The US bank MD's wife on a mission to help struggling young bankers
Kasia Siwosz knows a bit about investment banking. She's worked in the industry herself. She knows people in the industry. And she's married to a "rockstar" managing director (MD) at a leading US investment bank. "My husband is in finance and all my friend are in finance," she explains. "It's a wonderful industry, but it's still what it was 20–30 years ago. You work in this cubicle like an animal, and it's difficult to stay motivated."
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Siwosz is working with ex-JPMorgan prime broking vice president (VP) Wais Achikzad to make a difference. As young people in finance struggle with long hours and poor health, the two have created a coaching company focused on the needs of Gen Z bankers.
"There’s a lot of untapped potential with this generation," says Achikzad. "They've been through a rough time and we want to train them and teach them the realities of how to thrive at work. At college, they won't teach you how to progress up a rigid hierarchical system, how to do well as an analyst or associate, or how to handle the fact that it takes seven to eight years to reach VP level."
The two have assembled scenario-based training modules covering topics like poor performance reviews and communicating with managers. Gen Z aren't "snowflakes" but they do have deteriorating mental health, says Achikzad. Busy senior bankers simply don't have the time to help them adapt to the demands of a competitive workplace that rates people on bell curves and doesn't always offer detailed feedback. The result is high turnover among junior staff who end up quitting.
Siwosz says she sees the phenomenon first hand. Senior people in banking are charged with generating PnL before nurturing juniors. "My husband bare has time with me and the children, let alone with all the young people on his team who need him," she reflects.
Writing on social media, Siwosz, who was a tennis player before she she was a banker and a coach, says that if you want to succeed, you can't "avoid the grind." It's about working hard, while leaning strategies and tactics to become more efficient, she says. Ultimately, though, you can't "skip the hard work."
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