Preventing A “Fatal Attraction” Hiring Mistake
September 25, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Any job requires the correct values and behaviors. When a person reads your ad, they sometimes say that they can do the job and adapt their style and tell you what you want to hear … selling themselves and you if you are not careful … problem is some cannot sustain the act, the values and behaviors that they are adapting to and it all comes crashing down and then it becomes your fault that they can’t do the job… a fatal attraction – a hiring nightmare.
Even if you check their references, the names that are offered seldom share specifics.
We have hired many administrative assistants, marketing assistants and juniors advisors over the years for our clients, and we have benchmarked the values and behaviors that are required for each of the positions so that the qualified candidates that you finally short list, can then do a personal values and behaviors assessment.
Then we say hire them, they are a 10 out of 10 hire them quick, or they are a 7 out of 10 and this is what you will have to do to coach them so that they can sustain the job, or they are a 3 dressed up as a 9 and they are only wasting your time.
The fee for the values and behaviors assessments complete with a 20 minute telephone assessment debriefing with me is $400.00. Please contact Laura @ lreilly@leadingadvisor.com.
The assessments will give you additional tools to communicate, manage and motivate the new employee.
Live On Site Financial Advisor Coaching Practice Visit Agenda
June 22, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
I’m facilitating a Live On Site Financial Advisor Coaching Practice Visit and here is the agenda
Agenda
- SWOT
- Vision, Purpose, Mission
- Vision – 1 Year, 3 Years, 5 Years
- Budget
- Objectives, Strategies, Actions – 90 Day Goals
- Delegation / Job Descriptions / Virtual Assistant / Review
- Leadership / Decision / Time Management / Practice
- Follow Up
Areas Of Business
- Planning, Projects, Schedule
- Administration
- Computers / Systems
- Financial
- Marketing A – In House
- Marketing B – Marketing Funnel
- Marketing C – Associate Advisors
- Office
- Production ( Customer Service )
- Products
- Sales Process
- Team Leadership / Harmony / Conflict Resolution
- Training
Nobody To Fill The Chair
June 17, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Today is a bitter sweet day at Leading Advisor because today is the day that the new Administrative Assistant was going to start, the new office is ready to go and we have nobody to fill the chair – by choice.
This is because we made a decision not to hire the person that seemed to be the right choice.
In many ways the person was perfect for the job.
At the same time, I contributed to creating a potential hiring mistake by wanting to hire up.
Hiring Up, meaning hiring someone that was overqualified for the position that just happens to have loads of experience in marketing and publishing.
So here is some real time public admission that the painters house isn’t always painted as we made the same mistake that many people make with their hiring.
They try to get a jack of all trades and in the financial advisor’s case, they try to hire what they term as a back office assistant and kid themselves that the same person can be a marketing wiz at the same time.
There are a few Nightingales out there and if you have got one pay them well as they don’t come along very often. Nightingale meaning someone that can take care of the back office and do the marketing at the same time. However, the majority of the time the jack of all trades doesn’t work out because they will be good at many things and a master of nothing.
What matters is matching the job description to the behaviours not trying to match the behaviours to the job description.
We attracted a person that had more “hire up” than we were ready for with marketing, book publishing and writing experience galore and we decided not to go ahead because the job description would not have honoured the behavioural style and the talents that the person aspired to and the job description would not be honoured either.
So back to the drawing board with another six week hiring process with a goal to hire by August 1st.
The good news is Laura and I will be able to take a slower pace taking a number of one week Staycations that includes; spending alone time together, reading, bike rides, hikes, trips to the book store, going to Starbies, yoga, kayaking and playing with Shadow.
Shadow and his new toy Whale that he returned with along with a load of other cool gifts from the Puppy Shower that our friends put on for Laura and Shadow on Sunday, June 14th, 2009.
Delegation Wish List
May 21, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
My Delegation Wish List of things that is over and above the Job Description for our new Administrative Assistant;
Planning
- Assist With What I Call The Empty My Head Process
- Create A Filing System
- Document Meeting Minutes
- Order Business Books
Financial
- Update Budget Cash Flow At Month End
Articles, Blogs, E-Newsletters, Social Networking
- Research Financial Advisor Coaching / Speaking Competitors And Publications For Articles And Mash Up / Write New Article Opportunities With Leading Advisor Material C/W Key Words
- Add Key Words To Blog
- Proof Blog
- Remove Spam From Blog
- Add Key Words To E-Newsletter
- Proof E-Newsletter
- Proof E-Newsletter
- Update Facebook, Clicker, Ning With Leading Advisor Material C/W Key Words
Speaking Marketing
- Financial Advisor Speaking Presentation Follow Up For Debrief / Testimonials
- Research US Financial Advisor Associations & Publications
- Speaking Marketing Plan
- Speaking Prospect E-Mail Broadcast, Fax And Postcard
Website
- Inventory Book List And Post To Blog And Website
- Proof Website
Coaching
- Forward Coaching Call Follow Up E-Mails With Audio, Copy To File And File
Products
- Create E-Book Using Audio, Cover & Graphics, PowerPoint, Transcription
- Research E-Book Themes And Create E- Books Of Blogs – Titles To Be Determined
- Create Generic Curing The Unmet Needs Disease Book
- Send Books To Past Clients
Sales
- Call Clients For Referrals & Testimonials
- Call / E-Mail Prospects With Issues, Progress Question And Sale Request
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Dates for 2012 TBA - stay tuned!
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Now Reading
Planned books:
- Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- The Book Of Air And Shadows: A Novel by Michael Gruber
Current books:
-
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Recent books:
- The Brave: A Novel by Nicholas Evans
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Zafon
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
