Financial Industry: HR & Recruiting

Large blue sign with the words "bank" and a magnifying glass over the top with the words "case study"

A Washington-based financial institution gets a fully staffed corporate team that is aligned around newly defined values.

Challenges
  • An interruption in HR leadership
  • Hiring needs without a recruiting structure

Our Client had been a trusted financial institution in the Pacific Northwest for nearly 100 years when we partnered with them in 2022. Their HR leader had taken an extended leave of absence and they engaged Swift HR Solutions Inc to fill the gap. Senior HR Consultant Michael stepped in to support strategic HR. Michael has extensive experience leading larger companies through transitions, growth periods, and HR department redesigns, so he was a great fit for this project.

Michael began with an assessment of the HR function and a realignment of department goals and objectives. He worked closely with the CEO on defining the company’s mission, vision, and values. Michael developed a plan to use these values not only to change the current employee mindset but also to influence recruiting, onboarding, performance management, and leadership development. This made sure that employees aligned with the bank’s values.

Recruiting New Talent

Our client needed to fill several important positions, so Leanne, a Senior Talent Consultant with SwiftTalent™, was also brought in for a full-service talent acquisition engagement. Michael and Leanne worked closely together at a strategic level, making sure goals were aligned.

Before we began working with this client, the HR leader managed their recruiting function. There was not a dedicated talent management resource, so much of the work fell on the hiring managers and there was little proactive sourcing of candidates.

Leanne was able to implement important recruiting processes. She held strategy meetings with hiring managers, sourced passive candidates, scheduled and conducted candidate interviews, held regular Hiring Manager update meetings, discussed compensation strategies, and extended offers. She also provided weekly reporting on all recruitment actively for leadership and built effective interview guides that matched company values. She developed templates and tools that aligned with the newly documented hiring process so that when this Client was ready, they could seamlessly transition to a full-time Recruiter. During the 9-month engagement, they spent an average of only $8,300 per placement for talent services.

Set up for Success

Michael and Leanne helped build a strong HR foundation by bringing on new additions to the team including a Recruiter, Payroll Specialist, and HR Coordinator. At the end of our engagement, our consultants helped bring on a full-time VP level Head of HR to lead the team. These new additions to the team had a strong HR and Talent Management foundation to work from, setting them up for success.

Results
  • A fully staffed HR team with a strategic leader
  • Over a dozen positions filled
  • Documented recruiting processes
  • Established organizational development practices and opportunities
  • Mission, vision and values that drive business decisions