Independent advisor firms with annual revenues of $1 million or more
devote more time to attracting and keeping employees, according to a
new study.
Such firms also
are more likely to implement a client segmentation strategy, devoting
more resources to profitable relationships, according to the new study
by Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, entitled, "A View From the Top: Best
Practices in Leveraging Human Capital."
When it comes to
employees, the study found that the higher-revenue firms were more
likely to focus on recruitment incentives such as salary, profit
sharing, benefits packages, equity and signing bonuses, according to
the study.
Such firms were
also more likely to provide employee training and orientation, periodic
performance reviews and formal manager/reporting structures.
The study also
found that, across all firms surveyed, 70% of respondents felt the most
effective recruiting tools were intangibles such as "firm reputation"
and "corporate culture."
More than half of
high-revenue firms, 55%, had client segmentation strategies, compared
with 40% for low revenue firms, according to the study.
Firms with $1
million or more in revenues were also more likely to separate the sales
and relationship management functions. About 78% of high-revenue firms
had such a strategy, compared with 55% of firms with revenues below $1
million.