Compliance, or meeting legal and regulatory requirements, is an important aspect for any financial services company. At a time when regulations are becoming increasingly complex and the price of non-compliance is rising, so is the demand for experienced compliance professionals. They help financial service providers improve their business processes and minimise risks, while ensuring regulatory compliance.  

This raises a crucial question: How can financial services firms attract and retain these in-demand professionals? According to Stephen Fournier, senior consultant at international recruitment firm Robert Walters and a specialist in recruiting compliance professionals, in today's business world, developing innovative strategies is central to attracting compliance experts. He shares 5 valuable pieces of advice on how financial services firms can successfully meet this challenge:  

1. Beyond language and national borders  

Compliance requirements in the financial services sector are often regulated at the European level, such as Solvency II. As a result, the legislation of different European countries is similar in many areas. Stephen: "These international parallels provide an opportunity to broaden your recruiting scope and attract foreign compliance talent with extensive backgrounds."   

Being open to English-speaking candidates, rather than just Dutch- and French-speaking professionals, generally offers a big advantage. By posting vacancies in English and offering support such as language courses, you create an inviting environment. This, in turn, can encourage and strengthen the diversity and breadth of your candidate pool.  

2. Autonomy and personal responsibility  

By giving your employees freedom in shaping their tasks and giving them strategic space, you enable them to better identify with their compliance activities.

"Instead of a rigid focus on only specific areas such as KYC or AML, it can be beneficial to create generalist design freedom. You offer a wide range of experience and development opportunities that way, which is attractive to candidates," Stephen explains.  

3. Flexible working model and attractive salary package  

Flexible and hybrid working models improve work-life balance, increase productivity and promote talent retention. In addition, to attract experienced professionals, it is essential to benchmark the salary package offered to meet or even exceed market standards.  

4. Data-based recruitment  

Using data to recruit new employees offers the advantage of targeting the talent you need. This improves the efficiency of recruitment activities and ensures a better match between candidates and open positions.  

"In my experience, the financial services firms that win the most sought-after profiles in the compliance environment are the ones that make their recruitment process particularly efficient and don't make candidates wait long for a response. It's like a race to attract the best talent for the competition," says Stephen.

5. The role of external partners  

 "External partners, such as recruitment agencies, are invaluable in the recruitment process," says Stephen. "They know the labour market and often have access to candidates who are not actively looking for a job, but can be convinced of interesting opportunities. They can significantly reduce the time and effort a company has to spend on recruitment. Moreover, they have in-depth knowledge of current salary trends, which can help enormously during negotiations. In other words, they bring the right talent to the right company at the right time - which is ultimately a win-win for everyone."

More information? 

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