A model of clarity and wisdom gleaned from experience, Caleb Brown’s Successful Hiring for Financial Planners: The Human Capital Advantage addresses the thorny issue of how to find, train and retain talented financial planners.
Brown, a CFP, is the co-founder and CEO of New Planner Recruiting, which specializes in recruiting prospects for financial firms.
A career in financial planning has become more appealing in the last 20 years because of “the growth of various types of recurring revenue business models, such as the AUM. As a result, it has become economically rewarding to deliver ongoing financial planning services to clients.’’
That has led to a greater demand for more financial planners, and heightened competition to find the candidates with three traits that Brown said are essential for success: innovative thinking, follow through and a sense of urgency.
Statistics illustrate how intense the competition is: the Social Security Administration estimates that 11,000 baby boomers are retiring daily but, only “7,000 potential financial advisors are taking the CFP Certification Exam each year’’ he said. Moreover, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2024, the demand for personal financial advisors will increase by 30 percent in North America.
New hiring projects should begin at least three to six months before taking on new staff. If firms, now largely owned by baby boomers, are hiring new college graduates, Brown said “some intergenerational coaching may be helpful.’’
The Gen Y, or millennial graduate, will need to know the “why’’ of performing tasks; will insist on a work-life balance; will tend to prefer electronic communication and so may need help in developing interpersonal skills; and will require constructive criticism and positive feedback.
Candidates from iGen, the generation after Gen Y, are even more dependent on technology, and will need “a technology-centric culture and continuous learning environment for personal and professional satisfaction.’’
Determining a firm’s needs is the first step in hiring the right person, Brown said, which means establishing the new hire’s tasks and making sure the hire fits into the firm’s culture. He outlined the pros and cons of hiring new college graduates versus more experienced career changers. The latter has developed empathy and needs less training; the former may be more flexible and can get by earning less income.
Brown described how best to manage planners who will work from remote locations—managers should hold weekly virtual meetings and brief telephone meetings. He outlined the various electronic tools that can manage remote workers, such as Slack, Join.me, ShareFile and Evernote.
On the issue of business development, Brown warned that “problems will emerge if firm owners default to evaluating new hires on the same standard that it took several decades for themselves to achieve.’’ “Excess’’ sales pressure is a prime reason that young planners leave the profession, he wrote.
Those hiring should benefit from Brown’s new planners’13 point wish list, which includes their desire to work with experienced FAs and their clients; to use top flight software to create financial plans for clients, and be mentored and given opportunities to grow.
“In my conversations with new financial planners, they seem to prefer increased responsibility versus financial rewards,’’ Brown said.
He supplemented a chapter on how to write a compelling job description with a sample of same, and said “having a compelling job description is at the top of the list’’ of ways to attract the best candidates.
Locating the best candidates starts with having an excellent website, as well as checking industry media, and using Internet job boards; Brown provided 14 frequently used job sites.