Firms should be recruiting, retaining and developing the best candidates not just for ownership, but for a wide range of management competencies.
The end-of-the-year salary and review process is the perfect time to revisit your firms' human capital strategy and make sure you have programs that develop and retain your talent.
In addition to financial metrics and top performer analysis, this year's Financial Performance Study of Advisory Firms includes discussions of marketing and business development, and pricing and segmentation.
In our recent <a href=http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20110411/INCR/120129985>2012 IN Adviser Solutions Succession Planning Study</a>, we identified several gaps in firms' preparedness for succession. One of the most critical is a gap not just in planning, but in understanding just how much planning is required for a succession strategy to be effective.
In my consulting work, I am continually asked by firm principals about hiring strategies. Questions such as: “Should I make my next hire before I reach capacity, or after? Should I hire an experienced adviser with a book of clients, or invest in a junior person that I can train in our way of doing things?”
Every firm should have a well-documented compensation plan, which covers a lot more than just how much you pay people.
