Financial services in Ireland is a highly competitive business. The skills and commitment of our employees are vital in making sure that we continue to remain successful and to allow us to achieve our ambition to deliver top-class products and services to our customers.
Total group employee numbers have fallen from a peak of 5,607 at the end of 2007 to 5,024 at the end of 2009.
Reductions have taken place across all of our businesses. This includes 225 employees who are on career break at the end of 2009 and 57 who have availed of voluntary severance and voluntary early retirement schemes during the year. There was a sharp reduction in employee turnover in 2009 to 7.8% – approximately half the level of the previous two years.
- Recruitment and retention
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1 Excludes employees employed on fixed-term contracts who joined and left within the year.
2 Data is for Irish Life and permanent tsb, representing 93% of group employees at end 2009
- Analysis of our workforce
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Analysis of our workforce at the end of 2009
The data analysing our workforce at the end of 2009 is shown in the graphs opposite and below:
Gender balance in the workforce
The balance of men and women at managerial level has remained at an approximate level of 70/30 male/female during the past three years. As we have said in previous reports, our policy is to offer equal opportunities of advancement to both men and women. We will continue to monitor data on gender balance and look at ways of improving this balance.
FÁS Programme
permanent tsb recruited 13 people from the FÁS back-to-work scheme in January 2008. Three people are currently working in customer support roles in the mortgage department where they provide customer service support for our mortgage customers. Ten recruits were assigned to the branch network and of these three remain with the bank and are working in branches in the greater Dublin area.
- Health, safety and wellbeing
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Health, safety and wellbeing
We have been running health and well-being programmes in Irish Life since 2002 and in permanent tsb since 2005. In Irish Life, the theme for Health & Well-being Week in 2009 was “Working for a healthier tomorrow”. In permanent tsb, the emphasis was on healthy eating and physical activity.
In addition, during 2009 the company was very conscious of the fact that employees face significant challenges managing their way through the current downturn both in their professional and personal lives. With this in mind, our group learning and development team organised a series of well-being workshops throughout the year.
- Communicating
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Employee Surveys
In 2009, staff surveys took place in Irish Life Retail and Irish Life Corporate Business. permanent tsb took part in the Great Place to Work survey with a response rate of 47%. The results of these surveys are still being assessed and actions will be taken in response to issues raised.
Our UK mortgage company, Capital Home Loans Limited, took part for the first time in the ‘Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to work for’ employee engagement survey and achieved 19th position in the top 100 for the ‘small companies’ category.
- Learning & development
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The reduced level of training days and expenditure in 2009 is partly due to the lower number of employees recruited and a consequent reduction in the need for induction training.
However, it is also due to a significant change in the way training is delivered. An increasing proportion of employee training now takes place through a variety of techniques including:
- coaching/mentoring;
- self directed study;
- Point of Sale observation and support; and,
- e-learning.
This “blended learning” strategy is now common practice in most large organisations because it is both more effective and more cost efficient compared with traditional instructor-led training.
We have invested in learning technologies. In 2008, we introduced a Learning Management System (LMS) to all staff in the organisation. E-learning makes up a significant element of our overall learning and development output.
More than 900 Irish Life & Permanent staff is currently receiving financial assistance to undertake a range of professional qualifications. In 2009, 140 staff qualified with the professional programme in financial advice (QFA). In addition, over 14,000 continuing professional development hours were provided to staff group-wide.
Talent and management development
During 2009, we continued our two Access Development programmes and started a third programme. A strong network of Access participants is being built across the organisation. These programmes have a strong impact on individual and team performance.
Two “Essential Skills of Management” programmes were rolled out in 2009. These programmes were delivered for experienced managers and covered topics such as maximising performance, team effectiveness and personal effectiveness.
During 2009, a significant new programme called “I-Learn” was developed and rolled out. Participants on this programme come from the IT community across the group.