Even the most successful companies reach a point where growth stalls. It doesn’t necessarily take an economic downturn or a corporate scandal. In many instances, a growth stall is nothing more than a plateau following a period of rapid growth.

When a growth stall occurs, executives and employees alike are apt to be in shock. After all, everyone has grown accustomed to moving along at break-neck pace when all of a sudden, demand slows, revenue stalls, and everything seems to grind to a halt. Layoffs may even occur.

In all but the most extreme cases, nothing has actually ground to a halt. It just feels like it.

Now that we’ve examined the causes of a growth stall, let’s take a look at how to prevent them – or at least minimize their impact.

1. Look to the Young – As we’ve seen, refusing to pay attention to trends and changing consumer preferences can be catastrophic. One way to ensure that your company will not suffer this fate is to remain future-focused. Assemble groups of younger employees and/or customers and ask them directly what they are looking for. How do they view your company? What role do they envision it playing in their lives in years to come?

2. Consult with a Venture Capitalist – Bring in a professional to review your business strategy. Allow them to sit in on key meetings, question executives and employees, and ask probing questions. Listen as they explain your company’s strengths and weaknesses. Adjust your strategy accordingly.

3. Build a Strong Bench – If you want to ensure the future success of your company, it’s critical that your high-potentials actually possess some potential. Look for the visionaries amongst your workforce and within the job candidates you review. Resist the temptation to hire those whose achievements all seem to be in the past. Listen to their ideas and consider carefully how they can guide your company back to the greatness it once enjoyed.

Need help hiring the kind of people who will help you break through a growth stall? Contact Daley & Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

As a leader, you want to make sure your employees are the best around. After all, hiring the best and brightest is one of the keys to ensuring your organization’s success. Perhaps nowhere is that adage truer than when it comes to your financial team.

Success is often defined in financial terms – profit and loss, revenue, sales, etc. It stands to reason, therefore, that your financial team plays a key role in determining the success of the company. Without their expertise and guidance, you and the rest of your staff can have all the right ideas and work hard to execute them, but still fail to generate profit. And without profit, why are you in business?

Hiring the right individuals for your financial team is critically important. Even in a difficult economy – perhaps, especially in a difficult economy – great financial professionals can be hard to come by. That’s because their talents are in even greater demand when companies are trying to “do more with less.”

Here are a few tips to help attract the best and brightest to your company, rather than your competitor’s:

• Talented individuals will be attracted to companies who they consider worthy of their greatness, so build your company’s reputation as a thought leader in its field. Start a blog, Tweet insights daily, or contribute bylined articles to respected journals.
• It may sound counter-intuitive, but you should aim to hire those who are in the finance business to make a difference and work for a great company, rather than make a lot of money. That’s not to suggest you should try to get them cheap, but if all someone cares about are the numbers on their paycheck, chances are they are in it for the wrong reasons.
• Look for someone you can trust. When you are talking about financial matters, you need to hire someone you would trus. Be sure to complete all appropriate due diligence and ensure that the candidate you are choosing is 100 percent trustworthy. If any red flags are raised, take the initiative to ask them about it – and then follow up to make sure they are being honest. There may be a very good explanation for whatever is raising your hackles.
• Once you have made your strategic hires, don’t leave them to languish. Mentor them, socialize with them, and build a strong, collaborative relationship. They are key members of your team and hopefully will stay with you for many years to come. Endeavor to make them feel valued. Recognize their accomplishments and invest in them. Let them know they have a future with your company…if they want it.

Need help finding the right talent for your financial team? Contact Daley and Associates today. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

The economy may be improving, but there are still lots of people looking for jobs. An increasing number of fresh college grads are gravitating toward financial careers due to the plethora of opportunities and the excellent pay.

That leaves employers with a glut of candidates for every financial opening. Your goal must always be to hire the best person for the job. That doesn’t just mean the one with the best resume or the most impressive job history, but the person who possesses the drive to succeed in your organization, and is it culturally the best fit.

When approaching an interview, don’t simply spew a list of static questions. Use the opportunity to really get to know the candidate. Strive to move beyond their polished exterior into the real person underneath the business suit. Here are a few tips to accomplish that goal:

1) Be Prepared – Don’t wait until the candidate is sitting across the desk to begin looking over their resume. Carefully review each interviewee’s resume well in advance of their appointment and prepare a customized list of questions based on their past jobs and experience.

