In last month’s article, we shared some of our thoughts on the 2024 labor market and hiring outlook plus a few tips on how to avoid certain frustrations when hiring new talent for your firm. This month we will conclude our two-part series with three more tips to consider when hiring. 

 

Headache #3 -  ‘I can't find anyone who is good enough for my firm’

Potential headache hack - Double-check your description to make sure your expectations aren't too high. I have firm owners all the time who tell me they want someone with a CFP certification and a few years of experience, who knows eMoney, has worked with clients, and knows all the intricacies of ISOs, RSUS, NQSOs, RSAs, etc.[insert other specific technical capabilities here] and want to pay them $65k per year. This may not be a realistic salary expectation anymore. (If you haven't yet seen our salary report, you can download a free copy here.) Some of our clients in higher cost-of-living areas are starting new college grads and career changers with no experience at $70k-75k. 

Headache #4 - ‘Candidates are stringing us along’

Potential headache hack - It’s a competitive market for advisor talent, which means if they’re a good candidate for you, they’ve likely got multiple other firms interested in them too. Be as clear as possible on your timeline for hiring, and make sure to communicate to candidates these timeframes. For instance, you can explain “we’ll be  reviewing resumes until (this date), holding interviews (during this time period), and expect to have someone in the seat by (this date).”  When that date arrives, be prepared to make tough decisions about whether to make the offer, or accept that you have to cut the candidate loose because good ones are looking at other offers and can’t wait indefinitely for you. 

Headache #5 - ‘We make an offer and the candidate counters with an unrealistic figure’

Potential headache hack - Many firms leave salary expectations vague in their job descriptions in the hopes of being able to negotiate the salary down, but in competitive markets like the one for advisor talent, this just opens the door for candidates to negotiate their salary up instead. It’s becoming a best practice to include the expected compensation ranges on your job listing. In addition, some states and cities have recently created pay transparency laws, that require employers to clearly list the compensation for the role, to try and reduce pay discrepancy (or face stiff penalties).  As of 2023, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, Cincinnati, OH, Ithaca, NY, Jersey City, NJ, New York, NY, Toledo, OH, and Westchester, NY, have all implemented such rules,  and we expect more cities and states to follow suit. When it comes to counter-offers, simply listing the salary won’t always keep this from happening, especially when a departing employee’s current organization offers to double compensation to keep them once they give notice (yes, we have seen it!), but at least sets the expectation of what a potential offer would be upfront versus going through the process and discussing compensation at the very end. Also, it is one thing if the counter offer is outrageous, but another if it’s incremental and perhaps reasonable. We have seen firms spend months trying to hire someone, and have the deal fall through over a few thousand dollars, when in reality it’ll cost the firm more than that to go through the hiring process again than to simply make a reasonable salary concession for an otherwise strong candidate. 

We hope these were a helpful guide and/or refresh on ensuring your hiring is the most efficient and as effective as possible. 

Feel free to contact us at blog@newplannerrecruiting.com if you have any questions and/or would like to hear more about how we have alleviated a lot of the headaches over the last 15 years that plague financial planning firms when hiring.