Family offices spend excessive time and effort focused on hiring the right talent. As an executive recruitment expert, searching for the needle-in-the-haystack professional, combined with the need to corral families around the hiring process, is no easy feat.
Of course, there is a huge sigh of relief when the selected candidate signs, but once that hire is made, is the work really done?
No, it is definitely not. If the mission stops here, the family is at risk of losing the key hire, not having its needs met, and being left wondering whether that person was really the right person for the job.
The truth is, oftentimes that person is the perfect choice, but the failure occurs because he or she wasn’t robustly integrated and onboarded into the unique world of the family and its related businesses.
For the new leader to thrive, a thoughtful and rigorous onboarding process is mission-critical. First impressions, proper integration and clearly defined short- and long-term mandates can prevent attrition, ensure that the family’s priorities are met, and propel the family office and its businesses forward.
This may sound like something that new hires, especially at this level, would surely figure out themselves – but it is not. Many are venturing into uncharted areas with diverse dynamics, unestablished rules and industries in which they could have little to no prior experience.
So, let’s be specific and go further into why that onboarding process matters. I will also share some guiding principles on ensuring it’s done right.
Attrition is costly
The impact of attrition is much costlier than in other “regular” industries because recruitment takes more effort and strategy when you have different businesses and family dynamics. Finding that perfect fit for most family offices takes longer and requires deeper assessment, engagement, testing of candidates, an increased number of interviews, and the list goes on.
Additionally, exit costs need to be considered, because most executives, in and out of family offices, will negotiate severance packages that can amount to a full year’s salary or more. This means that if a family decides on day three that the hire is not the right fit, it could cost upward of $500,000.
So, who owns the responsibility for the candidate’s success?
The answer is simply everyone, including the family, any consultants involved and the selected candidate. Family members need to review their mandate and answer why they hired this person initially, in order to set short and long-term goals and establish clear communication. Further, they need to truly understand what motivates each unique professional, in order to reward them accordingly and therefore receive that executive’s ultimate best performance.
An external party, such as an executive recruiter or consultant, can also help give a valuable point of view. Most of my clients share that my value is in the recruiting and integration of the executive, particularly in terms of maintaining a bird’s-eye view of both parties and consistently reminding them of their north stars. It’s easy, when there are a lot of moving parts, to lose sight of the initial and important goals.
Being able to see the entire picture contributes to developing ideas for integrating the candidate into the culture as well as clarifying and facilitating future success.
Invest in the resources
If an insider is leading the onboarding, they need to stand back and be aware that they may have a blind spot regarding office operations or personnel. That said, it helps if the new hire has a designated champion, mentor or leader inside the family office to support them on their journey. A person inside the organization can act as a confidant and facilitate communication, as well as pre-empt any issues on either side before they become a problem. It’s important to have a point person to go to with concerns and ideas.
Who is selected for this job matters. The person needs to represent the family well, be extremely accessible, understand the goals, and have rapport with the executive.
First 90 days
The first 90 days are crucial for new hires in executive roles because this period sets the tone for success and integration into the team.
Personally, when completing my own designation as a CPA, CA, it was plain that the first 90 days of experience were a key determinant of whether someone was going to stay past two years and continue to climb the ranks to become a partner or not.
Although that example refers to an entry-level employee and is a little dated, the point stands: In that first three months, a new executive should begin understanding the family’s strategic goals, and that is imperative to their success.
Quick wins and real clarity with a feedback loop set the stage for success. In that time, when the integration is front and centre, the office can start considering the longer term as well. What does sustained success look like? What’s the new person’s strategic impact? What longer-term projects are the goals of the family? This is the time to define those goals as well, even if they have a longer time span.
Regular check-ins
After a year, it could be quarterly. Check-ins don’t have to be all business all the time. It could be lunch, with an opportunity to find out how the hire is doing as a person.
In the first month, focus on the initial adjustments: What are the responsibilities? What are the immediate challenges?
If feedback is something that the family or the new hire’s supervisor is not historically good at, then a check-in structure would be beneficial. The Harvard Business School and Lauren Landry, in her article about giving feedback, hit all the key points: use empathy, be transparent and be specific.
The major rule: Don’t hide anything that’s going wrong, and be clear that feedback is intended to create future success and not at all to ridicule the new hire.
Discreet, but not Fort Knox
Many family offices do not typically have background information, a website or a physical address to be found in the public domain. Privacy is important, but keeping a new hire on the outside has its disadvantages.
Calgary-based executive leadership coach Cathy Thompson points out that a family office, as compared to a regular company, is more intimate and discreet. She states that being able to read subtle clues is vital for the candidate to succeed. Although that’s true, the family has to accept the hire into its confidence for the person to succeed.
A common concern is that a new hire won’t stand up to family members at the risk of upsetting an apple cart in an organization where key people rarely change seats. A strong family recruitment process can help prevent that problem by looking for executives who have the tact and assertiveness to share issues before they become an attrition problem.
A final word
Hiring the right talent is half the battle. The other half is keeping that talent onboard, focused, driven and engaged. By investing intentionally in the long term journey and not just in the initial recruitment process, ample dividends and long-term rewards will result for both the family and its executive team.
Amanda Bassin, CPA, CA is the founder and owner of Persuit Group Inc., a Toronto-based firm specializing in executive recruitment for North American family offices. With more than 25 years of talent leadership, Amanda’s commitment to delivering tailored recruitment solutions has established Persuit Group as a reliable partner for families and professionals navigating the unique challenges of family office operations.
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