Latest / Financial Planner Life Podcast / Financial Planning Talent Attraction and Management with Helena Bogdanovski of Foster Denovo

Transcript

Financial Planning Talent Attraction and Management with Helena Bogdanovski of Foster Denovo · Financial Planner Life Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And today's guest on the Financial Planner Live podcast is Helena Bogdanovsky from Foster De Novo, and today she shares with us what it's like to be a talent and acquisition manager.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: She wears multiple hats in this business and I think she's going to be wearing a few more over the next couple of years.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: She supports financial planners throughout their life cycle here at Foster De Novo, so tune into this episode to understand what they do to support you as a self-employed financial planner or an employed employee.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me today on this Foster de Novo Talent Attraction Special.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: How are you?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I'm very well, thank you.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: You're very, very welcome.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: You got into the profession around about the time I started working with Foster de Novo, so how long ago was that?
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I got into the profession ages ago.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I've been in talent acquisition and recruitment since I finished uni and I'm not going to disclose how many years.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: That is okay, but yeah, I mean I've always been in recruitment and talent acquisition.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: You know, started off in banking and did that for quite a while and then I left Santander and I thought do you know what?
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I want to try other industries.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: So I went into being a self-employed contractor and I worked in luxury fashion.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I worked at Louis Vuitton, which was amazing, and then I worked in healthcare and private healthcare.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: None of it really had the pace that I was looking for.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: So when the role at Foster De Novo came up, I thought brilliant, back into financial services and I thought I know wealth management.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: I've been in bank assurance in the bank, so I thought this will be great.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: I had the interview with Roger and Louise, our head of HR, and it was really great.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: It was a really nice interview, but it was for just recruiting self-employed partners.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I shouldn't say just, but it was recruiting self-employed partners and it didn't feel like that was going to be challenging enough for the roles that I'd done before.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: So we sat in the interview, we talked it through.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: We decided that actually I'd look after all the recruitments, who are employed as well and create a talent acquisition team, and that was over five years ago now.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I haven't looked back, yeah.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: So has a lot changed in that five years?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: When you got into it, you knew nothing about financial planning.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: You had an understanding of wealth management as a term, but from the banking side bank assurance perhaps.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: What was the major differences that you came across and what was your biggest learnings during that period, would you?
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: say I think, well, the biggest learning was that I didn't really know anything about it and I thought I did, so that was a bit of a shock to the system.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I think the biggest learning was around the advisors and what it is they look for.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: You know, I hadn't realized how long a process it is to recruit a self-employed partner, actually by the fact that you know they're so dedicated to finding the right house or home or whatever you want to call it, that you know it can take so long.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: You know the due diligence that you know every partner that I look to hire goes through and I realized it's not, it's not just about finding a job for them, it's about finding a place for their clients, and that was the sort of key difference that I hadn't really cottoned on to before.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: So it's quite eye opening, quite shocking in a way, because I was used to fast, quick recruitment and this is a long time.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: It's a relationship driven role.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: You know they really want to get under the bonnet of.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: You know who Foster, de Novo is, investment proposition, how we deal with clients, all of that sort of stuff.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: So it was quite, quite a change.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Change, I think, from what I knew and thought, yeah, and back then as well, I think the opportunities that were out there were quite vast.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: It was quite competitive around at that time, yeah.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: So not only that, were you kind of probably meeting up with advisors, getting on with them really, really well, and then thinking, oh, I probably nailed that because you're used to that transactional approach which we love in recruitment, obviously 100% time.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Time kills deals um, but it was that kind of um awareness that there's a hell of a lot more that they require yeah from a home and they tend to go out and do like a beauty parade, don't?
