Best Places to Work firms go a step further

Stephen Lamb [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to By The Numbers, I’m your host, Steve Lamb. On this episode, we’re looking at this year’s winners of our best places to work for financial advisors. With the ongoing great resignation, which has seen as many as one in four workers quit their jobs, we looked at what our industry’s top rated employers are doing differently to garner accolades and see if you can get employees to really say, thank goodness it’s Monday. 

Paul Curcio [00:00:27] Every year, we determine the industry’s best places to work by surveying financial advisery firms on what benefits they’re offering employees and by surveying their employees to gauge the satisfaction of their workforces. It helps us see what policies and benefits are doing the most to help firms attract and retain talent. Three things stood out this year. 

Devin McGinley [00:00:49] First, Best Places firms are effective at providing their employees long term clarity. Nowhere is that clearer than in succession planning. 91 percent of our winners had formal succession plans laid out, compared with only 67 percent of other firms. That was the largest difference that emerged in our service. Succession planning helps underscored the stability of the organization, as well as potentially providing opportunities for upward mobility within the firm. The typical advisor is looking to stay within the firm and build a book of business over many years. So providing a roadmap for the future of the firm is vital at best places. 98 percent of employees said they had an understanding of the long term strategy of their organization and confidence in its leadership. 

Paul Curcio [00:01:33] Second, best places are more proactive in developing employee talent and rewarding individual contributions. Staff at winning firms were more likely to say that they received enough initial training to perform their job and to report that they had received sufficient ongoing training to succeed in their roles. In fact, 97 percent of employees at these firms said their organization encourages their professional development. Best places were also most likely to spread the firm’s success over virtually all firms in the industry incentivize individual performance through bonuses. The best places go a step further. 48 percent offer a profit sharing plan, compared with only 35 percent in other firms. The results of sharing the wealth show up in the employees attitudes. 96 percent of staff at winning firms felt valued by their organization, and 98 percent said they understood their role in the business of success. 

Devin McGinley [00:02:29] Finally, best places have embraced remote working. Before the pandemic, they had twice as many remote employees on average as other firms, while almost all of the industry shifted to telecommuting in the immediate aftermath of COVID. A majority 61 percent of employees at best places remain remote, 

Stephen Lamb [00:02:48] according to Gallup Surveys, two thirds of U.S. white collar workers remain fully or partially remote. Among remote workers, 91 percent expect to continue at least partial remote working post-pandemic, and 30 percent say they are likely to seek new opportunities if employers enforced a full return to the office. So it’s no accident that the best places have embraced more telecommuting and flexibility. As an employee friendly practice. But this adaptability is also a sign of other things going well at the best places. They are able to keep an engaged workforce because employees give them high marks on frequent and detailed communication, adequate access to technology and, perhaps most importantly, a shared sense of purpose. In the end, becoming a top destination for employees is not merely about pleasing staff. It’s about laying the groundwork for a successful and adaptable organization. Firms that invest in their staff tend to show greater profit in the long term. So becoming a best place to work isn’t just about another piece of hardware on that top shelf. It’s about the bottom line. Tune in next month for our recap of adviser recruiting. Thanks for watching!