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,
We are in the process of merging with another advisory firm. My team of 12 (non-partners) knows we have been in talks looking for the right situation for quite some time. While it was not reasonable to engage all 12 team members in the discussion, we had six of them meet with the firms, give feedback and play an important role. My two partners and I chose a cross section of our team – four people who have been here for a very long time, two who were a bit newer, and different roles within the firm. While I wouldn’t call us an entirely consensus decision-making management team, we knew how important it was to have buy-in and to get an impression from our team. If someone vehemently disagreed with a firm or advisor we were talking to, we turned away and decided not to pursue it. We kept the other six members involved and updated.
Now that the merger is finally taking place and we have a clear set of steps to take, the six people who were not involved in the decision-making process are pushing back on everything. It’s like they have met together and determined they would each identify what’s missing, what might not work and what’s going wrong. I don’t think they did this, but that’s how it feels to the rest of us. As you can imagine, this has divided our firm into two sections – those who were engaged in the process from start to finish and those who were not.
As I have said multiple times to my whole team, I’m open for feedback on what we need to be thinking about as we merge. But much of what we need to do is already prescribed and in place. The firm we are merging with (much larger and has been through this before) has chastised me and my partners for opening the decision up to any team members at all. While they are not really impacted by it, they know we are dealing with some internal issues concerning the process.
I want to just forge forward and become integrated and worry about how we fix this after everything is done. My two partners think we’ve created this rift, and they want to heal the wounds before we go any further. I don’t see how you undo something that has already happened – I think you just move forward.
J.D.
Dear J.D.,
You could do both – keep moving forward while you explore why the team believed there was such a breakdown in communication and find ways to build the team back together as you embark on this important journey through the merger.
I understand you were very thoughtful in how you approached this experience. It sounds like you communicated, kept everyone involved and worked hard to avoid a full consensus agreement which, admittedly, can mean sometimes that nothing gets decided. You let the other team members know what was happening along the way and while they did not get “a vote,” it sounds like they were engaged enough to understand each step and the progress being made.
There are three things I ask you to consider: One is that it’s possible your team members are seeing things you ought to be paying attention to. This doesn’t mean the deal isn’t a good one, it doesn’t mean you need to slow down or derail what you are doing, and it doesn’t mean the things they are seeing aren’t fixable or solvable. It just means you might want to listen to their concerns and see if there is anything else you can learn.
I talk about “filters” quite a bit; sometimes the filters we apply to a person or something they say prevent us from really hearing what’s underneath what they say. Is it possible you have a bit of guilt or concern you were not able to include these six people? Now that they are bringing up a (potential) problem, are you casting it as something tied to them being left out? Is it possible they are sharing something you might want to hear? Sometimes people don’t initially do a good job of saying what they mean but underneath their concerns there is a nugget of truth. If we don’t listen for what’s underneath we can miss the details that are most important.
Next thing I ask you to consider is, now that the deal is done and you are moving forward, are you are engaging everyone? Is everyone part of the plan, with their own role for integration? They likely all need to be involved at some level. This is a chance to take a step back and ensure the plan – and the communication – is inclusive. You are past the decision-making point; this is where the implementation happens!
The last thing I ask you to think about is whether the people who were involved in the process are acting as if they know more about the merger or were closer to the new firm/advisor. Often even the savviest professional hasn’t left the metaphorical seventh-grade playground. It’s worth investigating if there is a bit of underground one-upping going on. It might be good to pull the whole team together. Remind them they are all in it. They need to work alongside each other and support each other through the process. Too many advisors assume people “will work it out” but they rarely do. You might have to intervene and take control.
Along with all of this, do keep moving toward the new normal. Hopefully once people get settled, they will have different things to focus on, too.
Dear Bev,
We’re redoing our website and are having a hard time gaining agreement on a few things: Video or not? Newsletters back how far? List contact info for our time with a Calendly link or not? Pictures of grandparents on the beach or not?
A.K.
Dear A.K.,
You also provided me with a link to your existing website for some context. I share this for our readers, because there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to websites.
For some advisors, videos are great – they are eye-catching, can be informative and help the visitor get to know the advisor. In other cases, videos are too long, not done well, a bit hard to follow and don’t add value.
Newsletters can be useful too – go back as far as you want if there is relevant information that illustrates who you are as a firm, and what kind of information you provide. Or, if you want to post only the most recent newsletters, maybe up to two years ago, that’s fine too.
I’m not a fan of listing contact info only because of my years spent as an Executive Recruiter. You don’t want to make it too easy to find your team, but some advisory firms think it makes them more approachable and encourages outreach. Same with Calendly. I don’t like anyone to control my calendar so I’m not a fan, but I have many clients who find it is a great way to set appointments with existing and potential clients.
To the last question, I admit I prefer something other than the grandparents on the beach because it is so overused. But often the advisor and their team just really like the grandparents! Ultimately you need to do what you believe fits your culture, your firm and your message.
The bottom line: there are no firm answers. Hopefully this gives you some ideas to think about in trying to answer these questions.
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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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here. 
