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Your Employees Are Your Best Investment: Here’s How to Show Your Appreciation
By Ginny Hudgens
More than the latest tech tools or luxe office space, your greatest differentiator as an advisor is your team. Your employees are the driving force behind your firm’s growth, and they will continue to be instrumental in scaling your practice to new heights. Without them, you are one individual with only so many hours in the day—you need your team to succeed.
But aside from competitive pay and attractive benefits, what are you doing to make your team feel appreciated and supported? It’s easy to take your high-performing, autonomous team members for granted but this can lead to issues with retaining and attracting talented employees over time.
Here are four surprising yet effective ways you can demonstrate to your team just how much you appreciate their hard work and commitment to the firm.
1. Create a Culture of Trust
While company culture may not be a top priority for senior advisors, it plays a critical role in employee satisfaction (and ultimately retention). Considering your employees spend 40+ hours a week with you, the type of environment you foster can greatly affect their productivity, motivation, and satisfaction.
So, what does it take to create a positive company culture? Show your employees you believe in them and their ability to be highly productive team players by creating a culture of trust. When people know you trust them, they inherently don’t want to break that trust—rather, they feel compelled to rise to the occasion.
Filling your firm with top talent elevates the entire team, and ultimately sets a higher standard for performance. Just keep in mind that your highest performers don’t want to be micromanaged. Doing so can lead to resentment, which may make them feel less motivated to go above and beyond.
If you conducted a thorough hiring process, there should be no reason why you can’t trust your employees to function autonomously and effectively.
2. Pull Back the Curtain
Believe it or not, your employees do care about the firm’s overall success and goals. Advisors (and business owners in general) tend to assume their employees are only in it for the paycheck. But when you foster a positive company culture and hire highly productive people, that’s typically not the case.
Employees want to feel purposeful and fulfilled in what they do, and you can help them achieve that by aligning their motivations with the firm’s greater goals. Don’t shy away from talking to your employees about your firm’s intended roadmap and growth journey and let them know how their roles are integral to achieving these short- and long-term goals.
3. Be Transparent
It may sound obvious but your employees should never be confused or unsure about their roles and responsibilities. They should know exactly what falls on their plate, who to turn to if they have questions or concerns, and how their performance is evaluated. A clear understanding of their role and its importance within the firm keeps employees focused and driven.
Along the same vein, be clear about how they are compensated, and what sort of incentives you’re able to provide. Don’t dangle potential rewards like a carrot (such as a year-end bonus) with no clear guidelines on how they can attain them. Create a clear and transparent compensation plan that outlines opportunities for growth and professional development.
4. Address Concerns Head-On
Few things will make your employees feel underappreciated or undervalued more than allowing an underperforming or problematic employee to continue working at your firm. If someone isn’t a good fit, it’s up to you to address their underperformance head-on. While the answer may not mean terminating employment right away, you at least owe it to your firm and the rest of your team members to have honest (albeit sometimes uncomfortable) conversations with the employee.
Find ways to provide additional support and give them a chance to improve. If you don’t see progress, it may be time to part ways—or risk making your other, high-performing team members feel resentful and frustrated.
Your Team Is Your Greatest Differentiator
You cannot scale your firm effectively without a highly functioning team of employees who feel valued and appreciated. By investing in their well-being and growth, fostering a supportive environment, and creating transparency, you can more effectively express your gratitude for the work they put into operating your firm and serving clients.
Ginny Hudgens is the founder of The Strategic Implementer, a firm dedicated to helping financial advisors love their business and reclaim their lives. She supports firm leaders in creating goal-focused strategies, breaking them into actionable steps, and ensuring team accountability.
image credit: Adobe Stock Images
