If a salesperson’s mantra is “Always be closing” to be effective, a manager who wants to futureproof their business may want to do that, with a twist: Always be considering…. focus more on traits and less on training when approaching employee assessment. Always be considering employee traits and skills for potential reskilling.
Uncertainty in the financial services industry is not something financial advisors can control, but they can prepare for it. There’s no need for something new. Traditional methods of optimizing resources will work well for businesses of various sizes. In this article, we’ll review how financial advisors can boost their teams to best prepare their businesses for industry uncertainty.
Resource optimization is a key element of practice management. It may not be as exciting a topic to consider as a new ap or developments in prospecting, but when it comes to managing through uncertainty, there isn’t much that beats it. Resource optimization is a term that means ensuring you have the right team with the right tools for working together to achieve known goals. Often, we think of optimizing resources in terms of actual physical resources, such as equipment and office space. Yet, the best resources are the ones using those physical ones: your staff. They are the ones who can minimize the effect of any negative events that could impact your business.
The process of predicting and examining possible future events (“PFEs”) and developing systems to minimize the impact of those PFEs is called future proofing. In short, it is a risk management approach to looking at skills to develop to both determine unknown concerns to a business as well as take a systematic approach to resolving them ahead of time. At its core, a system, project, or company is “future proofed” when it continues to retain its value and relevance into the future. A system can be future-proofed when it’s built with adequate employee feedback to evolve systems and report safety issues. The key to any future-proofing approach is to ensure it is one that is level. That is, it doesn’t generate from the management down to employee level. Instead, it is built with adequate employee feedback to allow systems to evolve and stay relevant.
For future proofing to work as a tool to avoid the negative impacts of uncertainty, two elements of staffing are required. First, performance management systems must be set up for enhanced engagement. A lack of clear expectations by both employees and management will thwart engagement. Both sides must have an opportunity to express their expectations regularly. Discussing expectations regularly also helps create self-managed and effective teams. This kind of discussion, whether held regularly (e.g., every quarter) or informally can also help ensure that information flows between employees. That allows staff to have appropriate expectations of each other. Inter-staff information flow increases efficiency.
Second, management should approach employee assessment with an eye towards reskilling. If a salesperson’s mantra is “Always be closing” to be effective, a manager who wants to futureproof their business may want to do that, with a twist: Always be considering. Often management considers recruiting from within for new positions based on the work employees currently do, not on what their capacities are. Experts suggest changing that script and focus more on traits and less on training when approaching employee assessment. Always be considering employee traits and skills for potential reskilling. That could include moving from a goal- or outcome- only approach to employee assessment and review to one looking for behavior, traits, and skills. For example, employees with more emotional intelligence will be an asset to client management regardless of whether that role is in person, virtual, or digital.
Employee feedback loops that include both enhanced engagement, not only between employees and management but among each other, will feed reskilling efforts. Employees in specialized areas, such as marketing or client management, can spot trends not only in their own fields, but in others. For example, client managers may hear feedback from potential clients concerning new marketing channels. Conversely, marketing professionals may learn of new approaches to client services in their work with vendors. And both of those employees can contribute information on needed skills and traits needed for those new roles.
These articles are prepared for general purposes and are not intended to provide advice or encourage specific behavior. Before taking any action, Advisors and Plan Sponsors should consult with their compliance, finance and legal teams.
Before leaping into the unknown, we recommend a thorough examination of your plan. Because we are experts in the field, we know the marketplace and know what your existing vendor is capable of offering. Through this examination, we can help you optimize the service you receive.
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