Jetmir Mehmedi, 42, was born in Rimnica, a small village in Northern Macedonia. He moved to Switzerland with his family at the age of ten and had to learn a new language from scratch as he worked to adapt and fit in with a new culture and school system. Over the next years, Jetmir not only mastered the language but also qualified for the most academic stream in the Swiss state-school system, allowing him to enter directly into university. The skills he acquired and applied to achieve this goal – dedication, commitment, and a straightforward hard work ethic – have accompanied him throughout his life and now in his career at Julius Baer. A career that was kick-started in the Bank’s select Graduate Programme and further strengthened with other in-house Julius Baer training and leadership programmes.
Today, Jetmir is responsible for all of Julius Baer’s private banking business for the greater area of Zurich and a perfect example of the benefits of investing in and developing internal talent. Despite being an attractive candidate to many potential employers and competitors, Jetmir has opted to stay with Julius Baer, making use of the learning and growth opportunities on offer at the Bank. At the same time, he has become a true asset to the Bank and its clients. He knows the business inside and out, has an enviable network, and is highly qualified to bring the best of the Bank to its clients which, thanks to Julius Baer’s broad and multi-faceted approach to training and career development, is a path that is oft repeated at all levels of the organisation.
Why make internal development a priority at Julius Baer?
“Continuous learning and development are essential factors not only for a gratifying and successful career but also to ensure that clients are benefiting from the latest knowledge and the most qualified employees,” says Guido Ruoss, Chief Human Resources Officer & Head Corporate Affairs at Julius Baer. “Not all companies have the size, capability, nor the financial means to offer this level of in-house training and development,” he adds.
Internal development instils core values and is in line not only with company strategy but also with changing client needs and demands. It also allows employees to build valuable networks across the Bank that in turn also benefit clients, and increases employee engagement that supports long-term employee retention. “These aspects are of particular importance to a wealth manager committed to serving its clients in the best possible way. Wealth management is and will always remain a people business whose most valuable assets are its employees and client relationships,” says Ruoss, who is also on Julius Baer’s Executive Board.
In wealth management, these relationships are nearly always long term and are based on a deep trust that only time can develop. This trust is built on expertise, reliability, and the Bank’s core values of care, passion, and excellence as personified by employees. Thus internal development is not only an essential part of Julius Baer’s culture but also a fully integrated component in the Bank’s long-term business strategy.
A clear strategic focus
Julius Baer’s 2023–2025 strategic cycle FOCUS – SCALE – INNOVATE specifically defines the Bank’s growth trajectory as partially driven by the strengthening of the Bank’s talent. Recruiting the best external talent, a disciplined approach to M&A, and a systematic development of in-house talent are part of the current strategic plan as enablers of growth across Julius Baer’s main markets. All training and learning opportunities are organised through the Julius Baer Academy, an award-winning in-house training and development centre.
"Learning is the linchpin for empowering employees to continuously evolve, innovate, and adapt, thus ensuring our competitiveness and sustained performance. A learning-centric culture fosters our workforce’s adeptness in creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge while seamlessly adapting behaviours to incorporate fresh insight and expertise,” says David Schlumpf, Global Head of Learning & Leadership Development at Julius Baer.
A multi-faceted approach
Julius Baer sees learning and in-house talent development as separated into four key categories: general development – open to all employees; front development – specifically aimed at employees who work directly with clients; leadership development –for management or aspiring managers; and developing young talents.
For ‘all staff development’, everyone at Julius Baer is offered the opportunity to further develop themselves with both online and offline courses. A Bank-wide learning week, hosted by the Academy in 2023 for the third time, featuring 60 diverse sessions based on the Bank’s strategy and broader strategic topics, is one such example of the training made available to all employees.
Client-facing employees are also offered job-specific training and industry-standard certifications. These employees are trained to acquire a broad range of competencies to bring the best of Julius Baer to the client, so that they in turn can benefit from the Bank’s comprehensive investment solutions and globally acknowledged expertise.
The broadest and greatest investment is placed into the Bank’s young and next-generation talents. This includes the Julius Baer Graduate Programme that Jetmir attended. It offers highly talented, recent university graduates the opportunity to start a successful banking career. This 18-month programme also offers a four-month stint abroad as part of its rotational element within the Bank. In 2023, more graduates kick-started their careers at Julius Baer than ever before, with more than 30 graduates brought aboard the programme. The highly successful global programme – over 90 per cent of graduates transition to a permanent position within Julius Baer at the end of their training – further adds to the Bank’s cultural and educational diversity.
Apprenticeships also enjoy a long-standing tradition at Julius Baer and in Switzerland. The Bank’s dedicated programme, lasting three or four years depending on the chosen stream, serves to train and prepare young professionals as either a bank clerk or IT specialist. Upon completion, the apprentices are ready to take on a professional role at Julius Baer.
Personal connections remain the beating heart of wealth management. That is why a key focus of training our next generation of Relationship Managers (RMs) lies with the Associate Relationship Manager Programme – the most recent of the Bank’s talent development programmes. The ambitious multi-year, on-the-job training programme blends practical experience in client service with modern classroom learning and, in some cases, external certification. The result is the best-possible and most holistic education in the industry. Associate RMs represent not only a distinguished talent pool of top-educated bankers for Julius Baer’s future, but they will also help drive the generational change within all client-facing teams – at scale and across the globe.
The fourth category is leadership development. Julius Baer expects a lot from its leaders and assesses leadership talent regularly and on different levels through performance reviews, stakeholder feedback, or assessment centres. Julius Baer employs an adaptive leadership approach, developing leaders holistically from leadership talents to senior leaders and making them fit to stand the test of the rapid changes in the world of finance. Life-long learning, mentoring, and career coaching are also a dedicated focus within the various leadership programmes. To develop leaders successfully, Julius Baer collaborates with the best institutions in the market, including a well-established partnership with the renowned international business school IMD.
Jetmir and many like him across the Bank have benefited from training and leadership programmes over the years, enriching Julius Baer, its client service, and confirming the long-term advantages of investing in employees. A commitment to home grown talent is a commitment to serving our clients in the best possible manner – today and tomorrow.