A Head of Dealing can keep a trading operation running while quietly deciding to leave. A Compliance Manager can meet deadlines while losing the time needed to support their team. Completed work alone tells an employer little about whether a management role is sustainable.

Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found that global manager engagement fell from 27% in 2024 to 22% in 2025. Its September 2026 guidance puts manager development and effectiveness at the centre of improving workplace culture. These are broad workplace findings, not a measure of Cyprus brokerage turnover, but they give financial-services employers a useful reason to examine their own management roles. [1][2]

For Forex, CFD, FinTech, payments and investment firms, the practical question is whether department heads have the capacity, authority and support to lead the people the business needs to retain. The following actions translate that question into hiring and management decisions.

1. Review the work before opening another vacancy

When a manager resigns, the easiest response is to advertise the same job again. Before doing so, examine how the role actually operated. Was the Head of Payments handling routine exceptions while also negotiating PSP relationships? Was the Finance Manager responsible for reporting, treasury, recruitment and every last-minute request from directors?

List recurring responsibilities, peak periods, direct reports and tasks requiring personal sign-off. Then identify where the position depends on constant overtime, duplicated reporting or the manager being the only person who can resolve an issue. A small team can be workable; a role with no cover and several simultaneous priorities may be fragile.

Employer action: agree which duties the replacement will own, which will move elsewhere and what additional support is funded. Give recruiters a brief that reflects those decisions. A stronger salary can attract applicants, but it does not remove an impossible workload.

2. Align responsibility with decision authority

A manager who is accountable for outcomes but cannot influence staffing, priorities or processes spends much of the day negotiating internally. Candidates should understand that arrangement before accepting, and existing managers should be able to raise it without waiting for an annual review.

For example, a Compliance Manager needs a clear route for escalating a commercial request that conflicts with a control. A Technology Manager needs an agreed process for balancing platform reliability against product deadlines. A Dealing Manager needs clarity about limits, escalation and which decisions remain with senior management.

Employer action: document the decisions the manager can make, the approvals required and who resolves competing priorities. Preserve the firm’s governance and control responsibilities while reducing avoidable ambiguity. During recruitment, explain this structure alongside the reporting line.

3. Assess how candidates manage people

Technical credibility matters in specialist financial services. It should sit alongside evidence that a candidate can delegate, give feedback and handle disagreement. Years in a senior title do not show how that person behaves when a capable employee makes a mistake or two departments disagree.

Use a realistic interview scenario: a payments reconciliation backlog is rising, a team member is absent and management wants a new integration delivered. Ask what the candidate would prioritise, what information they need, what they would delegate and how they would communicate the trade-offs. Follow with an example from their actual experience.

Employer action: score management evidence separately from technical knowledge. Ask candidates to explain their own contribution and the outcome, then discuss the support they would need in your organisation. For internal promotions, make the move from specialist to people manager an explicit development step.

4. Protect time for useful management conversations

Gallup’s September guidance recommends ongoing manager development, clear expectations and regular coaching. CIPD’s July 2026 guide also highlights the role of manager–employee relationships, goal setting and a supportive environment in helping employees respond to workplace stress. [2][3]

In a brokerage or payments business, translate that advice into the working week. A short conversation about a difficult case, priorities or feedback can be useful. It becomes difficult to sustain when every available slot is consumed by operational firefighting or status meetings.

Give a newly appointed department head access to an experienced leader who can discuss delegation, difficult feedback and competing demands. Review a real management problem together rather than relying entirely on a one-off leadership course.

Employer action: reserve regular time for managers to speak with their teams and with their own leader. When urgent work repeatedly cancels these conversations, review the workload and meeting calendar. Do not treat the cancellations simply as a failure of commitment.

5. Have retention conversations before the resignation

A department can meet its targets while accumulating signs of strain. Repeated cancelled leave, unresolved vacancies, growing exception backlogs and a manager carrying all critical knowledge deserve discussion. None proves that someone intends to leave; each can reveal a problem worth solving.

Ask the manager which responsibilities have expanded, what they struggle to delegate and what would make the role workable over the next year. Discuss compensation and progression directly, including whether the title and reward still match the actual scope. Where resources are constrained, be clear about what can change and by when.

Employer action: select one practical improvement, assign an owner and review progress within 30 days. Check both delivery and the manager’s experience. Use team-level trends carefully in small departments where supposedly anonymous feedback may identify individuals. A retention conversation earns trust when the agreed action happens.

Conclusion

Manager retention is part of maintaining a capable specialist team. Forex and FinTech employers can start by reviewing the work, clarifying authority and testing management capability during hiring. They should then provide ongoing support and address concerns while there is still time to act.

Choose one critical department this month and compare the advertised management role with the job being performed. That comparison can improve the next recruitment brief and reveal changes that help retain the leader already in place.

Building Your Forex or FinTech Team

FXCareer specialises in recruitment across Forex, CFD, FinTech, payments and regulated financial services, including C-suite & executive leadership, Compliance & AML, Dealing, Payments, Finance, Treasury, Risk, Technology, Product, Operations, Legal and Marketing.

If you are hiring a department head or reviewing a specialist vacancy, contact FXCareer.eu to discuss the responsibilities, sector experience and management capability your team needs. Visit FXCareer.eu to discuss your hiring requirements.

Key sources

1. Gallup — State of the Global Workplace 2026, reporting 2025 survey data
2. Gallup — How Can Leaders Improve Employee Engagement and Company Culture, 21 September 2026
3. CIPD — People manager guide Supporting employee resilience, 30 July 2026