This involves staying updated with business, client and workplace trends, regulatory changes, and advancements in financial planning tools and strategies.
Investing in professional development, such as training and certification, is crucial for enhancing the skills and knowledge of the team.
Regularly reviewing and refining processes and systems helps to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary changes. Seeking feedback from clients and the team and using it to enhance their client and employee journey is another key strategy.
FTA: What's your most helpful advice you tend to give to advice firms?
MH: In my view, the most important message that I find myself repeating time and time again is: "Focus on culture, communication and your clients." There it is again… internal 'clients' too, not just the external ones.
Culture because it is who you are, the essence of your business, its personality, its values and its beliefs. Get this right and you will be rocketing, get it wrong and my advice would be to head for the bunkers.
Communication — it is and has always been "good to talk". Too many assumptions exist in firms today and unless I missed it, I don’t recall any of us gaining the "mind reader" superpower along the way. The us vs them vibe in a team will rip it apart faster than you can blink. "United" is the only way to achieve the greatest goals.
Finally, clients — let's focus on the internal "clients". If they were given the same amount of time, love and resources that are given to external clients then we wouldn't have the recruitment pandemic that we have today.
Team members up and down the country are crying out to be recognised and rewarded for holding the fort, delivering on the promises of the business, going the extra mile and quite frankly keeping the lights on.
Oh, and it's not just about recognition, it’s about trust, support, time and progression. But when they ask too often the barrel is dry.
FTA: Where are typically the problem areas?
MH: Well, if we start with the above you can then add on the rest of what I call The Seven Pains. These include a lack of buy-in from their teams; inadequate leadership and management skills; no clear vision or mission; very few thought-through and clearly defined processes and procedures; under-skilled and under-developed team members; ineffective workflow and task management systems; and inadequate technology and tools in place to do the job.
