MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Thursday, February 24, 2000 Training and Staffing Issues Hiring qualified staff members and training them is an ongoing challenge in the financial industry. At the Investment Company Institute's Retirement Plans Conference, in sunny Phoenix, Arizona today, a panel of industry leaders tackled just that problem, focusing on the customer service sides of their business. Andrew Herkus, vice president of retirement services at Neuberger Berman explained the problems he faces in training and staffing retail services representatives. "When we recruit for upper level executive positions we look for highly skilled persons who know the financial services business, but in our call center we have 30 reps who are all kids -- there is nobody north of 30-years-old." Most of the staff that fields service calls are in their first or second year out of college, Herkus said. "They are green. They have a liberal arts background and decided to go into financial services because that's where they think the money is." Neuberger Berman has an initial training program upon hiring, which includes a mere 20 hours of instruction. Herkus said they start the new hires out with the basics. "When the kids start they can't even spell IRA." The basic tutorial has a very low absorption rate at first. Herkus said he follows the training sessions with "pop quizzes.” The quizzes can be dropped on the desk of a trainee at any time. "I hand it to them and tell them that it is not a group effort. The results are given to their supervisor and translate into possible bonuses and promotions. Nothing motivates more than money." Charles Lerner, managing director at Deutsche Bank, faces different roadblocks in retaining and maintaining staff since he deals with more institutional clients. "Most of our sales people come from other institutions and have a strong background in financial services. We don’t have a large staff but they are sophisticated." Deutsche has also created a staff around designated business lines that actually go into the field and answer client’s questions if it is needed. For example, there is an RFP group that has a standard set of responses for client’s questions but if it is a more complicated issue the appropriate person will be sent to deal with the query. Training and staffing at Merrill Lynch, according to Edward O'Connor, director of tax advantaged services, said the firm has two different help desks, one for operations, which answers, "What is the right form?" and the other, marketing answers the "Whys." "Financial consultants are not the most patient people so answers have to be immediate and correct," he said. Merrill also has an "Advanced IRA School," a group of marketing specialists, consisting of eight people, "the road warriors", which travels the country to train new hires. The method of staffing various departments varies as much as the departments themselves, according to the panel. O'Conner said for example a staff position in in the legal department is not an entry level position. "You have to have someone with several years of ERISA experience. To find the trainers themselves, the best place to look is for educators or teachers," he said. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=25546 Copyright 2000, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |