Small business "roles"

Rebecca_Tuck

Hi all,

Has anybody in a small firm (<10 staff) managed to successfully navigate into a role that's "more than paraplanner, not an adviser"?

I'd like to be involved in more of the wider business stuff, but without losing the parts of my job that I really enjoy (the technical/analytical "meaty" bits), and without it turning into an advisory role. It seems to be a difficult path to tread, especially when there are only 5 of you, so I'm really interested to hear if anyone has done it successfully and what your role looks like now!

Thanks,

Becca

Suse1969

Drop me an email susan.pringle@hlfs.co.uk 

richardgough

The start would be for you (on your own) to look at how the business is run. Are there practical improvements to the process/procedures which could enhance the client service / create efficiencies etc?

Are the processes sued documented so that an outsider could come in an do the work? This is useful to cover times when staff are away ill (and a temp is required); staff leave; new staff employed etc.

Is there an internal investment committee? If so, could you sit in on that, learn what is done and look to take on / enhance the research work being done?

Marketing? Is there a marketing strategy, or is it haphazard or none? Would it be beneficial to develop (and run) a detailed marketing/promotion strategy for the firm?

Go to client meetings/visits with an adviser (chances are you will get far more of the useful info to do your advice reports that way!)

I have been involved on both sides of this - looking at what is missing / can be improved - coming up with an outline suggestion, discussing it with the bosses and then running with it.

Equally, as an employer I wanted & encouraged staff to challenge the way we did things, look for improvements and run with them.

Lastly, just ask. Tell your team what you want to get involved with and see what happens (but as with anything beware of treading on anyone else's toes - avoid taking work of someone else!)


Richard.

benjaminfabi

I completely agree with Richard on process efficiency.

If you don't have a regular meeting to look specifically at operational efficiency, that's a great place to start - nothing to do with advising and a really good fit with a paraplanner's skill set. Simple, effective questions:

What process are we looking at?
Why do we do it like that?
Is that the best way? 
How do we know?

It doesn't have to be too heavy, maybe an hour once a quarter, but in a team of five, everyone should be involved. What you want is a solid answer to that last question. And if there isn't a desire to have it structured as a meeting, start by going through the paraplanning function and interrogating the processes using that question set as and when you have capacity.