Team Planning: A Winning Strategy To Attract Young Workers

Not everyone in our firm will fit a planning team. Some people are highly individualized in the way they work, and that's fine. Their focus is on leading clients, not fellow planners. They do not have to join a team to make a valuable contribution. Those who do join teams, however, tend to enjoy working together. It's the team leader's job to help these prot?g? planners develop to the point where they may be able to lead teams of their own after several years of junior partner experience.

New hires start out as members of development planning teams, or farm teams, where they get classroom instruction in the basics of customized financial planning. This training is the responsibility of our corporate leadership group. During this phase of training, our experienced planning team leaders monitor the progress of our farm team members and seek out those whom they think would be a particularly good fit to join their established teams.

This results in a stream of highly qualified referrals that may have a real interest in learning more about a career in our industry.

For our new planners, joining an advance planning team is like joining the major leagues: It's a big deal. Those who make it to the majors will not be the stars of the team at first. They are not yet franchise players but they're good enough to be considered a major leaguer, which breeds confidence in new planners.

This approach allows new members to learn how their team serves their clients; and new members become more acquainted with the team planning process. These new planners also get a professional boost from watching experienced team leaders in action.

Each team has access to a staff of professional specialists in areas of financial planning for individuals, executives and business owners.

Firms making the switch to the team planning approach should be prepared for bumps in the road. Misunderstandings are bound to occur when large numbers of people work together. It can also be challenging to identify the best candidates for team leadership. Sometimes an experienced planner with defined leadership skills is a better choice than a firm's top producing planner, who may prefer to work more independently.

Teams also need to have a consistent planning system and methodologies. You should be able to pick up any team member's file and know what's going on. This at-a-glance ability to interpret the work of your planners is important, not only for organizational efficiency, but from a compliance perspective as well. The team approach allows for a smooth transition for new planners and, most importantly, a consistent planning process for prospects and clients.

Perhaps the most important point to communicate when recruiting young talent is that we are more than the life insurance agents and investment professionals of the early years. We are experts in the uses of these products, but more importantly we are planners who strive to understand the wants and needs of those we serve.

Team planning has proven successful at our firm. Based on our experience, the total production from a team is generally more than what it would be by people working alone. Today's young workers seem to like being part of a successful planning team.

Robert Mathis is chairman and CEO of Peachtree Planning Corporation in Atlanta, Ga., charter member of the Southeast Agency, an agency of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, N.Y.