Do you need an office manager?

I have a good team in place: a licensed sales assistant, an administrative assistant and a junior associate. The junior associate does our financial planning and client-meeting prep work in addition to managing the relationships with many of our clients who have smaller accounts.

Despite this delegation of responsibilities, I clearly am going to have to hire another person.

What specific role should I be looking to him or her to perform?

Coach says: you have reached what I often describe as a “ceiling of complexity.” You find yourself spending more time managing the business than on carrying out your responsibilities to your clients.

You did not mention specifically that you have segmented your clients and implemented a service strategy that aligns with that segmentation. However, since both your productivity and profitability have improved, I am going to assume that strategy is one of my suggestions that you have adopted. I have written often about client segmentation as the single most effective way to improve efficiency and effectiveness in a growing practice.

With that assumption, then, I think this might be the right time for you to consider hiring someone to take on some of the management duties you are performing, in order to free you to focus on building and maintaining client relationships. The key to managing practice growth is leverage – having the right people, structure and processes to serve a larger number of clients. Your letter sounds like you have reached a point at which maximizing that leverage requires the attention of a full-time office manager.

So, what could a dedicated office manager do for you? I would assign his or her responsibilities into three key areas: people, processes and projects.

– Managing people

As the CEO of your business, you always want some say in who works for you and how they are managed. However, staffing is a task that can consume more time than you realize. Aside from any formal performance and compensation discussions you may have with your team members, the 10 minutes spent here and there on individual issues can add up and distract you from your advisory and client-management role. This is not to say that you will no longer communicate with your team members. However, to the extent that you can make someone else their first point of contact, you will gain a considerable time advantage.

More specifically, you should look to your office manager to:

– Co-ordinate activities. Your office manager should ensure that tasks are properly assigned and satisfactorily completed.

Team members need to know what you expect of them in fulfilling their roles on a daily basis.

– Communicate. The office manager should encourage full and open communication among all members of the team. He or she should establish open lines of communication so that all team members feel confident in expressing their views and making suggestions for improvement.

– Answer questions. The office manager should be available to answer questions from staff and to help to resolve human resources and operational issues. He or she can help reduce those brief, but frequent interruptions that otherwise would take your time and attention away from your primary roles.

– Provide staff training. Looking after continuing education, ongoing skills development and competence with current technology should fall within your office manager’s responsibilities. In general, staff members also will perform better if they see a personal career-development path and how they can upgrade their skills to qualify for additional job responsibilities.

– Manage performance. Have your office manager co-ordinate and, when appropriate, conduct individual performance reviews. He or she also must be prepared to deal with underperforming employees and, when necessary, handle employee termination.

– Manage compensation. If employees have concerns regarding their compensation, their performance can suffer. Your office manager should manage the agreed-upon compensation of each team member, including any incentive programs. Ensuring that all employees receive the recognition they deserve and to which they are entitled contributes substantially to harmonious employee relations.

– Evaluate capacity and hire new staff. Your office manager will identify strong candidates, co-ordinate interviews and conduct aptitude and attitude testing. Once you have jointly approved a candidate, the office manager should be the person extending an employment offer and managing the hiring and orientation process.

– Managing processes

As practices grow, so does the need for efficient processes. One of the primary responsibilities of your office manager is to identify the critical steps in the day-to-day operation of your business and design workflow processes to ensure those activities are carried out in a consistent and proficient manner.

Your office manager should:

– Manage the client experience. The office manager should ensure your clients have a positive impression at every “touchpoint” between themselves and your business. This does not imply overservicing clients relative to your segmentation model; rather, each interaction with your team should be professional and enjoyable.

– Manage operational risk. This task involves creating a “culture of compliance” within your practice so everyone views compliance as reducing risk rather than creating obstacles to doing business.

– Manage technology. The office manager ensures that the right technology is in place, working properly and being used to its full benefit. Your office manager (and you) should view technology as an investment in the business, to be chosen carefully and managed effectively.

– Manage the budget. Your office manager must allocate expenditures effectively. As your practice grows and resources are added (both human and technological), expense management becomes increasingly important. He or she should work with you to establish realistic operational budgets, track progress and report on variances – ideally, before they occur.

– Managing projects

Despite the best efforts of the most efficient advisory practices to reduce everything to standardized processes, non- routine tasks will pop up that also must be completed correctly, on time and within budget. Your office manager will not necessarily have to perform these tasks personally, but he or she should be sure to assign the appropriate people and other resources and monitor progress toward completion.

Such projects might include:

– Client events. The office manager will select an appropriate venue and manage invitations for promotional activities. He or she should ensure the “guest experience” is positive, through careful planning for such items as registration, welcoming, seating, lighting, handout materials and properly functioning technology. Systematic followup will improve intended results.

– New technology. Selecting new hardware and software, choosing vendors and co-ordinating team training would fall under your office manager’s responsibilities, with the emphasis on balancing needs and costs.

– Choosing the right person

Given the responsibilities of this position, hiring the right person will be a challenge.

While investment industry experience will be helpful, strong business- and people-management skills are more important.

If candidates with experience in the financial advisory business are not available, look for strong leaders from related sectors, such as accounting, legal or medical practices, who have demonstrated the competence required in managing a financial advisory practice. Your new office manager can learn the rest on the job.

To be effective, your office manager should be your “right-hand” person – as well as a sounding board for you in evaluating new ideas, who can act as a “voice of reason” before you commit to major changes in your business. To carry out that role fully, you must give your office manager permission to tell you the blunt truth, especially when you are doing things that inhibit the efficiency and success of your business.

Remembering your original objective for hiring an office manager, he or she should be someone to whom you can delegate responsibility for those tasks that otherwise would keep you from your real job as an advisor and head of business development for your practice.

Hiring the right person not only will help you manage your current situation, doing so also will position your practice for even greater growth.

George Hartman is CEO of Market Logics Inc. in Toronto. Send questions and comments regarding this column to george@marketlogics.ca. George’s practice-management videos can be viewed at www.investmentexecutive.com.

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