A good year may be the time to sit back, relax, and relish in your success. Or is it?
As any financial planner will tell you, complacency shouldn’t be in your vocabulary; and it certainly shouldn’t be a common theme among the professionals in your firm. Here are the top 5 ways to ensure that your financial planning firm’s team remains hungry for the next opportunity:
1. Don’t Let Bad Behavior Slide
Tolerating bad behavior doesn’t make it go away, and it certainly does little to propel your firm in the right direction as to prepare for the future. A staff member or new hire that simply isn’t working out or one who is impeding change needs to be dealt with now as to ensure that the firm is headed in the right direction at all times and that employee conduct and performance remain high.
2. Encourage Everyone to Identify Their Strengths and Their Weaknesses
One of the only ways to ensure that complacency isn’t taking over your firm is to perform a self-assessment on a regular basis and encourage other members of the firm to do the same. Whether it’s on an annual or biannual basis, financial advisors must reexamine their job responsibilities, prepare to work on things that they recognize as weak, and even call in outside talent to coach them as to remain at the top of their game.
3. Call in Outside Help
Speaking of coaches, it is very common for financial planning firms to hire coaches who can work with specific members of the team regarding improving their skill sets. An outside coach will challenge the firm’s members, encourage them to self-evaluate, and inspire a firm culture where everyone is always striving to take things one step further.
4. Switch Things Up
Complacency happens when individuals who perform the same tasks don’t give them as much of their attention as they once did. Reassigning tasks between members of the firm keeps all advisors on their toes, engaged, and ready for the next challenge.
5. Engage in Frequent Constructive Criticism
Constructive criticism among members of the firm should always be encouraged. A great way to soften the blow of constructive criticism is to ask members of the team to name at least three things their counterparts did well and at least three things they could improve on following a meeting with prospective or current clients.