Page 45 - Investment Advisor September 2021
P. 45
THE FAST TRACK
By Angie Herbers
The Great Disruption: 4 Ways the
Pandemic Changed Work
How advisory firms adapt to the challenges of employee re-entry
to the office — or a hybrid setup — remains to be seen.
umerous studies released that. But you will have to adjust your
over the summer have dis- thinking to avoid it.
Ncussed the future of work in
the United States because of the pan- IMPORTANCE OF LIFE RHYTHMS
demic. According to one recent sur- In the late summer of 2020, my firm
vey of American workers, at least 1 in began talking with our clients about
4 employees will be looking for new what returning to work might look like.
opportunities, while another found 40% It was still early in the pandemic, but
of workers globally are considering leav- those conversations were necessary to
ing their jobs. have early.
And workers aren’t waiting for the Without preparation, our clients
pandemic to end. Other research indi- knew that the shift back to the office
cates that one-third of employees have would be difficult whenever it did
already changed jobs over the last year. occur. Interestingly, those conversa-
Doing a simple internet search on the tions revolved more around health
Clients’ back-to- future of work shows that employees and wellness than traditional human
have changed how they work.
capital conversations such as com-
work conversations pendent financial advisory profession pensation or benefits. We focused on
We don’t know yet how the inde-
intangibles such as culture, empathy
are revolving more is tracking along with these estimates, and compassion.
As those discussions evolved, I
around health but the financial services industry has began to think of how often we go
been hit hard, with the highest turn-
and wellness than over of people in its history. When the through changes in rhythm and rou-
traditional human results of the health care crisis do finally tine throughout our lives. The best
come out, I believe independent advi-
example is when we go from high
capital conversations sory firms will — unfortunately — be school to college.
part of the group that loses talented
In high school, and the years before,
such as compensation people in record numbers. I believe this our lives were fairly rigid. We were usu-
or benefits. because it’s remarkable how many calls ally in class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and
then might have had after-school activi-
our consulting firm is getting regarding
help with turnover. ties like sports practice. The day and our
The shutdowns of 2020 caught responsibilities were dictated to us.
many firms flat-footed in how they The transition to college could not be
transitioned out of the office. And more different. Suddenly, we found our-
now, transitioning back to the office selves in total freedom. Our first class
has caught firms flat-footed as well. might have been at 10 a.m. one day and
Re-entering the working world of 2 p.m. another. Some days there might
“before” is no simple process, and the have been work, and others there might
firms that treat it as such will lose the not. We discovered a new rhythm of life
most team members. as we constructed our own routines for
Your firm doesn’t have to experience the first time.
SEPTEMBER 2021 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 43
