Strategic human resources and governance in banking

The importance of human and corporate governance, crucial to all serious undertakings, is particularly critical in the fields of finance and business. Banks and other financial institutions play a key role in a nation’s economy, and also have global implications for growth and prosperity. The abuses of the financial system, vividly illustrated in the 2008 crisis, reinforce the need for improved conduct and corporate governance among financial institutions, in which the Human resources (HR) function, by virtue of its expertise, should play an enhanced and influential part. This summary paper argues for a strengthening of the HR position, emphasising greater independence and more elevated reporting lines. It is the HR experts who should know better than most management in a bank how human foibles contribute to abuse of the system and how to mitigate them. In this way banks can more quickly win back the public trust they have lost in large measure.