To build a successful firm, you must invest in a healthy employee culture

After 22 years in the financial planning industry as a wealth advisor and managing partner of my own firm, I’ve experienced the many challenges and rewards this career offers. I’ve led teams that have thrived and others that have struggled, and I’ve noticed the biggest difference between the two has little to do with our ability to provide our clients with great service. In my experience, the most effective way to build a high-performing team is to invest time and money into creating a strong firm culture. 

To be successful in any business, especially financial planning, you need to know everyone in your firm is rowing the boat in the same direction. But when you are experiencing conflict, drama, or disinterest among your employees, it greatly hinders your ability to make positive progress. 

My partner and I witnessed this firsthand when we merged our firms three years ago. While we felt philosophically aligned, our firms operated very differently, and bringing our two teams together was not a smooth process. We spent much of our first year struggling to get our people on the same page, and by the end of it, we had disengaged employees who were tired and frustrated with having change foisted upon them. 

So going into the second year of our merger, we recognized it was time to get intentional about our team culture. We also decided we weren’t the best people to lead this, but we should empower our team to build the culture they wanted. 

We asked our staff for volunteers to form a firm “Culture Committee” to help plan group outings and activities to improve team morale. We were fortunate that five individuals – including people who had worked for each of our previous firms – stepped up and were excited to work on it. Together, they formulated a plan for the year that focused on three main elements: 

• Staff recognition and appreciation. Our Culture Committee ensures everyone’s birthdays and work anniversaries are celebrated and has introduced several creative ways for our team to express our appreciation for each other. We collect staff “shoutouts” each week which are read out loud during our Monday team meeting, and we participate in “Thankful Turkey” at Thanksgiving, where everyone chooses a team member’s name out of a hat and prepares some way to express their appreciation for that person during our staff meal. 
• Public service. Our team shares a passion for doing good for others, and our Culture Committee organizes quarterly opportunities for our team to volunteer together for a local charity or cause. 
• Fun. Our Culture Committee organizes regular team outings and in-office activities that allow us to take a break from the stress of our responsibilities and just have fun. They plan large outings, like holiday parties and baseball games, and smaller activities, like simple arts and crafts projects, that allow us to just enjoy each other’s company.

Since implementing our Culture Committee, we have seen a dramatic improvement in our team’s morale and performance. Even with employees working remotely and in two different offices, we have created a sense of unity, thanks to technology and regularly scheduled opportunities to connect in person. Our team is more aligned, supportive, and resilient, and we are experiencing the benefit of that in multiple ways. 

With a healthier firm culture, we have improved our employee retention and hired stronger candidates. Since launching our Culture Committee, we haven’t had a single employee choose to leave, and we’ve added two new high-performing team members. These individuals embrace and exemplify our firm’s core values – generosity, relationship, excellence, authenticity, and fun – excel in their service to our clients, and are committed to being engaged and contributing members of our team. We talked openly about our core values and our desire to cultivate a positive culture in our interviews with these candidates, and I am confident this had to do a lot with their decision to work for us. We are making better hires by establishing up front that our values and priorities align. There’s nothing more affirming (and humbling) than when I run into a client of our practice who now works with one of our newer advisors, and they tell me they’re even better than I was.

We are also thriving as a firm. Last year, we surpassed every ambitious goal we set for ourselves, including growth in new organic assets under management, profitability target, and net weekly asset flows. And while our improved culture wasn’t the only reason behind our growth, it certainly made it a lot easier to achieve. Because we put the investment into building a healthy culture, our employees enjoy working with each other and are motivated to do their part to see the entire team succeed. In turn, as a whole, we work more efficiently and productively. To celebrate our success, we are fulfilling our promise to take our entire team and their families on a cruise later this year.

As firm owners, we invest in the resources our teams need to succeed at work and in life – including salaries, benefits, workspaces, technology, and training. But don’t overlook the importance of investing time and expense into how your team feels about where they work and the people with whom they work. If your team is failing to meet its performance goals or struggling to steer in the same direction, it may be time to take a hard look at your company culture. In my experience, tending to the health of your culture is critical to your firm’s success.
 

Jim Dunlop, CFP, CAP is a managing partner at Advent Partners, a financial planning firm with offices in Gettysburg and Camp Hill, Pa.