If I have grasped anything over the last three years, it’s that the one thing you can control in an out-of-control situation is your response. It has been quite a learning curve throughout the pandemic, and as with all aspects of business, you are never quite prepared for the big obstacles.
But those challenges are themselves the biggest lessons.
What you find is that you get through them again and again, and you learn each time to take the hits with less emotion and more objectivity. You learn to move forward, gain perspective and react optimistically. Perseverance begets success.
Recent news reports suggest that a majority of businesses are fully returning to a physical communal office. But at our firm, we’ve accepted that the way and environments in which people work have changed for the long haul, and we have taken a hybrid approach to returning to the office. Some roles require face-to-face interaction; others can effectively and efficiently be performed remotely. In between it all, we converge in person at regular meetings, seminars, and leadership roundtables.
Considering that most of my career has been based on establishing in-person rapport among employees, going hybrid was a difficult decision to make as a CEO. However, we have found that the functionality of some departments staying completely remote simply works.
Water-cooler pivot
All of the changes engendered by the pandemic forced us to pivot as we tried to replicate much of the in-person interaction online. Today, we continue to hold weekly virtual “water cooler” meetings, rely heavily on Microsoft Teams for (virtual) face-to-face interaction and conduct company events both virtually and in person.
From pay and perks to avoiding burnout, this is what advisors want, according to an Arizent research report.
As it turns out, what our firm and team have gained far outweighs what was lost. People have learned how to be more efficient working from home, and it has made for healthier, happier employees. The bonus is that our financial advisors and registered representatives have reported zero impact on their practice, and their clients haven’t seen a difference in the level of service they receive.
I attribute so much of this to our company culture. The cohesiveness and camaraderie of our team have helped us adapt to fluctuations in the economy and business structures brought about by COVID-19. Finding your tribe is critical to success. When a team is used to working as one for the greater good, they learn to react quickly.
Digital DNA
As it happens, our firm had been building on the concept of remote work for over a decade, partly as a function of being scattered throughout the U.S. in multiple time zones. As a financial services company, we rely heavily on digital applications. We want our advisors to have instantaneous responses and seamless interaction with our team. We pride ourselves on the concierge service we offer, from onboarding to executing transactions for their clients.
We had already begun to modify the front end of our platform so we could efficiently execute our interface — the pandemic just accelerated this process. During the pandemic, our CTO helped us execute and implement proprietary software that allowed us to create one central platform that has improved our financial professionals’ workload, from prospecting to succession planning, and the client experience along with it. Everything an advisor needs to interface with their clients is available remotely, with a single login and system.
Supporting our employees, offering digital solutions and being flexible has helped us combat the challenges this new world continues to throw at us. At the same time, our new environment has created opportunities for us and our peers in the financial services industry to learn new ways to conduct business. Things have changed for the long term. This is the way of the future and it’s not going away anytime soon.
If I were to give a final word of advice to other CEOs and organizations, it would be to recognize the need to keep creating pliable solutions. Keeping a positive perspective while adapting to your environment will help you succeed in our ever-changing world.
