An advisory firm’s search for new talent should go beyond the traditional financial fields, according to Julie Genjac, a corporate coach at Hartford Funds, a financial giant based in Wayne, Pa.
In addition to financial qualifications, the search should explore applicants’ non-financial life experiences and talents, Genjac said.
“The search for talent is becoming more challenging, especially when you are looking at a very narrow field of applicants who come strictly from the financial world,” said Genjac who serves as vice president and managing director of applied insights at Hartford Funds. “The talent search should look for a broader set of skills.
“The saying is, ‘You want to hire employees, but humans walk through the door,’” meaning, people bring much more to the table than just financial skills, she said.
During coaching sessions with firm leaders, Genjac said she has been getting more questions about how to find exceptional talent. Genjac said she often feels a candidate’s life experiences and natural skill sets can carry more weight than years in the industry. She encourages hiring managers to consider what can be taught, such as operating a specific technology system, versus what is innate, such as passion, work ethic, attention to detail and mindset for growth.
One technique to discover those other skills during an interview is to ask questions, she said.
Genjac said she often asks, “’What failure in your life have you learned the most from?’ If they say they have not had failures that should be very concerning to the interviewer. The question is designed to see how they react. If they immediately shut down, that is telling.”
The interviewer can ask, ‘What is something I would not know about you from reading your resume?’ or ‘How would people describe you?’ “This is where you get to the human side of the candidate,” Genjac said.
Most advisory firms are now comfortable with the post-pandemic world and are ready to move on, and that often means hiring new advisors and staff, she said. Firm leaders often realize they need help with this process. When coaching a firm’s leaders, she said she starts with an assessment of what the firm is missing.
Then when trying to fill those missing slots, she tells them to look outside the letters on the business card of the applicant. “You want to tap into the life experiences and personalities when you are filling empty spots in the firm or on the advisory team,” she said.
Haste is the enemy of a good hire, she said.
“Sometimes firms are so desperate to fill a position, they hire inappropriately. You can’t allow the need to fill a position to push you to hire. You have to assess how the person is going to fit into the team,” she said. “Hire slowly and fire quickly.”
Genjac likes to use personality assessment tests to gain insight into a candidate’s personality. In addition to being a good hiring tool, the assessments can also be used during employee reviews as a communication tool.
“You can avoid major conflicts if you do the assessments ahead of time so you can see how everyone will fit together, and then use the assessments on an ongoing basis,” she said. “If tiny red flags appear during the hiring process, don’t sweep them under the rug. You are getting the best version of a person during the interview. Dig deeper if there are warning signs.
“And do not forget the team members you already have. Allow them to expand and grow. Make sure you have a good assessment of their capabilities,” Genjac said.