Bank Saint Petersburg is one of the largest employers in the North West Region of Russia, employing 4,407 people (as of December 31, 2021).
The staffing level as of the end of 2021 increased and remains high relative to the market (92.4%). During the last year, the Bank employed 1,302 people, which is more than before the pandemic (52% more than in 2020). Thanks to higher efficiency of the recruitment process, the Bank has reduced the vacancy closing period for uniform staff pools by five days.
Of these employees hired in 2021, 41.1% are men and 58.9% are women. The bank’s staff turnover rates for 2021 are below the market average for both voluntary (excluding layoffs due to optimization and expiration of the employment contract) and forced turnover (layouts due to optimization and expiration of the employment contract).
In 2021, the Bank hit the record in closing vacancies, in particular, thanks to an aggressive campaign to promote the Bank’s EVP (Employee Value Proposition). Stronger positioning of the Bank’s brand as an employer in external communication channels (including but not limited to via HH.ru and by upgrading the section and recreation of video content about professions of the future; a joint project with PROSTO and hh.ru; via social media; and by updating the career section on the Bank’s website at bspb.ru) has contributed to an increased number of responses per vacancy: the indicator has doubled, from 36,965 responses in 2020 to 65,350 responses in 2021.
The Bank’s Future Banker program designed to train young professionals for working with customers has been successfully running for the tenth year in a row. The best 98 graduates of the program in 2021 were employed by the Bank. An individual EVP for IT professionals enables the Bank to compete for talents with technology leaders. The Bank’s brand in the IT environment is additionally strengthened by our #braincamp, a proven internship project for IT graduates. 2021 saw the launch of the third wave of the program when 22 talented students from industry-specific universities were given an opportunity to work and directly contribute to the Bank’s digital projects on Big Data.
In 2021, the Bank has successfully managed several waves of the coronavirus pandemic by providing ongoing processes and safe work of employees. Where necessary, employees stayed at home in self-isolation, took PCR testing and antibody tests. Employees strictly complied with the rules of work during the pandemic developed in the Bank in strict compliance with the regulations established by Federal Service for Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), directives of the governments in the Bank’s regions of presence, and advice from the Ministry of Health. 80% of employees received a COVID-19 vaccine within the prescribed periods of time; in particular, vaccination was made available to the staff on the Bank’s premises.
In 2021, efficient performance by employees who continued to work in both mixed and remote formats was, in particular, facilitated by digitalization of the HR workflow. All divisions do paperwork on leaves, including annual paid leaves, issue statements and copies of employment record books using the Employee’s Personal Area on the corporate portal. Electronic format helps to optimize the paper workflow, making the process more transparent and comfortable, especially for managers with distributed teams.
The Bank builds an open, creative team to meet the challenges of the new time, improving its staff development, motivation and recognition tools for years, including via its Corporate University.
In 2021, a special focus was placed on the development of the management team by updating the concept of the development of the Management Faculty at the Bank’s Corporate University until 2023. More than 250 high-potential executives are developing their managerial and project skills under the Higher School, First League, and Top League programs. 53 managers selected for the Top League program by a collegiate decision of personnel commissions will receive focus development in 2022-2023. The practice of discussing prospects and the possibility to move high-potential executives up to the level of the head of division within the Bank has proven itself well. In the past year, the Bank’s HR department organized and conducted 17 intrablock personnel commissions with the participation of members of the Management Board; more than 250 profiles of managers were reviewed and the best of them were enrolled to the Top League.
The Bank continues to use mentoring and coaching to develop the transfer of expertise practices. In 2021, the Business Faculty of the Corporate University launched the commercial operation of a distance product learning system for corporate business customer managers based on the results of work completed by the cross-functional team Product Education System-2020. An important component of the system is the Mentoring Institute in Small, Medium-sized and Large Corporate Business established and maintained by HR. It relies on a pool of 59 mentors who have been tested to see if they fit the profile and passed an evaluation interview with HR. The shift to distance product learning shows itself as an effective tool: 87% of new front office employees were trained by a mentor, 87% of the small and medium-sized business team members and 93% of the corporate business team members have successfully passed tests after the completion of the induction training.
