Blog

As we approach the holiday season and reflect back on what a tough year it has been, I want to encourage you to thank your team members who are the core of your business. It is important to publicly acknowledge their hard work for you and the firm’s clients and reward them accordingly. This month, I wanted to give you some suggestions on a few year end gifts/bonus ideas that will go a long way for people who have shown dedication and commitment during turbulent times. Christmas Bonus - if ...

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Welcome to the 4th quarter of 2020. Congratulations, you made it! It didn't seem like we would ever get here in March when everything imploded. It has been a tough year. Your revenues might still not have fully recovered, and there is a lot of uncertainty with the presidential election, overall economy and stock market. However, as the leader of your firm, you have to continue making informed decisions to move your business forward.  Understandably, revenue may still be slightly off and in ...

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Undoubtedly, these last few months have forced you to expand your capabilities and challenged you to become a better planner and business owner. While virtual client meetings existed pre Covid-19, they were not employed exclusively for most financial advisory firms, and were generally only with clients themselves (not to manage internal team members as well).  But now that in person meetings have shifted virtually, for both clients and prospects, and advisory teams themselves,  it can be easy ...

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As we approach year end team member reviews and budget planning for 2021, now is a great time to  review your employee benefit offering, to ensure that you are staying competitive with a constantly evolving talent market.  You might find that coming off a tumultuous year, your benefit offering needs some tweaking.  In this month’s article, we have laid out some common employee benefits we see in the advisory firm marketplace for your comparison, along with some other ideas for you to ...

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Leading an organization during a crisis is a challenging endeavor, but it comes with the territory. After all, if it were easy, then everyone would do it!  Leadership is about inspiration, and getting people to deliver their best towards a common set of goals they share with your organization. But leadership does not mean having all the right answers all of the time... so don't put this additional pressure on yourself. It means garnering trust, so people have the confidence to follow you and ...

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Even though some states are re-opening and the worst is hopefully behind us, the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 has taken over 100,000 lives, destroyed thousands of businesses, and devastated many associated livelihoods.  We published the article entitled “Employing Remote Team Members” four years ago in May 2016. What then may have been suggestions, for uncomfortable change, for some firms came to reality overnight as the government shut down state economies to slow the progression of the virus. As ...

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Social distancing and shelter in place restrictions have made it almost impossible to interview candidates in person in your office. Conducting an effective interview is a challenge, by itself, and removing the component that gives you the greatest insight into a person’s energy, gravitas, body language, and overall presence can make choosing the best candidate much tougher. We have interviewed thousands of candidates via video over the last decade of recruiting for financial planning firms. ...

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When your team members are working harder and longer to serve your clients consider these tips to keep them motivated so they will be able to more effectively help you navigate through these challenging times: Positive reinforcement - Tell them they are doing a good job. It is a management best practice to do this anyways, but team members are seeking affirmation from you that their extra efforts are not going unnoticed. While it is obvious to do this in the moment, consider calling, ...

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For more than a decade, the financial planning profession has enjoyed strong stock market returns, which has led to firms growing and hiring at an impressive clip and posting record increases in profit, revenue, and assets under management.  This explosive growth obviously could not continue indefinitely, though, due to the cyclical nature of the stock market. So how should firms approach their human capital planning, now that we are transitioning into times of market turbulence? For firms ...

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‘Millennials are so yesterday’s news!’ - Several anonymous financial planning firm owners Ouch! A blunt statement by obviously frustrated business owners who have had challenges employing millennials in their firms, but they do have a valid point. As Generation Z, the generation that follows the Millennials, is actually starting to enter the workforce… and many are hopeful that this up-and-coming generation could be the unicorn employers have been seeking. Based on findings from early ...

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“Gratitude is the greatest of virtues and the parent of all the others.” Cicero   Our relationships with people in our life matter the most, but are too often unwittingly neglected.  When was the last time you expressed your gratitude for someone? It may come naturally for you in terms of your clients, such as sending end of year thank you letters to go out to all of your clients expressing how grateful you are for them and how you wouldn’t have the business you have if it weren’t ...

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