Why financial institutions should be engaging a different count this week

Pollsters’ have not been the only ones with their heads in the sums over the past few days, anyone else spotted that it is the first ever Number Confidence Week in UK? Hats off to the likes of Santander, KPMG, and even our own client TP ICAP for their involvement. But do initiatives like this deserve more widespread support from the financial community? And why should hard-nosed financial institutions rally behind a wider national push to improve numeracy skills?

Research from the iOpener Institute shows that the sector is losing its grip over graduates with millennials far less driven by money than previous generations. Surely a sound way to reengage future talent is to get involved in campaigns like this. Speaking from personal experience, it is particularly difficult to get excited about finance if you cannot apply it to the real-world. Promoted correctly, there is no reason why a campaign to simplify maths should fail to entice young people to take a keener interest. As for the financial institutions, their backing will subsequently attract a potential wider pool of future recruits.

Furthermore, social platforms, such as Twitter or LinkedIn, can be used to expand the outreach of campaigns to promote recruitment, since larger institutions tend to have a global footprint. Better yet, these companies could even fund their own similar initiatives, enhancing their brand and achieving the long-term goal of attracting the best talent into the financial sector. It is for these reasons that the value of Number Confidence Week, and similar campaigns alike, should not be underestimated.