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: they so they won't just see one company, they'll see another company and then they'll see another company, then I'll see another company.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: One of the things I have have learned from self-employed advisors is, once you get under the bonnet and you understand exactly how they tick, if you can tick those boxes, when they come through and they feel connected to that business, that it's going to support them in the area, that they've got those weaknesses which most people in a self-employed capacity because they're wearing so many hats they're going to have a kind of weakness.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: They're going to have some fears and some worries and some concerns, but when you can quickly establish what they are, they tend to feel at ease.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: And they're like wow, brilliant.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: I feel like you said at home.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: That's really interesting.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the transactional side of it, 100% it doesn't.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: It's just not that at all, which is nice, but it was different, but it's much more rewarding.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so when we were at Recruit UK, we dipped in and out of self-employed all the time.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because I used to.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: I work with you guys.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Still do actually.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: So it was like in and out all the time due to the fact that it just took so long.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: So you work with somebody who are absolutely the ages.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Six months down the line you're hoping they would join and they wouldn't.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Six months down the line you're hoping they would join and they wouldn't.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: They'd stay put Right, excellent.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: So yeah, but I also just love what you said there, kay.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: It's not just about you and trying to get advisor numbers on board, it's about finding a home for those advisors and thinking about their clients as well, because financial advisors financial planners you call them partners are so client-centric these days, and rightfully so, with the likes of things like consumer duty and the pressure upon them, as advisors, to ensure that delivering the service in the best way possible, um, but at the same time being able to kind of support them, to give them the space to grow as well, because there is there's a ceiling, isn't there, to being self-employed.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Have you seen that when people come through and they're kind of hitting a bit of a ceiling and they don't quite know how to break through to the next level?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: We do see that, and that tends to be one of the reasons that people will join us, you know, because we will take, you know, partners, as we call them, from you know the moment when they finish their exams to the moment when they nearly want to retire.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: So we've got all sorts of partners that join at all different stages.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Everyone needs something different, and that's another thing about it.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: It's bespoke, like it's not a cookie cutter, right?
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: This is what we do for these part.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: This is how we induct our partners, or whatever it's.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Every single person needs something different and you have to align to that and make sure that you've got that, because that's what will drive their business forward.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: It's really looking at how their business needs to grow and what their needs are and then helping them get to that point.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: I love that, and when I set up the financial planner life, it clicked in my head that the financial planner life is the life of a financial planner in their career, and one of the things that Foster De Novo do really well is, as you just said, you could take somebody on who's just passed their exams.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I think you have to be cast status, do they?
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: That's not massively important to you.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: What's important is has that person thought about?
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: yeah, what they're going to do in respect of building a business right and you can support them even without cast, which is wonderful for those out there thinking you know what?
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I just need a chance, yeah, companies to support me with the training, the development, the beautiful office in central london, all the power and all the administrators, but you take them all the way through, don't you?
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: All the way to the point where they could actually do a practice buyout on an internal basis.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So that journey is absolutely amazing and one of the things again to getting to know you is just how much you really do care about that journey with those advisors, because you've been on it with them.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah 100% like you started not knowing anything all the way to all the way through your career and your job role has changed within foster.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: I think it's worth people understanding that, because if they're going to come and sit down and meet with you, they need to know what part you're going to play in their journey and you've got their best interests at heart and you're not just chasing some commission or some bonus or something like that yeah, don't get any of those.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: I'm joking.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: So let's look at that.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Let's look at that your job changed.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Tell us about how your job changed.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I feel like my job just keeps morphing right, but it's always in the same vein.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: So it's always about people management and relationship management.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: That seems to be what my role is becoming and I love it right, and I think it starts from.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: You know, I started off just looking after the self-employed guys and the employed recruitment.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: But as soon as you said, you know, as we talked about, it takes a long time to recruit these partners.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: So then when they come and join, it's just a natural extension that I'm then going to keep on having that relationship because I'm the point of contact.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: Obviously, during the recruitment process they'll meet Roger, our CEO, they'll meet COO, they'll meet a whole raft of people, but I'm sort of the constant that sits in the middle of that and so when they join you can't just drop them and then go.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Thanks very much.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: I'm off for the next one.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: It's all about onboarding integration, helping very much.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I'm off for the next one.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: It's all about, you know, onboarding integration, helping them navigate the business.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: You know, it's not easy navigating a business when you're self-employed because there's certain sort of stipulations of what you can and can't do.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: So it's sort of grown in that way.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: I would say very much and you know I help them with marketing contacts, learning and development, training, induction, whatever they need.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll help them to do and put them in touch with the right sort of people.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: You know I think it can be quite lonely for self-employed guys right, and especially guys and girls.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: I use it interchangeably, but I think it's since COVID.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: You know we've got hybrid working.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: People aren't coming into the office anymore, so you lose a lot of that cultural piece.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: So I try and bring that back, so I try and link them into whatever infrastructure they might need to grow their business and, as I said, it's completely different for each one.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: So somebody that's joined, you know fresh out of you know exams will need a lot of handholding and you know weekly meetings and talking about pipeline and their business development and how are they doing this and what can we do to help and all that sort of stuff, signing and getting a mentor for them.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Well then you might have somebody that's looking at going into retirement in a couple of years and it's really just about how can we help, what can we do?
