September 15, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Many financial planning firm owners we talk to are all wondering the same thing, “How do I ensure all of my employees become vaccinated?” Amid another huge wave of COVID-19 cases and the spread of different virus variants, vaccination efforts are becoming more urgent. Many questions are arising for employers regarding if or how to support vaccination efforts and what risks they take with mandating vaccination for their employees. It is important to employ a solid vaccination program that carries ...
The mistakes job seekers make in interviews have been well documented, but the firm owner interviewer is prone to blunders as well. In this month’s article, we are going to review the most common questions job seekers report to us that hiring firms are flubbing in interviews causing job seekers to rethink their interest in the firm and remove themselves from consideration. So here are the questions firm owners need to be most prepared to answer, and some tips for succeeding in your ...
We had a recruiting client recently ask us what the pros and cons were for hiring, onboarding, and training multiple people at once, since they had only planned on hiring one person, but were considering hiring up to three at one time based on the candidates we brought to them. Since this firm had never hired more than one person at a time before, we thought in this month’s article we would point out some of the advantages and disadvantages of bringing on multiple people ...
August 13, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
In this month’s article, we pick up where we left off last month and examine when to make your 2nd and 3rd hires for your firm. 2nd hire Hiring firms have multiple options at this level similar as well. If you are seeking immediate relief with planning based tasks, but not necessarily looking to substantially grow your firm by adding clients and staff, the paraplanner option can be an effective solution. Keep in mind, though, that you will be capped by the number of relationships you can ...
July 14, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Much of our time in hiring engagements with financial planning firms involves discussing team structure, role development, and overall hiring strategy. In particular, we spend a lot of time discussing with business owners about when they should hire, and for what role at various points in their business. Obviously, every firm is different and there are some variances, but many successful firms have followed this path. Nonetheless, below is a chart to help ensure you are ...
Realigning Expectations in the Current Talent Market
June 17, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Recruiting top talent is especially challenging right now. The last three consecutive quarters are as tough a talent market as I have seen in my 20 years in the profession. As an already tight, pre-Covid, talent pool is being squeezed even further by firms who put their hires on hold last year are now scrambling to make their 2020 and 2021 hires this year. Due to this surge of hiring, demand for talent has doubled, and talent supply has mostly stayed the same, further driving up prices, ...
Transitioning Clients to the Next Generation Planner Effectively Part 2
May 10, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Last month we shared with you the reasons to hire a new planner and transition clients and in this month’s post we conclude our two part series with tips on when to transition clients, how to transition clients, and how to overcome pushback you may receive. When to Transition Clients Timing will differ - Every firm is different and not everyone will be ready to take on client relationships at the same time. It will largely depend on your service model, client type, ...
April 21, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Recruiting new talent for your firm right now is very difficult. Those seeking to attract talent in this highly competitive environment must have a detailed plan for showing their new planner how the firm will help them get to where they want to go professionally. One of the best ways to do this is for firms to involve new planners in client meetings from the very beginning, so they can start learning the craft! Then once they have developed the confidence, maturity, and skills that you ...
Leading Your Team to Better Results
March 17, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
The firms we work with are busier than ever right now, and aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. This is a critical time for financial planning firms to continue the momentum, so you want to ensure you are getting the most out of your team to capitalize on the opportunities that are ahead of you. You have probably had some team members step up over the last year to tackle the new challenges your firm faced, but what about the others in your organization who might not have stepped up ...
February 19, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Virtually every firm owner has at some point experienced the challenging financial and non-financial impacts of staff turnover. The estimated financial cost, depending on the source, can range anywhere from 1-3 times a departing team member’s compensation. This is not the most detrimental cost though – even worse is the psychological impact of frequent turnover in firms, and how it causes the existing team members to lose confidence in their leader(s), increases the difficulty to ...
Why Resumes Are Overrated
January 29, 2021 By: Caleb Brown
Historically, resumes have been a very large part of the hiring process. After all, what could be better to understand a candidate’s experience and capabilities than a chronological account of a job applicant’s work history right there on one (hopefully) or more pages, for hiring firms to review and use as a guide for developing their interviewing questions to delve even deeper. Yet as much as firms rely on these pieces of paper when hiring a new team member, a resume review is not the ...
December 16, 2020 By: Caleb Brown
2020 is almost in the books and what a challenging year it has been! What we have heard and seen from the firms we talk to across the country is that it was a different year, but still a good year for most. If you want to continue on the momentum you have built up, it is imperative that your team know exactly what they should be doing next year. Goal setting can be a delicate process because you don’t want to set your goals too low and limit yourself, but also don’t want to set them ...