How Do We Recover from an Offsite Gone Wrong?

Dear T.I.,

This is such a great example of good intentions leading to poor results. Most of the time when leaders conduct a survey, hold an offsite or generally want to know what team members are thinking it is because they are interested in the outcomes and hope to use the information to make better decisions. Sometimes, however, it is because they believe they “should” do things like this, but they don’t want to hear bad news or get feedback that might force them to do something differently. I am not suggesting your leaders are one category or the other. But there are two entirely different sets of motivations depending on the management team.

In this case, even if the intention was a good one – hear from the team and focus on goals and outcomes – the deliverables became negative because there are things to address. But management isn’t open to addressing these things. This can be attributable to many things: they might not know how or what to change; they might not believe the comments are fair and accurate; they might not have the budget or expertise to implement new ideas; or they might not care and believe team members are getting a paycheck, so it isn’t up to them to decide what changes need to be made! Without knowing more about your culture and your management team’s philosophy, or how they have handled negative input or change management in the past, it’s hard for me to opine on their motives.

But you have a situation you feel you need to address. There are a couple of things you can control, and your best approach is to focus on them.

Communicate with your team – the subset of the 250 that come under your umbrella. Have an honest conversation and let them know there was some negative feedback in the survey results, and you are interested in learning more – if they are willing to share – about the specifics. Let them know you are not in charge of everything, but you can make changes in your own organization. You are willing to do so, if you can learn more about what needs to be done.

Speak with your leadership – specifically the president, chief operations officer and chief compliance officer. Let them know (in a supportive way) it is a good thing the team is comfortable sharing their perspective. This means they trust management to do something, and at minimum they are still engaged and hoping for change. Reframe the feedback for the leadership team to show the positive side of what is happening (and there legitimately is a positive side).

Suggest outside help. I had a very large (tens of thousands of employees) client once who conducted a survey and got very negative reviews. I embarked on a process to hold focus groups, conduct individual interviews and hold town hall meetings to learn more about what was underneath the comments. The firm learned a great deal about where changes could be made – much of it very productive and specific. Engage a coach or consultant to work with you on this to help surface more about what’s lying underneath the comments.

Do something to shift the dynamic even though you don’t hold the power to address everything that’s needed. This type of situation can cause a great deal of disruption over time if not addressed.

Dear Bev,

We are a team of three partners running an independent firm. I am 42, one of my partners (“Todd”) is 51 and the third partner (“Simon”) is 79-years old. Todd, Simon and I started the firm together, spinning off from a larger financial company about 15 years ago. At that time, Simon said he was adamant about retiring at 70, so we focused on have about six years working together and then assumed we would buy him out and shift the firm.

Nine years past the expected date, Todd and I are extremely frustrated nothing has happened. Granted Simon is in exemplary shape – he plays pickleball twice a week, is in a golf league, is one of our consistent leaders and he has a young wife who keeps him traveling, going out socializing and dancing. He leads a fuller life than Todd and I do! But he is 79 years old. Simon’s wife, “Gayle”, is not involved in the business. She doesn’t like to talk about it, hear about it or be engaged. She likes the money that comes out of the business, but she doesn’t want involvement past cashing the checks.

Todd and I like Simon. We have had no problems working together for the 15 years we were independent and the three years before that. I started with Simon as an intern and Todd was Simon’s junior FA. We knew from the beginning we were meant to be working together. We’ve grown a great firm. We don’t want Simon to feel pushed out. But Todd and I lose sleep thinking about having to deal with Gayle if anything happened to Simon. She would inherit his ownership (they have no children, but she has a niece she considers her own child).

How do advisors deal with this conversation and highlight the risks and concerns without offending the advisor who helped them succeed in the first place? We know we owe Simon a debt of gratitude for taking us on years ago. But we’ve proved our worth and both Todd and I are more of the rainmakers today than Simon. He likes to work with the clients and the investments, but not build the business.

O.A.

Dear O.A.,

I wish I had the easy answer to this one. At least two or three times per week I or someone on my team engages with one of our firms (RIAs and larger wirehouses) about succession. The difficulty is in helping older advisors see the risk factors in staying where they are, with no plan B in place should something happen to them. It’s such a curious dynamic because advisors work with clients focusing on goals, mitigating risk, planning for retirement, protecting their families and their legacy. Yet advisors do not take their own advice and do this in their own firm. With the aging of the profession, it’s a looming crisis, but it doesn’t mean older advisors are rushing to do anything about it.

Your situation probably requires a discussion between Todd, you and Simon to talk about the impact on Gayle if something should happen to Simon without a plan in place. Highlight the fact she doesn’t really enjoy the business, doesn’t want to be involved but wants to be financially cared for by the business. If you more starkly illustrate Gayle’s perspective, Simon would see that she could be the one hurt if something happens to him.

Share that you are not trying to push him out (assuming this is true). You recognize his plans changed from what he said 15 years ago, and he has not seemed to want to embrace leaving the firm altogether. Is there a way to structure his role differently? Could he offer part of his ownership to you and Todd but still stay involved and get paid for this involvement? Sometimes I see older advisors move into consulting or coaching roles whereby they are still working with the firm and receiving income for doing so (along with a payout from transferring their ownership shares). This allows the older advisor to stay engaged and working – and even receive ongoing “new” income. But the ownership of the firm is transferring to the younger advisors at the same time.

Paint the picture for Simon that no one keeps going at the same pace forever. While he may be playing pickleball into his 90s and working with your clients, it is a risk-mitigation strategy to have a “what if?” plan in place.

These are deeply emotional issues for advisors. Trying to find the insight that resonates with them will be difficult. You need to keep at it.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022 and 2023. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She 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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