2) Pause and Listen – Don’t race through your questions. Rather pause and wait to see if the candidate takes the opportunity to share additional information. Silence typically compels people to talk, so don’t be afraid to let a little awkward pause linger. Chances are the candidate will take that time to provide additional insights into their personal experiences or persona.

3) Don’t Waste Time – Avoid the temptation to ask questions like, ‘What are your greatest strengths?’ or conversely, ‘What are your greatest weaknesses?’ Such questions are a waste of time and do little to elicit any kind of real insights into what the candidate has to offer. Get right to the meat and begin asking deep probing questions right off the bat. The candidate will have no choice but to share the kind of information that will better position you to make a smart hiring decision.

4) Assess the Candidate Thoroughly – Following an interview, compile a set of post-interview notes. Don’t rely on your memory. After just a handful of interviews, all the candidates will begin to blend together and you will find yourself asking whether it was Dylan or Robert that shared that stunning insight about annual audits. Be sure to jot down your impressions of the candidate’s non-verbal performance as well. Were they nervous? Did they fidget a lot or have a hard time maintaining eye contact? Such notes will serve as an invaluable aid when the time comes to make a hiring decision.

For assistance with your recruitment initiatives, contact Daley and Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

Engagement has become the HR buzzword of the decade. Everywhere you turn, there are journal articles on the definition of engagement, the importance of engagement, and most critically, creating engagement among the workforce.

While it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the hype, employee engagement really is a critical component. Engaged employees are more likely to “give it their all” and turn in the kind of superior performance that will enable the company to be more successful and profitable.  Conversely, un-engaged employees are more likely to find ways to justify spending half their day looking up old high school buddies on Facebook, hanging around the water cooler, and turning in substandard work.

According to a study by MSW Research and Dale Carnegie Training, just 29 percent of U.S.-based workers are fully engaged. Nearly as many (26 percent) are fully dis-engaged from their jobs.

How can you ensure your employees land in the former, rather than the latter, category? While cultivating an engaged workforce may sound like a daunting task, there are several basic steps you can take to get your financial workplace workers in the right direction:

1) Examine the Employee-Employer Relationship: Engagement begins with the relationship an employee has with his or her boss. A great boss can mean the difference between an office full of go-getters and an office full of slackers. After all, how many people credit their ultimate success to having a truly inspiring leader, a boss who led with his or her whole heart, and who motivated workers to come along the path to success? Millennials, in particular, have indicated they are looking for a boss who will take them under their wing and mentor them. Look for managers who connect with their direct reports and demonstrate strong leadership skills

2) Make Communication a Priority – It’s difficult for employees to get behind what their company is trying to accomplish if they have been kept in the dark about the organization’s goals.  If you want your workers to be engaged, you must keep them in the loop as much as possible. Communicate regularly about the company’s ongoing progress toward meeting its goals and let employees know how their efforts contribute to the organization’s ability to inch closer to those goals. Mark milestones and recognize those employees who have gone above and beyond.

3) Put Your Money Where Employees’ Hearts Lie – More than ever before, workers want to work for companies whose values reflect their own.  If their passion is making a difference in the community – whether through Habitat for Humanity, Teach for America, or United Way – they want their employer to lend their support to that organization as well.  This passion runs so deep that a recent survey by Bain & Co. showed 30 percent of workers would be willing to take a pay cut to work for a more globally-conscience, sustainable company.

For assistance bringing the kinds of employees on-board that you’ll want to engage, contact Daley and Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

When you’re looking to hire a financial professional, you may ask yourself why not just post the opening on your website and other job sites around the Internet? After all, you know what you are looking for.  Is it really necessary to enlist the services of a financial recruiter?

While you think you may be able to conduct your own job search, there are definite advantages to bringing the skills of a professional recruiter on board.

Here are just a few of the reasons why you are best served by working with a financial recruiter:

1) Financial recruiters have a deep-seeded expertise that no single hiring manager can claim to possess. Rather than relying on job boards or advertised opening, they network in order to identify the best-qualified individuals, including passive candidates who may not even realize they would be interested in changing jobs – until the recruiter contacts them. They can even offer the option of a confidential search if you don’t want the specific opening to be public knowledge.

