Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
I have been trying to get one of my advisors to improve her client approach. She is brusque and cuts clients off in mid-sentence sometimes. More importantly she isn’t following my protocols. I have asked her to sit in meetings with me and watch what I do. I have a series of steps I take and I expect all of my staff to do the same things. I am not ready to fire her. What else can I do to get her to model my behavior?
Sally G.
Dear Sally,
Your question actually threw me for a bit of a loop! Is the objective to get her to model your behavior, or is it to learn excellent client communication skills she can practice in her own style? This is one of the biggest frustrations I find with managers who are hoping for different behavior from their associates. You expect her to learn to do it your way, but you and she may have completely different communication styles. Right now you are saying “Watch what I do and then do it” but what if she can’t? What if she doesn’t have the same observation skills, listening skills, outgoing nature or other attributes that you possess?
Too many leaders work hard to show others what they should do, and how they should do it. This only works if you have hired someone who is very much like you – and communicates and acts in similar fashions.
Rather than expecting her to conform to your way, instead outline for her what you expect. Set clear goals and objectives so she understands what success looks like to you. Catch her doing things right and point them out. When she does something that isn’t to your standards, be very clear about how she took the misstep and what you would expect her to do differently next time.
Too often the person in charge will say, “Be more friendly next time,” or “You didn’t seem like you were listening to the client.” These are very vague statements. If I don’t know what I did wrong to seem unfriendly, it will be hard for me to shift into a more friendly state!
Whenever we want to correct or change behavior, we have to be clear and consistent in our feedback. It sounds as if this is very important to you – and for obvious reasons – so I suggest speaking with her on a weekly basis to continue to observe, reinforce, observe and reinforce.
Dear Bev,
We are rewriting our compliance handbook right now. I have a team of four people assigned from four departments: marketing, financial advising, compliance and client services. The infighting is extreme. This is a critical project. How do I get them to work together more effectively?
Bruce K.
Dear Bruce,
Too many times a team is just told what to do but not given guidelines for how to do it or how to work together. For example, you have told them to rewrite the compliance guidebook as a team, but have you chosen a leader of the team? Have you given them very specific parameters and expectations about the project and milestones for what’s due and when? Do you have people on the team with competing interests? (If both marketing and compliance are represented, I’m going to guess that’s a “yes”!) If so, have you talked to them together about your overall expectations? Are these people who have worked together before so they have some level of trust and understanding of one another?
Whenever I have a team working on a goal, I want them to focus on two things: the plan to achieve the goal and the plan to work together effectively. Perhaps you could give them some coaching on the “how to work together” part.
This often includes:
- Assigning roles to team members (leader, time keeper, note taker, facilitator, etc.). A person can play more than one role.
- Asking the team to talk about their own strengths and weaknesses and how they like to work within a team. This requires ignoring the project for a moment, and inquiring about the “who and how.”
- Asking for periodic updates on progress – assign someone the task of providing these updates.
- Visiting their team meetings once in a while to answer questions or give updates. Do not micro-manage or do the work.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995; in 2008 she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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