Part three of a four-part series.

Finding and hiring the right employee candidate requires a lot of time and energy. Yet some financial advisors drop the ball when it comes to bringing that new employee into the company and helping him or her find their place on the team.

“A lot of financial advisors are not very good managers of people,” says George Hartman, president and CEO of Market Logics Inc. in Toronto.

One way in which many advisors fall short as managers is by assuming newly hired staff members know what they’re doing almost from the moment they walk in the door.

This attitude can be costly for your business, according to Hartman: “Hiring an assistant is a big investment. It takes time to select a person and time to train. Why wouldn’t you do both of these things to the best of your ability?”

Here are some ways to ensure your new employee settles in to his or her position on your team as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

> Prepare A Workspace

Your first step is to set up a work area for the new employee. That may sound obvious, but many advisors forgo this step. In fact, according to Shannon Waller, director of new program development and team program coach at Strategic Coach in Toronto, some advisors seem surprised when the new staff member shows up on their first day.

Being unprepared for the arrival of your new staff member starts the relationship off on the wrong foot. It suggests that the new employee’s job isn’t important enough to warrant some effort and thought.

Having a desk set aside will make the person feel welcome and ready to work, Waller says. Arrange an informal tour of the office, introducing the new person to other staff members.

Says Waller: “Try to make the person feel included, wanted and part of the team.”

> Outline The Role

Presumably, you had described the job well during the interview process, but it’s a good idea to clarify further in writing exactly what you expect of a new employee, according to Hartman.

“New employees need to understand where they fit in,” he says, “what they’re expected to do and the importance of the job.”

Take some time to tell the new employee about your business, its history and it’s clients, Waller advises: “Explain how he or she creates value.”

Waller suggests a “results-oriented” breakdown of the new employee’s job, which outlines not only the tasks involved but also the desired results for each.

> Set A Flexible Timetable

Creating a schedule that outlines what training a new employee is expected to undergo — with appropriate deadlines for picking up certain skills — provides the new person with a sense of structure, Waller says, which is particularly helpful in a new environment.

Keep the timetable flexible, because everyone learns differently and at different speeds. You can include test runs or pilot projects in the training process to help you spot problems early on, says Hartman.

“You may be going down a path and discover that there’s a key skill that’s missing,” he says. “You need to build that into the curriculum.”
@page_break@> Delegate

Training is often a combination of formal processes and skills picked up from team members. Having the newbie work side-by-side with you or someone else on the team is an ideal way to demonstrate how day-to-day functions are generally handled.

If you are working solo, it can be helpful for a new assistant to shadow you performing various work duties, such as sitting in on client meetings. Ask the new employee to take notes, Waller suggests, then discuss later why certain matters were handled the way they were. This is a great way to keep training interactive, she adds.

If the new employee is replacing someone who is leaving, try to have the new person start while the incumbent is still on the job, advi-ses Robin Kingsmill, senior vice president and investment advisor with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. in Mississauga, Ont. This way, knowledge can be communicated directly from the person currently holding the position to the new employee. Says Kingsmill: “There’s a passing of the baton.”

You can vary the level of delegation as the new employee becomes more confident and familiar with the job, says Waller.

The first stage is to ask the new employee to conduct some research as preparatory work for a project. Rather than ask the newbie to complete expense reports or create visuals for a seminar, ask him or her to outline the way in which they would approach the task. This exercise will reveal any areas in which the new staff member might need help.

The next stage is to have the new employee complete the task, but with direction, checking in with you or a senior team member after each step is completed.

In the next stage, the new employee completes the task and tells you the results when it’s done.

In the final stage — what Waller calls the “make it go away” step — your new employee completes the task with no follow-up. Tasks involving client contact, Waller adds, will not normally reach this stage.

> Track Progress

By monitoring your new employee’s progress, you can better determine his or her weak spots. The earlier you change bad habits, Waller says, the better.

Hartman points out that you should make yourself available to your new employee to respond to any questions or concerns they might have. Initially, meet once a day for 15 minutes and, over time, taper that down to weekly meetings. Regular interaction can cut problems off early, before they became major issues.

When does the training end? Think of training as an ongoing process that never ends and which is essential to any business.

IE