPs) can help your key employees accumulate supplemental funds for retirement. Their flexibility allows them to be used alongside other forms of compensation to enhance your bank’s overall executive benefit program by offering additional incentives and incorporating special features intended to retain top performers who may not be focused on retirement. For example, a deferred compensation plan with payments timed to when the officer’s children are college age can be highly valued by an officer fitting that demographic.

The significant potential financial impact when your bank loses key employees quantifies and underlines the value and importance of retention, so it is paramount that executives meaningfully and competitively compensate these employees. Banks without a strong corporate culture and a competitive compensation plan in place are at a higher risk of losing key employees and may have an emerging potential retention problem.

Using Succession Planning to Unlock Compensation Challenges

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compensation-9-16-19.pngSuccession planning could be the key solution boards can use to address their biggest compensation challenges.

Succession planning is one of the most critical tasks for a bank’s board of directors, right up there with attracting talented executives and compensating them. But many boards miss the opportunity of allowing succession planning to drive talent retention and compensation. Banks can address two major challenges with one well-crafted plan.

Ideally, succession planning is an ongoing discussion between executive management and board members. Proper planning encourages banks to assess their current talent base for various positions and identify opportunities or shortfalls.

It’s not a static one-and-done project either. Directors should be aware of the problems that succession planning attempts to solve: preparing future leaders, filling any talent voids, attracting and retaining key talent, strategically disbursing training funds and ultimately, improving shareholder value.

About a third of respondents in the Bank Director’s 2019 Compensation Survey reported that “succession planning for the CEO and/or executives” was one of the biggest challenges facing their banks. More popular challenges included “tying compensation to performance,” “managing compensation and benefit costs,” and “recruiting commercial lenders.”

But in our experience, these priorities are out of order. Developing a strategic succession planning process can actually drive solutions to the other three compensation challenges.

There are several approaches boards can use to formulate a successful succession plan. But they should start by assessing the critical roles in the bank, the projected departure dates of those individuals, and information and guidance about the skills needed for each position.

Boards should be mindful that the current leaders’ skill sets may be less relevant or evolve in the future. Susan Rogers, organizational change expert and president of People Pinnacle, said succession planning should consider what skills the role may require in the future, based on a company’s strategic direction and trends in the industry and market.

“The skills and experiences that got you where you are today likely won’t get you where you need to go in the future. We need to prepare future leaders for what’s ahead rather than what’s behind,” she said.

Once a board has identified potential successors, it can now design compensation plans that align their roles and training plans with incentives to remain with the organization. Nonqualified benefit plans, such as deferred compensation programs, can be effective tools for attracting and retaining key bank performers.

According to the American Bankers Association 2018 Compensation and Benefits Survey, 64% of respondents offered a nonqualified deferred compensation plan for top management. Their design flexibility means they can focus on both longer-term deferrals to provide retirement income or shorter-term deferrals for interim financial needs.

Plans with provisions that link benefits to the long-term success of the bank can help increase performance and shareholder value. Bank contributions can be at the board’s discretion or follow defined performance goals, and can either be a specific dollar amount or a percentage of an executive’s salary. Succession and training goals can also be incorporated into the plan’s award parameters.

Such plans can be very attractive to key employees, particularly the young and high performing. For example, assume that the bank contributes 8% of a $125,000 salary for a 37-year-old employee annually until age 65. At age 65, the participant could have an account balance equal to $1,470,000 (assuming a crediting rate equal to the bank’s return on assets (8%), with an annual payment of $130,000 per year for 15 years).

This same participant could also use a portion of the benefit to pay for college expenses for two children, paid for with in-service distributions from the nonqualified plan. Assume there are two children, ages three and seven, and the employee wants $25,000 a year to be distributed for each child for four years. These annual $25,000 distributions would be paid out when the employee was between ages 49 and 56. The remaining portion would be available for retirement and provide an annual benefit of $83,000 for 15 years, beginning at age 65.

Boards could use a plan like this in lieu of stock plans that have similar time horizons. This type of arrangement can be more enticing to younger leaders looking at shorter, more mid-term financial needs than a long-term incentive plan.

And many banks already have defined benefit-type supplemental retirement plans to recruit, retain, and reward key executives. These plans are very popular with executives who are 45 and older, because they provide specific monthly distributions at retirement age.

It is important that boards craft meaningful compensation plans that reward older and younger executives, especially when they are vital to the bank’s overall succession planning efforts and future success.

