The Chartered Banker Professionalism Index devised by Nottingham University Business School and the Chartered Banker Institute has suggested, for the second year running, that bankers who are members of a professional body report significantly higher levels of pride in their work than bankers who are not.

Based on responses to the first set of statements, the study found the mean level of professional pride, across all areas of banking to be 74.55 out of a possible 100.

This compares to 22% of bankers (who may or not be members of a professional body) occupying the highest levels of pride in a recent Chartered Banker: Professional Standards Board (CB:PSB)/YouGov plc survey.

One further question was added to this year’s survey for Wave Two which was “I would be proud to provide a talk at my children’s school about the opportunities of pursuing a career in banking”. The high Index Score for this question of 74.25, underlines that there is much enthusiasm amongst the banking sector for sharing their expertise and experience with possible future bankers and for emphasising positive aspects of a banking career. 

This suggests “extremely high” levels of pride, said Professor Devlin, Dean of the Business School and a member of the Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services

Professor James Devlin who oversaw the research said:

“These results are most promising, particularly as this is the second year running where bankers are expressing high levels of pride in their work. We now have more evidence that bankers’ pride is an enduring feature of the profession. As we mark the ten year anniversary of the onset of the financial crisis, and given all of the negative commentary in the intervening period, it would be understandable if pride was decreasing, but the opposite is true, with a slight increase in bankers’ pride being apparent.

“What is particularly encouraging about these results is the desire to spread the word and actively promote a career in banking to a younger generation, which is vital to the sector and we hope these levels of satisfaction will continue to rise.” 

Simon Thompson, Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute added: 

“To see this trend in professional pride amongst our members, increasing again this year, is extremely good news for bankers and customers; how can we expect customers and society to be proud of their contribution of the contribution of banks and bankers unless we are proud of that contribution ourselves? 

Despite the many challenges faced by banks and bankers since the global financial crisis and more recently, the pace of technological change, professional bankers have drawn strength from their professionalism. 

In continuing to rebuild a banking profession the public can trust, we need to continue to develop and support the current and future generations of professional bankers who are rightly proud of their professionalism. Professional bankers – like the 33,000 members of the Chartered Banker Institute, share a positive social purpose that goes beyond more than simply maximising shareholder returns, supporting individuals, businesses and communities in the UK and, indeed, across the globe.”