As Bank of America follows Barclays, empaths to manage Gen Z are the new key people
Three junior bankers have died in the past year - Leo Lukenas at Bank of America, Adam Deunic at Bank of America (a trader) and Carter McIntosh at Jefferies. Whether their deaths were due to long working hours or not, all banks are now under pressure to protect juniors. A key role in banking divisions is evolving as a result. - The staffer.
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Bank of America is a case in point. Historically, staffers at Bank of America were associates or vice presidents (VPs) who were seconded into "staffer" roles for a year. In that position, they would allocate junior staff across deals and try to mitigate the worst excesses of working hours. However, the Wall Street Journal says this has changed: Bank of America is now using senior bankers to manage juniors' workloads instead. It's not the only one to do so.
Barclays also switched to a new staffing system last July. At the British bank, two managing directors and two vice presidents now allocate work using a newly centralized system. JPMorgan also created a new role for Ryland McLendon, a managing director in HR last September. McLendon now helps allocate work across the banks' analysts and associates with a view to ensuring that none work more than 80 hours a week.
Speaking off the record, one Bank of America insider says the switch to make the staffing role permanent and more senior actually happened "months ago." It was a necessary change. He says VPs who were seconded into the staffer role at BofA often found it difficult to switch back when their year was up: "They always struggled to get back in the saddle and to catch up on relationships."
The move to professionalize staffers comes as banks battle the bad publicity that comes from allegedly working young people to death, and as young people themselves draw tighter boundaries around working hours. The BofA insider says bad managers are increasingly visible and that today's juniors need a dedicated resource to make sure they're not exploited. "Being a staffer is not a resourcing job for the team, it’s being a guide for the juniors and putting them at the right place at the right time; it’s also protecting the juniors from seniors who overstep."
The new premium is on empathetic managers who listen and take account of junior bankers' needs. If you manage Gen Z correctly, the insider says they'll work just as hard as preceding generations: they're still hungry, they're still prone to grinding themselves into the ground. But they're also more appreciative of senior staff who respect their limits. "There are many roles and many ways to be a banker; some are client focused, but many are not," says the BofA insider. Good managers are having a moment.
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