(Bloomberg) -- Landing a new job is always tough, but imagine having to reapply and compete to keep your existing one.
That’s the predicament faced by hundreds of managers at HSBC Holdings Plc, which has begun a high-finance version of The Hunger Games by pitting senior bankers against colleagues as it weaves two huge divisions together.
Even in the cutthroat world of finance, where years of consolidation have conditioned bankers to expect role redundancies in merger scenarios, it’s rare to ask employees to battle their own co-workers to stay employed.
Staffers involved in this unusual process need to prepare for increased levels of betrayal, brown-nosing and burnout inside a culture that’s already endured a series of upheavals and scandals in recent years. To survive, workplace and career experts said the best plan is to buttress internal support networks while readying the next career move.
“In this situation a lot of the decisions are not merit-based, so it’s important to map out who your supporters and detractors are, and who is neutral but might have an impact in the decision, like a really productive investment banker who is a layer down in the organization,” said Laszlo Bock, the former human resources chief at Google. “Cultivate those relationships, because you need to make sure your side of the story gets told. People will stab others in the back.”
When interviewing internally for a role, a common mistake is assuming the interviewer knows all about your accomplishments and track record, according to Alison Green, who runs the “Ask a Manager” career advice site. “That can be a fatal error,” she said. “Your interviewer may not know as much as you think they do.” So treat it just like an external interview and be specific about your accomplishments.
Another slip-up is not exploring all potential options outside the firm ahead of time, Bock said. Finding a new senior-level post can often take more than a year, especially as white-collar hiring slows, so getting started early can pay off later. Dusty resumes, for example, will need updating with skills relevant to today’s tech-savvy financial institutions.
“Even if you end up a winner,” said Bock, “you should still be polishing your resume.”
Interviews are already underway as those in HSBC’s commercial banking division compete for jobs with colleagues at the unit that includes investment banking. In finance, investment bankers typically wield the most influence, thanks to the hefty fees (and compensation) their work delivers. But HSBC, which was established in 1865 to finance trade between Europe and Asia, is a commercial bank at its core that now employs roughly 215,100 staff worldwide.
Under the revamp, which should be in place by February, Michael Roberts will lead the newly formed corporate and institutional banking division. Finding out the key goals and directives of that new business is critical for jobseekers, Green said. Otherwise, they could get written off as too tied to the “old ways of doing things.”
While Roberts has said the corporate redesign will be done in a “thoughtful way” to avoid a painful transition for staff, internal politics and pecking orders invariably factor into these kinds of decisions. Bock said he wouldn’t be surprised if some winners have already been chosen, making interviews a formality. “For some of the jobs it’s a b.s. process. They already know who they want,” Bock said. “But by having everyone interview, they have documentation of why one person got it. The principal reason they do this is to protect against litigation.”
If staffers perceive that their interviews are just for show, that could impact morale even among those who emerge with jobs intact, according to Jason Schloetzer, an associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. “The danger is the stars they want to retain may find this process off-putting enough to consider leaving,” he said. “What’s the morale of the rehired employees if you put them through a process that is only for show?”
That disgruntlement could then ricochet through HSBC’s trading floors, hitting talented mid-level employees who report and look up to the managers facing the axe. “It’s a risky move when they do this stuff,” said Paul Sorbera, a longtime executive recruiter in the finance industry. “Your top talent says, ‘Hey, they are letting go of my boss, maybe I should start talking to people. That recruiter who I used to hang up on, now I am calling him back.’ ”
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