The start of the new year is the perfect time to set goals to build momentum in your firm. Creating goals as a team allows you to have all of your team members on the same page as to what should be accomplished. Setting goals can be difficult as you have to walk the line between too easy of goals that you stifle yourself, and those too out of reach that it hurts team morale. As you work towards walking that line, here are some tips for setting goals for 2024. Collaboration in Goal ...
Ep #150: Mid Life Career Change to Financial Planning with Jason Howell and Doug Tees
Jason Howell and Doug Tees are with Jason Howell Company based out of Fairfax, VA, and they join the show today to discuss their journeys in the financial planning industry. If you are considering changing careers and would like the confidence to make the leap, this is an episode for you! Listen in as Jason and Doug delve into their unique paths to financial planning, as well as the formation of their successful partnership. Jason unpacks how he utilized his vast network to launch and grow his ...
YOUR FINANCIAL PLANNING CONFERENCE GUIDE
Summer is over, school is back in session and cooler temperatures mean the official start of conference season in the financial planning profession. This is a fun and exciting time and a way for you to catapult your career to new levels of success! Attending conferences is a great way to gain a better understanding of the profession, increase your technical knowledge, and expand your network. The bulk of the national conferences are held between the months of September and November and figuring ...
IS YOUR INTERVIEW PROCESS TOO LENGTHY?
Everyone who follows these articles knows that our approach is to be as thorough and precise as possible when it comes to candidate selection. At what point, though, does a hiring process become too lengthy and a deterrent for job seekers? Since, the current demand for new planners is high and supply is small, the obvious downside is that the longer a firm drags out the interview process the increased likelihood the candidate will accept an offer from a competing firm. In this month’s article, ...
SETTING REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS FOR NEW PLANNERS PART 2 OF 2
Last month we discussed what expectations are generally unreasonable for a new planner hire and this month we look at what firm owners SHOULD expect from their new planner. As I mentioned last month, not all new financial planners are equal. Nonetheless it’s reasonable to have some solid, but realistic expectations for a good candidate that you might hire. A few items to screen for include: Have a general familiarity with how financial planning firms serve clients and earn revenue – Most ...
SETTING REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS FOR NEW PLANNERS PART 1 OF 2
Throughout my career I have witnessed firm owners’ frustrations with new planners they have hired or were interviewing. Their frustrations stem from lack of clarity on what type of education a new planner receives and what can be expected of them. Also, firm owners sometimes don’t know what role they are trying to fill so they are left with trying to hire for a catch-all position resulting in unclear roles and responsibilities, and unreasonable expectations. We will start this two-part ...
THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR YOUR TEAM
A trend we continue to see in the hiring landscape are firms lacking clarity around who they are trying to hire. This month, I want to discuss the thought framework an owner should employ before hiring a new planner. Part of that thought process is to resist the temptation to hire an exact copy of themselves and over-emphasize the business development component and skillset. However, notwithstanding the consensus view from consultants that having a bunch of people in an organization with ...
Ep #101: Setting Yourself Apart with Angie Herbers
Angie Herbers is the Founder and Senior Consultant with Herbers and Company, a consulting firm specializing in assisting financial planning firms to solve their growth challenges. If you are seeking to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack, then this is an episode for you! Listen in as Angie shares why firms with a clear recruiting strategy have an advantage over their competitors, what skills firms are looking for the most in new planner hires, and what skills are most lacking from ...
Ep #97: Teacher Turned Financial Planner with Keith Wayne
Keith Wayne is an Associate Financial Planning Analyst at Mercer Advisors based out of Lynchburg, VA. He joins the show today to share how he transitioned from a 26-year career in teaching to become a financial planner. If you are coming from the education profession and want to successfully navigate the transition, this is an episode for you! Listen in as Keith talks about what originally got him interested in teaching, the valuable skills the profession taught him, and where he finds ...
Ep #95: Re-entering the Profession after Building a Successful Firm and Selling it with John Gugle
John Gugle is a Regional Growth Consultant with LPL Financial based out of Charlotte, NC. He joins the show today to share his career journey into financial planning, including how he was able to leverage his degrees in Japanese and Finance to get started with a consulting firm. Listen in as John shares how he was able to develop the trust of his co-workers who came to him for financial advice, as well as how he used his memberships in professional organizations to find a 2-year residency ...
How to Hire an Intellectually Curious Candidate
In the discovery process we take firm owners through to help them gain clarity on the type of person they are seeking to hire, one of the most sought-after characteristics our clients ask for is “natural curiosity”, or sometimes referred to as intellectual curiosity. In this month’s article, we will examine what natural curiosity is, how to identify these traits in candidates you might be recruiting, and the pros (and some cons!) of hiring an intellectually curious candidate.Simply put, ...
Turning Employee Resentment to Contentment
“I’m tired of working so hard for my boss, who is never here, so they can drive a Tesla!” We heard this recently from an employee at an advisory firm. It certainly isn’t the first time we have heard of employees resenting their bosses, but it is seemingly becoming more common. In this case it wasn't really about the Tesla, it usually isn't - it was mounting frustration driven by several underlying issues. Keep in mind at the end of the day it is your firm and you can drive whatever you ...