The Bank has described a product team model with a breakdown by role and tool and has a competency matrix for a product team in place. A list of standards for the product owner (for the base and advanced levels) has been updated and approved. Cross-functional teams underwent evaluation and the results were used by the Digital Academy Faculty to develop a distance learning program empowered by the Product Star for the retail and corporate teams. The program is based on five blocks: strategy, discovery, delivery, promotion, and soft skills.
The corporate portal continues to play an important role in interactions between employees, being used to post the main messages from the Bank's management. In the last year, the Bank’s Telegram channel has become popular, enabling employees to receive the latest updates and unique corporate content on their smartphones. Regular theme-specific campaigns, such as the Digitalization Week, the Information Security Week, festive activities to celebrate the Bank’s Birthday and the Bankers Day, are carried out to keep the employees informed and involved.
In-person activities became particularly important in 2021, as these were fewer than scheduled due to the epidemiological restrictions.
The fact that employees support the HR policy of the Bank and activities carried out by the HR department is, in particular, confirmed by the existing “Bring a Friend” referral program: over a year, 89 people were employed by the Bank on the recommendation of its employees, and this is two times as many as in 2020.
Creating comfortable and safe working conditions is a priority for Bank Saint Petersburg.
The Bank has approved the Occupational Health Policy, which provides a framework for the provision of safety of life and health of its staff, and the Regulation on Occupational Health Management System.
The Policy and the Regulation on Occupational Health Management System have been developed in accordance with the Labor Code, federal laws, the core directions of the governmental policy for occupational health, Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation, and other regulatory legal acts on occupational health and safety.
The main goals of the Policy on Occupational Health are as follows:
- Ensure that the preservation of life and health is a priority;
- Prevent on-the-job injuries and occupational diseases;
- Ensure accident investigations and records;
- Provide better working conditions at workplaces;
- Fulfill the action plan to improve the working conditions and occupational health and reduce the levels of professional risks;
- Deliver systematic training and refresher courses on occupational health;
- Provide employees with individual protective equipment.
All new employees must receive an induction briefing upon their employment and occupational safety briefings (induction, refresher, off-schedule, and toolbox briefings).
Occupational safety training and testing for occupational safety knowledge among the Bank’s employees are carried out on a regular basis to ensure prevention measures are in place in order to reduce injury rates and prevent occupational diseases. In 2021, 45 managers of the Bank were trained at a licensed training center.
The key indicators showing that the Bank’s approach to occupational health and safety is effective include low injury rates, the results of special assessment of working conditions, and occupational safety activities completed.
Table 1 Low on-the-job injury rates
Year | Number of accidents | Severity of injury |
2019 | 0 | - |
2020 | 1 | Light |
2021 | 0 | - |
To identify hazardous and harmful operational factors and monitor the working conditions at workplaces, the Bank carries out special assessments of working conditions on a regular basis. The results of special assessments of working conditions are used to prepare an annual action plan to improve working conditions and occupational safety and to reduce occupational risks.
The Bank offers periodic medical checks for the ongoing monitoring of the employees’ health status in the context of impact by harmful occupational factors, prevention and timely identification of occupational disease symptoms. In 2019-2021, more than 500 employees of the Bank underwent medical checks.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the main task of the Bank has been to ensure safety and protect health of its employees, while ensuring uninterrupted operations of the Bank and maintaining the effectiveness and high quality of its services.
During the pandemic, the Bank ensures that its employees are protected as follows:
- All employees are provided with personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, and antiseptics);
- Measures such as temperature measurement for employees; disinfection of rooms; cleaning with the use of disinfectants; air disinfection with the use of closed bactericidal ultraviolet irradiators are taken on a regular basis;
- Free vaccination of employees was made available on the premises of the Bank; more than 700 employees received a vaccine in 2021.
During the peak growth of infection, measures to set up remote workplaces were taken within a short time frame. Up to 60% of the staff were transferred to remote work routines.
