Voices

New Advisors Need Support

As a new hire in the planning industry, it can be difficult to excel. Fortunately, there are some things new planners can do to better their chances according to recruiter Caleb Brown of New Planner Recruiting. In a recent blog he offers tips for new planners to help improve performance and impress their bosses.

As a consultant to advisors, Top Advisor Coaching founder Matthew Halloran has a different take on what's happening with new recruits, what advisors need to consider and how they can support new hires:

I love Caleb Brown’s recent article because it made me think a lot about perspective in our industry. We all have filters through which we view our world.  No one is right or wrong, we just have different perspectives. The point of view Brown takes as a recruiter is interesting.

As a coach/consultant I have slightly different view. New advisors need help to become more successful and stay in our industry. They need support, we provide it.

1. INITIATIVE

Initiative needs to be fostered and taught. Some have it, some don’t -- all can learn it. An owner can teach, harness, and support initiative in their team. Many owners punish new advisors when they take a swing and make mistakes making them less likely to swing again.

2. PASSION

Who has passion for anything right when they start a career? Passion is realized through exploration and experience. If my advisors’ juniors had passion right out the gate, I cannot imagine how happy they would be.

3. ‘SPECIAL’ SYNDROME

Today’s educational environment treats everyone as if they are excelling in their endeavors; special even if they are mediocre. I do not have a solution to this issue, just an observation of the possible mindset of juniors. It is hard to put the new advisor in their place and still foster the first two points you outlined.

4. MISTAKES

"Financial planning firms are constantly under pressure to do more with less to keep up with client demands, industry developments, and economic circumstances," Brown writes.

This is the reason we created the Associate Wealth Advisor Coaching Program. Many advisors feel they can show a junior once and then expect them to be proficient when there is little accountability, oversight, and training. A person in the new advisor’s corner keeping them focused on what they should learn, do, focus on, and complete. That support can change the whole outcome for the new advisor. Outsourcing to a qualified and experienced coach/consultant can help with all of the concerns outlined in Brown's article.

5. MINDSET

Think like an owner. Do we want another shark in the tank? I hear this all the time that advisors want all their employees and junior advisors to think like an owner, but when they start acting like one, they think they are getting too big for their britches. Taking initiative is powerful and getting outside your area of “work” is being a team player, not an owner. 

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