Home Grown: Talent Tips From K-State’s Football Coach

For most advisory firms, the solution to this turnover roulette is to switch their focus from recruiting blue-chip candidates to creating great employees in-house. Like Snyder’s program at K-State, the key to creating greatness in an advisory firm is preparation: that is, creating the foundation for employees to succeed. In an advisory firm, successful new employee preparation consists of five essential training areas, each of which has to be effectively covered for a firm’s employees to consistently succeed:

What the firm does and how it does it. All advisory firms are similar, yet not all firms do the same things. From prospective client interviews to data collection, information systems, client communication, client services, scheduling appointments, etc., every firm has its own way of doing things. This is not something any firm wants an employee figuring out in the middle of the game: Every professional employee should be fully trained on how the firm expects work to be done, so that every client experience is consistently excellent.

Why the firm does what it does. This is an often overlooked step, yet study after study shows employees perform at a much higher level when they feel they are working toward a higher purpose. I know, you’re not working toward world peace or curing cancer, but all the independent advisors I know do feel as if they are on a mission of sorts to provide sound financial advice. Unfortunately, most of them aren’t very good at communicating that mission to their employees. Helping people send their kids to college, care for their aging parents and get quality health care and a comfortable retirement are all good things. Make sure employees know that they have more than just a job and are working for more than just a business.

How the employee’s job fits into what the firm does. Once new employees know what their firm does and why it does it, they need to know how their job fits into the bigger picture. I know this may sound obvious, especially in a small firm, but I’ve known employees who worked at their jobs for years without realizing what some of the other people at the firm did or how all their efforts fit together. The benefits far outweigh the time and effort of explaining everyone’s role in the firm and how each contributes to high-quality service for clients.

What the owner/advisor considers success at the employee’s job. For employees to do a great job, they have to know what a great job would be. Again, this isn’t something owners should leave up to employees to figure out for themselves. They aren’t mind readers. When owners tell their employees exactly what performance they’d like to see, they greatly increase the chances of seeing it.

Create the space for employees to figure out how to be successful at their job. Many owner/advisors still believe they are the boss instead of the coach. They believe their employees should do things their way. Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses, different talents and abilities. The goal should be for each employee to perform at a high level. To do that, they’ll have to use their abilities and work around their weaknesses. Bosses who force employees to work one way usually prevent this from happening and get predictably mediocre performance. To get great performance, encourage employees to find their best way to work.

In the dead of summer, a player complains about how hot it is outside. Snyder says nothing, walks into the locker room, comes out in a snowsuit and sweats through the practice with his players. There is nothing he asks his team to do that he wouldn’t do with them. That is a coach and a humble leader, not a boss. All business owners would do well to follow his example and prepare their employees to succeed at their jobs, rather than trying to find the elusive stars.

Let’s hope that by the time you read this, K-State has won the Feista Bowl and is celebrating Klein’s winning the Heisman trophy. Regardless, I am cheering for not only K-State’s successes, but for every business owner and employee in the country who has ever had a dream of being on top.