How to hire and maintain team member satisfaction

(November 2006) Before adding a new member to the team it is important to take the time to assess what you really need. Be honest with yourself and your business and remember that it may take time, money and resources to find the right person. If needs are not met and you find yourself in the position of having to fire someone, this is a whole other ball game. Document along the way is all I will say. Getting it right the first time is your best bet.

Begin with the following steps:

Create a job profile for posting on a company website or for creating local newspaper ads. At the same time you will also want to create a criteria list for reviewing resumés. Your job profile should include key responsibilities, must-have skills, nice-to-have skills, education requirements, experience requirements, hours (will overtime be required or expected?) and a salary range for the position.

After removing the salary information, review the job profile with the rest of your team. Ask for their input and ensure that you have their buy-in for the needs of this position.

Post the position both internally and externally. Remember that word of mouth is a very effective way to get the word out about a new position. The financial services industry is a small world and networking is very effective.

Be sure to review the resumés that you receive carefully, using the same criteria list to identify and score top candidates. If there are a few people that you are unsure about based on their resumé alone, conduct a brief telephone interview to ask a few questions. Hearing their phone voice and manner is important if they will be on the phone a lot with clients. From that discussion you can decide if you would like to meet them in person.

Use the information from the applicant’s resumé to prepare good interview questions. During this process the candidate is also interviewing the advisor to ensure a true representation of the responsibilities and environment is described in the posting, before making the decision to join. Use this opportunity to clearly lay out expectations and describe the environment to ensure that if the candidate is hired, they won’t say they had no idea what they were getting into.

Asking open-ended questions, those that invite more than simple “yes” or “no” answers, and encourage the candidate to open up, think, and talk at length. This enables you to observe a candidate’s communication skills and gives you the opportunity to elicit more detailed information about the candidate.

More HR 101:

• Problematic personnel – deal with it and document • EAP – more than your father’s counselling service • How to hire and maintain team member satisfaction • Team building from the inside out • Protecting your office from rogue employees • Q&A – Human resources for non-HR professionals • More resources and tools to help navigate the HR landscape

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Finally, avoid illegal interview questions that ask about age, race, religion and marital status. If you are unsure, review the interview questions in advance with your branch manager, branch administrator or someone in your human resources department.

Have a few team members meet with the top applicants, and ask their opinion before you hire a new team member. They will sometimes discover information that you did not. Before you extend an offer, be sure to check the applicant’s references — this step is often ignored.

Quarterly reviews with team members

Many advisors find managing a team to be the most challenging aspect of their job. Successful advisors, however, say implementing a quarterly review system for team members is one of the most effective ways to manage and lead.

Regular communication reduces conflict and helps to maintain team member motivation throughout the year. Clearly communicating goals and expectations to team members, and proactively managing performance issues also give team members a sense of involvement and ownership.

To ensure quarterly reviews actually take place:

Schedule a meeting with each team member on a quarterly basis. Holding the meeting at an off-site location can be beneficial as it can put people at ease and increase their candour.

Each individual meeting should be 45 minutes in length at a minimum, but could take up to two hours if needed. They should be focused and productive and should address work satisfaction, goals and education.

Prepare for each meeting by developing questions that will help you to find out more about your team members.

During the meeting you need to listen, understand what they are saying and show interest in the discussion. Limit your talking to one minute, and ask your team member a question.

If disagreements occur, handle them rationally and without emotion. Strong emotions can cause you to miss what is being said.

Be specific when addressing performance issues. Giving specific examples is much more powerful than simply saying the employee is not doing their job properly.

Your objective is to gain a greater understanding of your team members’ goals, both professionally and personally. Finding out why they work and what is important to them will help ensure greater productivity and openness about their role on the team.

During the quarterly review process ask questions about how they are feeling with their job right now, where they would like to be and how they would like to get there. Discuss and review actions and goals from their last review, discuss strengths and areas for improvement, set new goals, provide support and suggestions for success, discuss potential resources or courses they can take, and set out a list of “next steps” they can take to help reach their goals.

Understanding their talents, needs and goals is a crucial part of helping a team member be the most productive they can be for you and your practice.

Joanne Ferguson is a partner with Ontario-based Advisor Pathways, a company that offers consulting and coaching help to advisors and their firms across North America. Joanne can be reached at jferguson@advisorpathways.com or through her Website at www.advisorpathways.com.

(11/09/06)