The Right Way to Build a TeamThe Right Way to Build a Team
Three strategies to foster long-term alignment, growth and, ultimately, a legacy.
Many advisors recognize the need for an heir-apparent, but what they really want is quality talent without having to give anything up—such as personal production. There is nothing inherently wrong with running a practice where the senior advisor calls the shots and the junior team members carry out that vision as “support staff.” However, this approach often yields junior team members who feel marginalized and undervalued. Certainly, that’s not the foundation of what an advisor might consider their next-gen “dream team.”
What if you could instead build a bench of next-gen talent that feels valued and who are committed and loyal in return?
Here are three strategies advisors can implement to foster long-term alignment and growth:
1. Build Your Team With the End in Mind
We often hear from advisors that it would be game-changing to have three or four rockstar advisors co-running the team. (Many of the best and biggest teams in the industry are set up as such.) However, acquiring and recruiting advisors is challenging, competitive and expensive. No doubt, it requires time, effort and patience.
But the best answer might be right in front of you, with your support staff. You could give up some personal production to “seed” their growth in the process. Sure, you could opt to hire them as a version of the “indentured servant,” but if your goal is to build a legacy business, that would be shortsighted. It’s better to simultaneously train and coach next-gen advisors, while also feeding them clients to manage or prospects to target whenever possible. In our experience, that keeps these young advisors loyal and sticky to the team with the expectation that eventually they build their own significant books. Likewise, many top teams have all production roll through a single advisor (and there are some real bragging rights with that). But future-minded advisors recognize that giving up some of that production credit to talented next-gen folks and allowing them to become advisors in their own right is a smart investment because it buys commitment and gratitude.
2. Give Your Team a Voice
Compensation and upward mobility are important parts of a successful and healthy team, but they’re far from the only components. Indeed, we have encountered some of the highest-paid client associates in the industry, plenty of whom are incredibly unhappy. Why? It’s often because they feel like well-paid drones. They still have no voice or control. But quality support staff manage some of the most critical functions of a team, and it’s important that senior advisors offer a forum for them to voice appropriate concerns, ideas, or pain points.
For example, your client associates are typically the ones who spend hours per week fighting against red tape to ensure your clients are insulated from the consequences of your firm’s bureaucracy. Hearing the associates out not only makes them feel valued and heard, but you may also receive legitimate ideas for how to streamline the business and free up capacity for all. One suggestion: Host a quarterly meeting where your entire team gets to share what is working well and what isn’t.
3. Teams Are a Living, Breathing Entity and Should be Treated as Such
A common reactive approach to teaming is the “set it and forget it method,” in which an advisor will stick with his current team structure until it’s broken or capacity-constrained. We propose a more proactive approach in which advisors periodically consider the needs of the business and how it’s evolved over time.
For example, you may have required three client associates while you were ramping up the business, but perhaps now you could use a deeper bench on the investments side of the house. Or maybe a team member who was previously a client associate has shown tremendous growth and may be ready for their next chapter as a junior financial advisor. Plus, keep in mind that while treating support staff with respect and loyalty is essential, the needs of your clients and business must come first. If someone is underperforming, you might have to make what may be a personally challenging decision—but one that is crucial to the business.
Building a team the right way means making a long-term investment: Nurturing staff members with thought, respect, and some level of sacrifice. When done in this manner, the return will be a cohesive unit with leaders ready to continue the legacy at the end of the day.
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