The financial services industry often talks about the challenges of talent shortages and how they will impact the future. However, this talk often baffles me, for there is an abundance of talent waiting for your beck and call.
Universities may not immediately spring to mind as a prominent recruitment stream; however with a bit of forward planning and the right approach, graduates can prove themselves as a powerful recruitment strategy for you and your business.
Through our work with several dealer groups and practices, we have developed a series of proven guidelines for mentoring and growing new talent in your business:
1. Manage Expectations
We provide a realistic view for graduates that there are no shortcuts to success and they should carefully build the foundations towards a long term career. Being up front about what they are to expect prevents any misconceptions about their progress and helps prevent the breakdown of a relationship due to people making unrealistic assumptions.
2. Have a defined development plan
Establishing a clearly defined training path within your business helps develop outstanding team members into competent advisers. Placing graduates within a professional environment allows them to observe how you conduct client interactions and to learn by being immersed into the daily processes of your business.
3. Highlight the importance of mentoring
Firms that take on graduates for the purpose of mentoring should also be prepared with senior advisers ready to share their knowledge and allow the graduate to observe and role play in the execution of daily business.
4. Develop client engagement skills
A mentoring period is the ideal time to help graduates to develop their administration and client engagement skills. This includes learning systems, building relationships and experience in their own personal lives. Developing these assets at the earliest opportunity can help build a strong competitive advantage over the long term.
5. Ensure your values are compatible
When choosing a suitable graduate for mentoring, you should also do your homework to ensure their professional values are aligned with your corporate culture. This will help you find the graduates that are the right match for your business.
Grad Mentor can help you with all of these steps, saving you time and also ensuring you find the ideal graduates to work with you. The sourcing of such quality candidates helps develop outstanding candidates to become industry leaders and ultimately secure the future of the financial planning industry.
Alisdair Barr is the founder of Grad Mentor, a unique program that aims to develop the financial planning industry by linking the finest graduates with leading financial planning firms.
