Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
I work for a large financial firm and we are in the process of putting together training sessions for new hires. We are arguing about the best way to approach these sessions. Some believe we should put on a sales hat and try and “sell” our new hires on how great we are. Others think we should stick purely to the facts and just say this is what we do and how we do it. Any perspective on what’s better?
Ronny T.
Dear Ronny,
I first have to ask what you are trying to accomplish with the training. Do you want to excite new employees, so that they know they made a great decision to work with you? Or do you want them to be knowledgeable enough to share details and information about the company?
I might assume your answer will be both. In general, training should convey actionable facts and data that a new employee can use. This means not giving too many details that will overwhelm and confuse the new hires; it means giving enough so that they can talk cogently about the firm.
However, I think there is a way to share facts and data that allows you to more subtly sell them on your company. There is an opportunity to bring in some of your branding – your value proposition and what you do for clients. You can frame your delivery of the data and the facts using terms or analogies or stories that help to define who you are and what you do.
For example, if you want new employees to know a lot about your unique investing approach, you might share a story about a client you worked with and how you helped solve their needs with your approach. The training could be about the approach itself, but also how the approach works with clients and how it demonstrates your unique value offering.
Whatever you do, make sure to create the training so it is engaging and you are able to understand what new employees hope to learn. Have them practice with whatever they are learning. The more they can engage with the training and apply what you are teaching them, the more they will benefit and enjoy the training.
Many employees are thrown into a new role and a new firm and expected to just learn on the fly. The fact that you are giving them training will likely make them feel good about their choice to work for your firm.
Dear Bev,
I’ve had it with trying to hire an assistant. So many people can do a snow job in the interview process, but when they get the job, they don’t care enough to perform well.
Tommy S.
Dear Tommy,
I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking, but I do have a few responses to your comment. Yes, many people who are not qualified are great at the interview process, and probably just as many highly qualified candidates are not great at interviewing. This is why having a clearly defined, behaviorally based interview process is critical. My guess is that you have hired based on liking the person and feeling like you could work well together. They may have pulled you in and made you believe in them, only to find they didn’t deliver as promised.
I strongly suggest you review how you are selecting candidates for this role.
Do you have a clearly defined job description? Make sure there is no ambiguity and you have put in writing the quantitative and qualitative expectations of the role.
Have a process for interviewing. Define who should interview, what questions should be asked and how you will debrief on the answers.
Ask open-ended, behaviorally based questions. “What’s the most difficult work environment you have ever had and why?” This is better than, “How many years have you been in this industry?”
Use a tool to gauge preferred behavioral style. We are proponents of DISC (measuring Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness and Compliance), but there are others too. This gives you a more objective view of the person’s behavior and where they will fit and where they might struggle.
Check references. Don’t just ask if the person was good and check the box. Dig more deeply. Ask about the obstacles, their areas for improvement and how they exhibit strong behavior.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. In 2008, she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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