2) Effective recruiters spend the time to get to know your company. They develop a thorough understanding of your culture and organizational structure so as to better understand what kind of skills and characteristics would best define the right candidate.

3) Recruiters save you time by pre-qualifying candidates, reviewing scores of resumes, conducting background checks and initial interviews, and presenting three to five qualified candidates for your consideration.  This also boosts the effectiveness of the hiring process, making it more likely the right person will be hired the first time.

4) A good recruiter does double-duty, also serving as an advocate for your brand. While networking with potential candidates, they talk up the selling points of your company and the position, bolstering your “employer of choice” status.

5) An effective recruiter will keep you apprised of broad trends in the financial staffing marketplace that may have an impact not only on your search, but on the future of your business.

6) Once you have interviewed the pre-qualified candidates and determined which one is right for your company, the financial recruiter can negotiate the offer and act as a liaison. They can help iron out any potential issues, such as vacation time, relocation allowance, or salary, increasing the chance that the chosen candidate will accept the offer.

Time is a valuable commodity these days. Your energy is best focused on running your business. By hiring a qualified financial recruiter, you are able to rely on an expert to bring you the kinds of candidates you require, while maintaining your focus on more strategic issues.

For assistance with your financial recruiting efforts, contact Daley and Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

No matter how financially savvy you may be, there will inevitably come a time when you need to assemble a team of highly qualified professionals to assist you in reaching your goals. Naturally, you will want to find the most talented individuals who are an appropriate fit for your specific situation. While it may be easy to find financial professionals who are willing to work with you, the challenge lies in identifying those with the expertise to truly benefit you and your business.

Here are the kinds of individuals you will need on your own personal “dream team” of financial experts:

1)     Accountant – If you are only hiring an accountant to prepare your annual tax return, you are doing yourself – and your business – a huge disservice. Accountants are useful in so many more ways than simply making sure you pay as little as possible to Uncle Sam. A talented accountant can help you see your company’s financial “big picture” and plan accordingly. By law, accountants must have taken and passed their state’s Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam and be licensed with the state. In addition, all tax preparers must be enrolled with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and possess a Preparer’s Tax Identification Number (PTIF). By reviewing an accountant’s additional credentials, you can best determine if their expertise matches your specific needs.  If a CPA possesses a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation, they have received training in financial planning for individuals. Chances are you will be looking for credentials for business accounting and tax advising. These are issued by the Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation.

2)     Financial Planner – Whether you are saving for retirement or striving to set aside money for a child’s college education, a financial planner is an invaluable member of your financial dream team.  You’ll want to hire a planner whose expertise matches your personal needs. Do your homework by visiting the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors ( NAPFA) or Financial Planning Association (FPA) websites.

3)     Investment Advisor – As a business owner, chances are you fall into the “high-net-worth individual” classification. That means you likely require special expertise when it comes to investments.  While you are surely getting investment advice from your financial planner, an investment advisor (aka money manager) can provide more personalized expert advice. An investment advisor can help you plan to meet specific financial goals or deal with a complex financial situation. In addition, they can guide you as you invest in assets other than venture capital, hedge funds, private equity or other such “off-the-shelf” products.  One of the best ways to find the appropriate investment advisor for your team is to ask your financial planner who they would recommend.  Be sure to look for the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, which is akin to a graduate degree in investing.

4)     Estate-Planning Attorney – No one wants to think of themselves dying, but preparing for business continuity following their passing is something all business owners must undertake at some point. While you may be tempted to go the “do-it-yourself’ route, experts caution that going with websites like Legal Zoom can result in costly mistakes. In addition, they don’t offer the kind of invaluable guidance that can be gained from a professional. An estate-planning attorney will not only help you assemble the right legal documents, they will provide guidance on such issues as power of attorney and trusts. They can also provide highly valuable advice with regard to laws dictating estate taxes and help you plan accordingly.

