Last month, we looked at the first of a two-part series for firms who may be struggling with various concerns centered around making a hiring decision.  This month, we review five more concerns hiring managers might have and what to do about them.

• They might ask for a raise each year.
  • Compensating your team via a fair and incentivizing plan can alleviate much of this. Depending on the role a mix of base (guaranteed) compensation plus variable compensation on firm wide metrics as well as individual metrics works well. People want to see if they deliver more for the firm, the more they can earn. But if you tie a material portion of compensation to variable components, you can protect yourself as a firm owner in the years the business doesn’t grow.
• They might mess something up with one of my clients.
  • It is inevitable that a mistake will happen at some point. We stress the importance of a structure training program that is ongoing. Most firms train their new hire for a few weeks and then leave it open-ended, missing a powerful opportunity for individual and team growth to continue. Also, it is your job as a manager to put them in positions where if a mistake is made, it is a learning experience, and not overly detrimental to the firm. Grant them increasing responsibilities as they learn, and demonstrate their ability to get things done without mistakes.
• They might not enjoy the job we want them to do.
  • It is worthwhile to have them complete some of the exercises/tasks they will be responsible for during the interview process, especially if they have no experience, to see if it really is the kind of work they want to do. For those with experience, who are coming to your firm to perform in a similar role, make sure you are completely clear on why they are seeking a new position. This is what we do for the Associate Planner candidates we hire for in firms nationwide.
• They might start a family and go on maternity leave.
  • This is an incentive to develop and/or tighten up all the processes and procedures throughout the firm. And hiring and developing people on an ongoing basis to build a deep talent bench to cover for any team member extended absences.
• They might get antsy in the position we are hiring for, and want to be promoted before we are ready to promote them.
  • Have confidence in yourself that with the new hire’s help, you will be able to grow the firm enough to support their own career and financial growth. After all, that was one of the reasons you probably hired them. ???? People that want to be promoted, if their skills warrant it, are demonstrating ambition. Most of the firms we work with would prefer this type of candidate, versus someone that does not want to grow in their career! Though it’s important to recognize that if you’re going to hire more ambitious candidates, you do need to make a commitment to growing the firm, because growth is what gives upside promotional opportunities for your team.

 

We hope that some of these suggestions will assist in your interviewing process, and keep you from losing a solid candidate to something that in the end is out of your control, or less of a concern than you originally thought.  Remember to focus on controlling what you can control, and accepting that things might turn out much better than you anticipated. As long as we remain in this tight talent market, be very wary about trying to find the perfect “no concerns” candidate that may never come.  Happy Hiring!