UBS changes its recruitment and training strategy

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (D,E&I) is climbing the priorities of businesses as it enables them to improve how they approach tasks, on top of that it’s a moral imperative.

The latest company to invest in improving its D,E&I is UBS. The investment giant intends to hire more Black, Latino, and Asian financial advisors. The push for my diverse advisors also extends to other under-represented backgrounds such as low-income families.

In total, UBS is expected to hire between 120 and 180 new advisor trainees in the Wealth Advice Center (WAC) over the next 12 months.

The Fortune 500, in general, has a long way to go in its journey to be more diverse. So much so, that Deloitte found that boards within the Fortune 500 won’t reflect the diversity in society until 2074 if change continues at its current rate.

As a result, the biggest companies in the world need to start implementing change.

How will UBS implement change?

UBS is making an effort and changing how it hires in the US. Previously, the firm’s 2020 diversity report found that 40% of its UK graduate population came from ethnic minority backgrounds. The company now intends to have similar success in the US.

Recruitment in UBS’ wealth management division (WAC) will be the focus of a new initiative to improve diversity. Typically, this department is where advisors handle calls from approximately 300,000 clients who generally have invested assets of up to $250,000.

Leonard Golub, the head of the Wealth Advice Center and emerging affluent strategy, told Insider that the division serves as a talent incubator where advisors can be trained up before they join other teams in the field. 

Golub added: “Diversity exists everywhere, and having a national recruiting strategy, as compared with a strategy that sort of limits us geographically, is very valuable.

“It allows us to build some key partnerships, which we’ve done. It allows us, from a university and recruiting standpoint, to broaden our reach.”

In terms of the work that these diverse employees will be involved in, Golub stated: “They get exposed to our senior, our best financial advisors in the field organization. And they are prepared to be adopted onto teams in our field organization and really add value to those teams.”

By looking at a national talent pool, UBS is taking advantage of a larger range of candidates. This should mean that they get the best people for the job by having a greater pool of talent to draw from. The pandemic has shown that geographically dispersed teams can work and upskill effectively.

However, increasing where people can apply from does not guarantee applications from diverse groups. Aspects such as job descriptions, removing information that can lead to bias on resumes, and advertising on job boards that are checked by certain groups, are vital.

UBS’ US wealth management business, run by Jason Chandler, also discussed how the company will review the success of its diversity hiring strategy.

Chandler said UBS wants to consider: “How many of the new people that we’ve introduced to the firm are still with us at different intervals after a year, three years, five years? Have they acquired the skills and the experience to be productive? How many of the new hires have joined successful teams, or been promoted to other parts of the organization?”

Of course, many will hope that the targets for the initiative become set in stone so that the company can benchmark itself and take positive steps towards its goals.