Need help identifying the right financial professionals for your business? Contact Daley and Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

Recruiting financial candidates requires a discipline and diligence unlike most other industries. After all, these individuals must possess highly specific skills and knowledge, along with the usual ambition, determination, and trusty-worthiness considerable desirable in any applicant.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) feels so strongly that specific steps must be taken to vet financial candidates, it has issued official guidance on developing an effective pre-employment background screening process. The process serves, as an effective risk management tool because it gives management a degree of certainty that the information provided by the applicant is accurate.

While the FDIC’s guidelines are highly specific and focused on avoiding future litigation, here are some basic things to look for that will help identify the best candidates for the job:

1) Knowledge: Finance is an incredibly segmented industry. Just because someone has the requisite knowledge for a private equity job doesn’t mean they are automatically qualified for a banking position. More often than not, you will need to assess whether a candidate possesses very specific knowledge of particular financial instruments and products. Case in point: If the position in question involves credit derivatives (or fixed income securities or radical futures) and the candidate has no knowledge in that particular arena, they aren’t a good match for the job.

2) Career Goals: What is the candidate hoping to accomplish, both in the short- and long-term? Where are they looking to be in three, five, or 10 years? Will this position help them get there? If there seems to be alignment between the candidates’ goals and the company’s goals, it may be a good fit, but if it’s an obvious mismatch, you will be doing the company and the candidate a favor by not hiring them.

3) Accomplishments: It’s all too easy to get drawn in by someone by talks a good talk. Some people are simply great interviewees. They say all the right things, flash a bright shiny smile, and ooze enthusiasm and confidence. That doesn’t mean they can deliver results, however. It’s absolutely critical to review a candidate’s specific accomplishments to determine whether they have a track record of generating quantifiable results. Don’t merely accept a candidate’s resume or CV. Ask for a detailed list of accomplishments that demonstrates not only what results they have driven, but how they have supported their previous employers’ goals.

4) Network: When you hire someone, you are not only hiring the person sitting before you, but every single person or company they can bring to bear for the benefit of your business. Before making the decision to bring someone onboard. If the person you are looking to hire boasts a strong network of contacts, including recognizable people in the field, that’s a good sign. If you are uncomfortable asking about a candidate’s network, simply take a look at their LinkedIn profile.

Need some help identifying financial candidates? Contact Daley and Associates, the leader in Boston financial staffing. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

Rewarding employees for a job well-done goes a long way in providing incentive to continue giving their best in the months and years to come. In today’s economy, however, it’s not always possible to grant a raise or merit increase as a means of rewarding stellar performance. Cash awards tend to lose their cache because they get intermingled with an employee’s pay and end up going to pay for such mundane things as the mortgage or groceries. The majority of employees end up forgetting what they used the money for. Cash incentives can also get confused with compensation and become expected, creating a less effective reward system.

Yet companies still must provide some sort of reward or risk losing their best and brightest, particularly as the economy continues to improve.  Fortunately, there are many ways to recognize great performance that don’t break the bank. Some of them may actually prove even more effective than monetary rewards. In fact, studies have shown that non-cash rewards are two to three times more effective than cash rewards.

If your company is doing exceptionally well, big-ticket rewards like flat screen TVs, gas grills, tickets to a concert or sporting event, and luxury getaways can be highly effective.  Even a day at the spa or the local water park can make an employee feel like they are truly appreciated.

The effectiveness of non-cash incentives is rooted in human nature. People tend to remember tangible items better than cash. In their minds, they tie specific rewards to specific accomplishments, thus bolstering the incentivizing effect of the reward.

While luxury rewards are certainly more desirable than everyday items, oftentimes it’s all about the old adage, “It’s the thought that counts.” Imagine how special an employee will feel if they arrive at work to find their workspace filled with a surprise balloon bouquet. Even something as simple as T-shirts or mugs bearing the company logo may be enough to do the trick.

The benefits of non-cash rewards are many.  They are a lot of fun and can be individualized based on specific employee preferences. They also cost less than cash incentives and can be continuously reinvented based on the workforce. Whatever route you decide to take, make sure to draw a clear line of sight between the desired performance and the reward. Also, be sure to reward the employee as soon as possible once the accomplishment has taken place. This will help them to recognize how their performance results in tangible rewards – and will lead to more such behavior in the future.

