EQUITY & DIVERSITY ANNUAL REPORT – 2007

Section 3.5: Turnover

The Bank continues to monitor separation data annually to identify any adverse impact on equity groups, particularly in areas undergoing change. There were 92 separations in 2006/07, compared with 83 the previous year. Women represented 38 per cent of all staff separations in this reporting period which is comparable to their participation rate of 42 per cent. The separation rate for NESB1 staff was eight per cent, below their participation rate of 22 per cent.

The graduate turnover rate, currently 12 per cent, continues to be higher than for other staff but is still lower than the separation benchmark rate (14 per cent) for the finance sector identified in the Bank’s benchmarking data; the average tenure of exited Bank graduates is 3.25 years. The total figures for graduate exits show that 54 per cent of all female graduates have resigned (79 out of 145 since 1991) compared with 52 per cent of all male graduates (172 out of 330 since 1991).

However, when the data is looked at over a shorter time period – the five years since
2002 – the average tenure of departing graduates has declined to 2.34 years with 24 per cent of all female graduates resigning compared with 27 per cent of all male graduates. Further analysis of these figures will be undertaken over the coming reporting period. Graduate retention rates will continue to be monitored with a view to identifying appropriate retention strategies, especially in relation to women where retention overall is marginally lower than for men.

The likelihood of staff staying with the Bank to retirement age is of interest to the Bank within a workforce planning context. Staffing strategies, as well as communication and work flow arrangements, need to be planned around employee movements in and out of the Bank to ensure the organisation remains effective in the long term. The changes to taxation of superannuation benefits from 1 July 2007 is a new factor that the Bank investigated during the reporting period in the context of developing a policy to cover ‘transition to retirement’ for current employees.