The Fact: Although 83% of advisors have defined roles and responsibilities for their team members, only 51% have written job descriptions. Fewer still have linked job descriptions to measurable performance indicators.

The Implications: Lack of clarity around expectations is one of the primary sources of frustrations on financial advisory teams. Too often roles are verbally articulated, however the expectations are not specifically defined in writing and will need to change as advisors take a more disciplined and professional approach to building and managing teams.

The Idea: In order to clearly define roles and responsibilities and, importantly, to communicate those to team members, create job contracts for each role. These are most effectively created for the role, not the person filling the role, in order to maintain objectivity. Each team member may have responsibilities under ‘new business development’ and ‘client management’, but the tasks will differ. For example, responsibilities under client management might include client meetings, client appreciation, updating financial plans, client service and trouble-shooting. Different client members will contribute differently to the client management process and these responsibilities must be clear and, ultimately, measurable.

The Next Step: The Business Success Kit provides you with the tips, tools and templates that you’ll need to enhance practice productivity and profitability. It’s the most practical and comprehensive guidebook available for financial advisors. For more information, visit www.AdvocisStore.ca and click on the Business Success Kit.