Exclusive: How KeyCorp Keeps Diversity & Inclusion in Focus

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Banks large and small are focusing more sharply on diversity and inclusion as a way to attract and retain the best talent, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

One bank demonstrating a robust D&I program is $141.5 billion asset KeyCorp, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. It’s perhaps no coincidence that it’s the largest bank led by a woman: CEO Beth Mooney, who took the reins at the superregional bank in 2011 to become the first female CEO of a major U.S. financial institution.

Heading KeyCorp’s D&I efforts since 2018 is Kim Manigault, who joined Key in 2012. She previously served as the chief financial officer in the bank’s technology and operations groups; before that, she spent 12 years at Bank of America Corp. in similar roles.

“I’ve had lots of different opportunities at different organizations, but I’ll say in coming to Key, what I realized here is a really firm and demonstrated commitment to creating opportunities for women as well [as men] in our senior ranks,” Manigault told Bank Director Vice President of Research Emily McCormick, who interviewed her as part of the cover story for the 2nd quarter 2019 issue of Bank Director magazine. (You can read the story, “A Woman’s Place is in the C-Suite,” by clicking here.)

A strong D&I strategy isn’t solely the domain of big banks. In this transcript—available exclusively to members of our Bank Services program—Manigault delves into KeyCorp’s intentional and deliberate focus on diversity and inclusion, and shares the tactics that work within the organization.

She also discusses:

  • Components of KeyCorp’s D&I program
  • Measuring Success
  • Creating a Culture of Inclusion

The interview has been edited for brevity, clarity and flow.

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 Download transcript for the full exclusive interview

Pat Summitt’s Model on Talent Development

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talent-1-16-19.pngWith unemployment at its lowest point since 1969, the competition for top talent is as fierce as it has been in years.

While many experienced banking professionals know well that the industry offers challenges, rewards and opportunities, many millennials and Gen Z’ers remain reluctant to pursue a career in banking.

The high-performing banks of the future will be those that can translate those benefits to attract, develop, reward and retain top talent. There are two places your bank can start this process.

Banks already provide strong salaries, bonus opportunities, health-care coverage and retirement plans. The challenge the industry now faces is how to make the banking industry more attractive to today’s generation of younger recruits.

What a bank should consider includes flexible work hours, the ability to work remotely and cross-training. If the bank can demonstrate a track record and policy of promoting from within, the job opportunity will be even more attractive to a potential hire.
Another recruiting tool we have often used successfully, particularly for younger individuals, is a deferred compensation program designed to help pay down student loans, with vesting provisions that encourage continued employment at the bank.

But once you acquire top talent, how do you develop them as future leaders?

First, an ongoing coaching and mentoring program is critical.

Pat Summitt, the legendary University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach who won more games than any other NCAA Division I women’s coach, recruited talented players.

Once they joined the team, she delivered an individualized plan to improve each player’s weaker areas. She also provided regular feedback and monitoring. This method of coaching and mentoring led to 1,098 career victories and Hall of Fame success as a coach and leader. So, how can Summitt’s approach help your bank?

When developing the bank’s future senior management, the board and the CEO should ensure they agree on both the long-term strategic plan and the necessary skills to execute that plan.

They should then identify the internal candidates best suited to develop and provide them with opportunities for growth. It is important the bank develop a culture of honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses, and provide ongoing mentoring and feedback.

Even with top talent, it is unlikely that Summitt would have achieved the success she did had she provided her players with feedback only once a year.

In addition to an ongoing assessment and coaching program, the bank should discuss a career path for potential leaders, and the company should provide the necessary training and cross training, when feasible, to allow promising employees to learn each facet of the bank’s operations. Thorough training programs can be very attractive in recruitment and are invaluable to the development of a leader.

Once the bank has invested in developing up-and-coming leaders, rewarding them appropriately and incenting them to remain with your bank is critical. No doubt, your competitors will recognize the strong leaders you are developing and actively recruit your talent, requiring your bank to maintain not just competitive salaries, but methods of keeping your compensation programs unique and desirable.

An example is a nonqualified deferred compensation plan that pays in-service distributions at the end of certain periods, such as three- or five-year time frames. This type of plan typically would include performance-based compensation tied to specified goals.

Additional amounts can be credited to the deferred compensation account and distributed at the end of a longer period (such as 10 years), providing even more incentive to stay with the bank.

If the individual terminates before the applicable distribution period(s), undistributed funds can be allocated to hire a talented replacement or credited back to the bank’s income.

We have found these flexible deferred compensation arrangements, when combined with other tools, to be helpful in recruiting, developing and keeping top talent.

An active career development program bolstered with proper financial incentives can help ensure your bank has the right leaders for the future.