Fishing Where the Fish Are

Here are a few suggestions for making your firm as attractive as possible to job-hunting young pros looking for greener–and saner–pastures:

Don’t enter a bidding war. For the first time in years, it will soon be a buyers market for experienced advisors. They want to leave their current jobs, and there won’t be many firms hiring, and even fewer firms that can offer the better environment they are seeking. Certainly, you have to offer a fair comp package, and reasonable benefits, but you don’t have to outbid their current firm. Instead, focus your efforts on creating and promoting a better working environment, which is what they really will be looking for.

Manage your growth. The prospect you’re trying to recruit is leaving her current firm because it mismanaged its growth. You have to be different, to offer what the other lacks. That means you’ll need to do what you should be doing anyway (but probably aren’t): anticipating client growth; projecting the effects it will have on your firm, on your staff, and on you; and creating a plan to meet those challenges. Attracting an experienced young professional or two can be a big part of that plan, but you’ll also need to know how the increased workload will effect every member of your team, where the bottlenecks will be, and how to fix them. Don’t do this alone: often your staff has a much better handle on how to handle clerical volume than you do. Ask for their input, and listen to what they tell you.