But then his firm did an about-face and chose to alter its wealth management market strategy. It eliminated all the field offices that had given it such a ubiquitous presence, and thus lost a lot of face-to-face contact with clients. The firm decided to focus on phone centers with moderate to minimal human intervention instead. Even worse, the firm didn’t telegraph any of these changes to its employees.

Ken was offered a choice: He could either move his family to the company’s headquarters in another time zone and work in a call center, or he could take severance. He had two weeks to decide.

For both professional and personal reasons, he opted for the severance package. It required him to sign a one-year non-compete and non-solicitation agreement.

Culture And Personal Growth

One day, you might be forced to make a decision like Ken’s. Or you may simply wake up and realize that what you’re doing no longer suits you. Your feelings could stem from personal, moral or ethical changes within yourself or they could be prompted by external industry pressures. Regardless, you know that the time has come to make a change. And coming to terms with that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Your move very likely might not be prompted by money at all. Here are some of the major reasons you might switch firms:

• You have developed cultural differences with the firm. An organization’s culture comes from the life experiences each employee brings with him or her. (It’s especially influenced, of course, by the experiences of its founder and other senior executives.) But every person grows, and motivations can shift over time.

• You have developed a growing authority in a subject area that may not be aligned with the company’s direction. That means your personal growth trajectory likely lies outside the company.

• You have determined that the needs of your clients are not being served by the platform or model you’re currently working with.

• As the advisory landscape constantly changes, you have come to realize that other companies are better suited to sustaining and servicing your clients.