Need help finding the kinds of employees who will drive such behavior in your workforce? Contact Daley and Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

Whether you are a sole proprietor, owner of a small company, or CEO of a large corporation, having top-notch financial professionals is essential to ensuring the continued success of your business. The New Year is a great time to assess the effectiveness of your existing team – or to build one from scratch if you have not yet taken that critical step.

But how do you go about selecting the best people to look after your financial interests – a “dream team,” if you will? With the assistance of a full-service staffing firm like Daley and Associates, you can compile a group of professionals that truly embraces the word “team.” That is, a set of individuals who will work together for the benefit of your business.

While Daley certainly has the expertise to source highly qualified candidates, you may wish to do a bit of homework first to determine exactly what you are seeking. This will help you convey your needs better, so that we can deliver the very best candidates as quickly as possible.
Here are a few websites you may wish to consult:

American Bar Association

AllLaw.com legal reference

United States Bar Directory

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

National Society of Accountants

National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors

Once Daley has identified a slate of qualified candidates, it’s time for you to select those individuals who best fit your needs. If you are looking to hire people on full-time to work solely for your company, you will probably want to bring them in for a traditional job interview. If you simply desire to hire them to work on specific projects or to perform certain duties for your company, you can “interview” them over the phone. Daley and Associates will help screen candidates and provide your with the best options for your specific opening. Our experts have over 30 years of experience, and look forward to helping you identify, screen, and select your financial team members.

As you talk with these various individuals, you must seek to ascertain which candidates are experienced and trustworthy, and who is willing to provide service that is customized to your specific needs.

Need some assistance building your financial dream team? Contact Daley and Associates. We offer superior recruiting and placement results, specializing in auditing and financial placement.

Planning for the future is a key endeavor for any business. Whether you are crafting next year’s marketing strategy or drafting a business plan for the next five years, it’s important to always be looking to the future. Perhaps the most critical task involves planning for the future leadership of the company. Nowhere is this task more critical than in the financial services industry. Sadly, it’s a task that has been largely ignored.

Industry-wide, succession planning remains a significant problem, as the majority of financial services firms are woefully unprepared for this eventuality. According to the 2011 Fidelity RIA Benchmarking Study, 75 percent of investment advisors either didn’t have succession plans for their businesses or have plans that are not yet ready to be implemented. At the same time, more than half (54 percent) of investors who work with an advisor say it is important for their advisor to have a succession plan. Can you say “disconnect?”

Exactly why financial advisors have been so lax in planning for their firm’s future leadership remains a mystery. Perhaps they feel they are just too busy. Perhaps they don’t want to consider their own mortality. More than likely, they simply can’t fathom someone else holding the reigns of the business they gave their blood, sweat, and tears to build. Whatever the reason for their lack of action, they need to find a way to set aside their hesitancy and begin planning for the inevitable.

Here is a list of the 10 Steps to Successful Succession, as defined by CFO.com:

1. Start the conversation.
2. Create a formal succession document.
3. Identify high-potential employees.
4. Partner candidates with mentors.
5. Broaden candidates’ skill bases with rotations.
6. Conduct annual performance reviews.
7. Manage expectations.
8. Develop contingency plans.
9. Be prepared for defections.
10. Communicate often, precisely, and discreetly.

In addition, you may wish to keep the following key strategies in mind, as you begin crafting your own succession plan:

• The Earlier, The Better – A smooth transition requires advance planning, so begin laying the ground for your succession plan as soon as possible.
• Keep Clients in the Loop – Personal relationships are key to success in the financial services sector, so be sure to let your clients know what’s going on, so there won’t be any surprises down the road.
• Consult with Experts – A legitimate succession plan should have the approval of your legal team, so be sure to consult with them as you draw up your agreement.
• Be Realistic – Honesty is key when conducting succession planning. You may have some staff members – perhaps even family members – who expect to be the next in line for the throne. But if they don’t have what it takes, by all means, don’t plan to hand the reigns over to them. You have worked hard to build your business to what it is today. Your primary goal should be to lay the groundwork for continued success long after you have moved on to the next chapter in your life.

Need some assistance building your succession plan? Contact Daley and Associates. We specialize in working with the financial sector and can help you find the expertise you need to prepare for your firm’s future.