Top talent at ABN AMRO Clearing Bank

How do you select top talent internationally?

To further strengthen its FutureProofness, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank needs to select and train the right workforce for the future. Not just for the Netherlands but also for its 11 offices worldwide in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Chicago, London, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, and Amsterdam.

ABN AMRO Clearing Bank has developed a challenging labor market proposition to attract top talent. Part of this proposition is an intensive training program at Nyenrode Business University combined with internal and international training courses and projects at the various divisions of ABN AMRO Clearing Bank.

“The young grads, adopted every year within ABN AMRO Clearing Bank, bring in fresh thoughts and help us to find new boundaries ” – Jan Bart de Boer CCO, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank

The customer's demand

Since 2017, Starcheck has provided the annual selection for ABN AMRO Clearing Bank’s international graduates. Back then, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank approached Starcheck with the request to set up an assessment center that:

Angelica Verwijmeren, Global HR Director, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank
“The program for the recruitment day suits the talented young graduates completely” – Angelica Verwijmeren, Global HR Director, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank

The Starcheck approach

Analytical abilities first

Starcheck has designed an assessment process that consists of 3 steps:

The first step has analytical skills as its focus. Traditional psychological constructs such as inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, verbal reasoning skills, and numerical reasoning skills are thoroughly covered. The test is available online. International graduates can choose their test language. More than 40 languages are available so that the cognitive tests can be taken in the native language; a must to avoid bias.

Live performance

The third step covers a live assessment center, consisting of an analysis presentation assignment, a group assessment, and a structured interview based on the online assessment. We train HR and hiring managers as assessors for one component of the assessment center. We organize the training via video conferencing, considering the different time zones.

Personality, drive, and integrity

Candidates who meet the pre-set criteria proceed to the second step, where personality, drive, and integrity are measured. For these candidates, we combine the results of steps 1 and 2 in a competency-based report (based on the futureproof profile).

Ranking the stars

After the live assessment center, a final evaluation takes place in each region under the guidance of Starcheck. We compare the competency-based report with the live assessment results during this evaluation. Ultimately, we organize an overall calibration session to finalize the ranking of all candidates.

“If you listen to new voices, you instantly get so many new brilliant ideas” – Jan Bart de Boer CCO, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank

The results

The launch in 2017

During one month, we assessed 100+ candidates in ABN AMRO offices in the Netherlands, Chicago, London, Sydney, and Singapore. As a result, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank hired ten candidates worldwide. A year later, we evaluated with the business whether these hires were considered top talent. This was the case without exception. Therefore, it was well worth the investment.

2018 and beyond

The success of 2017 has motivated ABN AMRO Clearing Bank to hire 12 to 20 top international talents annually with this program. Moreover, turnover among these hires is very low. In 2018, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank asked Starcheck to develop an assessment process for IT graduates. This process is also running since 2018 with great success.

Learn to recognize talent

In recent years, the hiring managers involved as assessors indicate that they have learned a lot in their roles as selectors. As a result, managers are excited to participate annually as assessors.

“The varying elements of the assessment and the involvement of our organization make it an interesting journey for the candidates and our managers.” – Angelica Verwijmeren, Global HR Director, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank

About ABN AMRO Clearing Bank

ABN AMRO Clearing is recognized as a leading global provider of integrated solutions in clearing, execution, custody, financing, and risk management. With ten offices globally, they can service clients on 160+ exchanges, MTFs, and FX liquidity centers, processing over 20 million trades daily. ABN AMRO Clearing consistently ranks amongst the top 3 clearing firms on most relevant derivatives exchanges globally.

With 800 colleagues and partners, and clients, they are responsible for encouraging and supporting sensible and sustainable regulatory frameworks. ABN AMRO Clearing Bank uses knowledge and expertise to lead the way to safe and transparent financial ecosystems.