Financial advising is a tough career. Achieving success requires tenacity, risk tolerance and expertise in financing. Because of this, a high financial advisor turnover rate is common in firms. Unfortunately, some FAs fail to succeed or decide to quit just as they near success. Others succeed but decide to jump ship and join another firm.
In order to overcome FA turnover and maintain a solid and dependable staff, firms must train and support their advisors, help them succeed and even offer incentives to encourage loyalty. Here are a few tips for overcoming turnover and retaining those awesome FAs you have been working so hard to train.
Implement incentives and mentoring
According to the Fidelity study “What’s Driving Advisors to Move in the New Market Landscape?” more than half of financial advisors have considered switching firms, while nearly a quarter of FAs actually did within a span of five years. This might make you wonder: Are you doing enough to keep your FAs happy, and not just for the first year?
If you want to keep your financial advisors around, you can improve their time at work by implementing incentives and mentoring. Typically, employees enjoy work more and are even more productive and engaged when they are doing important work that impacts their personal and professional development.
Some incentives might be a raise, bonuses or a company trip. You can also start a mentor program by recruiting peer mentors, career mentors and even life mentors. Of course, select a program that best suits your employees’ needs so you can have the most successful incentive and mentoring programs possible.
Prevent new advisor failure
A great way to welcome a new employee and help them succeed is by giving them training and support. You could provide a peer mentor who would introduce them to the company, explain the firm’s culture, train them, answer any questions and show them the ropes of the job. This could help them enjoy their time, feel supported and valued, and feel comfortable learning and growing, which could improve their chances of succeeding even more.
Some other ways you can help your new advisor have a successful career is by offering the proper training program. At Securities Training Corporation, we offer programs that can help you train your employees, bring them up to speed with financial planning regulations and help them take advantage of continuing education. By training your employees (even after they’re no longer new), you express their importance in your firm. You want to succeed, and you want your employees to succeed, so you’re willing to offer a great training program to help them grow along with the firm.
Have a marketing plan—it’s worth it
Another way you can help your new employees is by encouraging them to develop a marketing plan and providing support every step of the way as they carry it out. Typically, the first year as a financial advisor is the most difficult, and a marketing plan can make all the difference.
Some beneficial components of a marketing plan might be hosting a client event, starting a blog, signing up for social media, joining a financial advisor group to share ideas and attending networking events. Help your new employee customize a marketing plan and they can find more success in their first year, which could motivate them to hang around.
Create compensation plans that motivate advisors
Compensation plans can encourage financial advisors to work through the hard days and give them a light at the end of the tunnel. According to Financial Planning, there is no one-size-fits-all compensation plan, so customize a plan that best motivates your employees.
That plan might involve setting reasonable but challenging goals and offering competitive salaries, bonuses or even equity and profit-sharing as rewards. This will not only motivate your employees, but also inspire loyalty and support for the firm.
Think long-term—it’s the key to success
Did you know long-term thinkers tend to succeed more than short-term thinkers? Well, it’s true. That’s because long-term thinkers are open to making sacrifices in the short term to meet their long-term goals. This is why it’s important to plan ahead. Instead of focusing on the present, focus on the bigger picture and implement mentor, incentive and training programs that might be a risk now but can increase your firm’s success down the road.
This is also a great perspective for new employees. As you welcome them into the fold, encourage them to think about the future, especially because the first years are the most taxing as a financial advisor. If they keep their eyes on long-term goals, they might be able to tough out the hard times and stay at your firm.
To learn more about how to overcome financial advisor turnover or about continuing education and training programs Securities Training Corporation offers, contact us now! We are more than happy to give you the information and resources you need to help your firm retain employees and succeed.
