Financial institutions are missing an important element of providing an effective service for clients from diverse backgrounds.
Edward Jones asked attendees at its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference this week, including financial advisors, client support team members and home office associates, for their insights and found that 54% of client-facing qualifiers said providing financial education resources is the most important step that financial institutions can take to meet the needs of current and prospective diverse clients.
However, 49% said that they don’t believe that FIs are meeting these needs.
“When we equip our branch teams with the right resources to support all of our clients, including their unique life experiences and backgrounds, we can create lasting financial strength and growth,” said Jennifer Kingston, head of Enterprise Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Edward Jones.
Respondents also said that communicating with empathy helps them overcome cross-cultural or cross-generational gaps and that they want the tools to help them do this, especially with the prospective client pool becoming increasingly diverse.
“There is an urgency to provide greater personalized and more inclusive client service that extends cross-cultural understanding. That starts from within,” said Kingston. “Our colleagues are our greatest asset. Whether they are building relationships with their clients or seeking connection professionally to grow in their skills, our overarching goal is to be a place where every colleague feels valued, respected, seen, and heard.”
Building personal development skills and receiving mentorship were both cited by diverse associates as being important to focus on early in their careers.
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