Over the past year, workers have been quitting their jobs at historic rates. While you have probably noticed “now hiring” signs in retail stores and restaurants and the effect that worker shortages are having on the supply chain, service-business owners are suffering on a different level. It’s becoming more and more challenging to find employees to fill essential roles.
Financial advisory firms are hitting roadblocks with succession planning and filling internal staff positions.
Experts have pointed to a number of different factors contributing to the unexpected exodus: childcare issues, burnout, a desire to find more meaningful work or to work from home, to name a few. Many employers recognize that worker expectations are shifting, most likely permanently. Those who work in skilled, creative, technical, and other professional capacities are looking for more autonomy, flexibility, and freedom.
One way to address the staffing challenges brought on by the “great resignation” is to outsource some functions of your business to contractors or professional services firms. Working with freelancers and outside agencies allows your business to get the support it needs from specialists who focus on what they do best, much in the same way that you use your expertise in financial planning to take over that role for your clients. Not only does this solve your immediate labor needs, but it also comes with other benefits.
Benefits of working with contractors
Full-time employees are expensive. You’re paying their salary for a set number of hours per week, regardless of how efficiently they work. With contractors, you only pay for specific services and the specific hours dedicated to your business – no lunch breaks, watercooler chats, or sick days.
With employees, you pay taxes and benefits, but contractors don’t come with those expenses. As business owners themselves, they pay their own taxes and provide their own benefits as they see fit.
Third, anytime you hire a new employee, you have an immediate expense and loss of productivity while you train and onboard them. With an outside agency or independent contractor, you don’t bear the burden of any training, as they come to you already knowledgeable in their specialty. Moreover, a contractor’s work will be focused solely on the scope of work outlined in their agreement with you, and their expertise will allow them to work more efficiently and strategically while providing you access to more skilled and experienced services than you’d likely find in an in-house employee.
Positions your firm can outsource to a contractor
Administrative: If you need someone to handle tasks such as managing your personal calendar, scheduling meetings, emails, client support, vendor relationships, and coordinating documents, a contract virtual assistant can do most if not all the duties that an on-site administrative or executive assistant could handle. They can even handle your incoming calls with the use of a little technology.
Operations: In addition to basic administrative duties, the right mix of contractors or a firm can also handle functions such as compliance, human resources, accounting, record keeping, IT, and systems and operations management.
Investment management: Many advisors have found that outsourcing investment management allows them to focus on the personalized, tailored service their clients want. The investment management firm does the investment research and due diligence required to build portfolios and provides ongoing monitoring, trading, and rebalancing of portfolios.
Marketing: If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of training and managing an in-house marketing manager, outsourcing to a marketing consultant or full-service marketing agency for financial advisors allows your business to take advantage of professional, customized marketing strategies and support in implementing those strategies. In fact, many firms find that using an outside marketing agency allows them to be more focused on their marketing efforts than when these duties were handled in-house.
How to find contractors
One of the biggest obstacles financial advisors face when hiring contractors is finding the right person or firm for their business. If recruiting loyal employees can be challenging, it can be even more challenging to identify and engage a skilled contractor they can trust to stick with them long enough to gain the value of their services.
Those are valid concerns. The best approach to finding a contractor is to ask for recommendations. Ideally, you want to work with specialists and experienced professionals with an established, solid reputation, not someone inexperienced and simply looking for a work-from-home opportunity.
An excellent place to start is with your brokerage firm or custodian to see if they offer connections to contractors and firms that work with financial advisors. Other advisors can be an excellent source for referrals as well, so ask your friends and colleagues. Remember, you are not seeking to poach their employees; they may be working with a freelancer who has room for more clients or an agency that would be a perfect fit for your needs.
Join the new world of work
Change is scary, so you may be concerned about working with contractors rather than hiring employees. Some excellent candidates are looking for traditional employment with benefits and stability. But many are seeking contractor roles that allow them to focus, specialize, and maintain flexibility – with a different stability that comes from gainful self-employment or business ownership. The key is ensuring the job gets done well by professionals who bring expertise, reliability, and enthusiasm to the work.