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Is your admin working properly, is it?
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: It's just a bit of a sounding board as well for them, that's it's really key and it all starts at the beginning, doesn't it that exploratory chat?
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: when you sit down with somebody, they're there for a reason, right.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: So they're either upset with something or they're seeking something to make something better right.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: And avoiding pain, seeking pleasure, is classic human behavior, right?
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: So when you're sitting there with them and you're going through their business with them, you're kind of picking it apart in a really empathic type way to really get to the bottom of why they're there.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Trust is then built yeah so it's only right, really, that your role did evolve in going on the journey with them and being that trusted person that they can turn to at each step, and then you get to learn the process.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Then don't you, of what each different type of advisor is looking for, because I can imagine as well, and I see it a lot.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: I don't imagine it because I talk to financial planners all the time.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: They struggle to let go sometimes, yeah, right, self-employment is all about.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I want to do it my way.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and that's the way we all go out and do it.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: But then you get those ambitious types as well that they want to grow, but then they're doing too much.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: They're stressed out their heads, but they don't quite know how to build a business.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: They have never managed somebody before, they've never recruited anybody before.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: They know that they can grow, but they don't quite know how to do it.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, um nikos is a great example of that yeah you know, he's such high energy, that individual, he's so good at his job.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a process driven man, but how can he put down that high energy, that high performance to then all of a sudden turn around and start being a people manager, starting to build a team?
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: So talk to me a little bit about an example like that with with Nikos?
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: What have you done to help support his business?
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: well, Nikos joined literally just before me, um, and he was.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: He was quite wild to start with and then I joined and and you know they said, right, you need to look after this cohort of guys and girls.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: And you know we had a bit of a rocky road to start with because he was like who's this person coming in trying to tell me what to do, et cetera.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: We had lots of chats about accountability and all that sort of stuff.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: His practice is running really well.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I run a program with all partners, when they get to a certain level, to look at what they need from a development point of view, what infrastructure they need.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: You know we've got five different points that they need to look at.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: One is very often resourcing and the people around you.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: So then we start looking at what they need for that and at the moment he's in a really, really good space.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: You know he's going great guns.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: I can't tell you, I know he's going great guns.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: I can't tell you, I know he's coming on, so I won't say too much I'll let him describe his practice.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: But well, he's taking it he's taking it to the next level isn't he and you, and he even talked about you coming into the interviews with him and helping through the interview process to pick the right administrative administration support practice managers.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's building his new um.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: He's building like a crm as well to help him with sales and marketing.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, and he told me that without that support internally from foster de novo, he wouldn't be able to take it to the next level and he's a highly ambitious individual, but he's very, he's very client centered.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: He's very business developed focus and sometimes it's a rarity to have somebody so into processes when they're into into processes, when you're like that, really difficult to stop something and start something else.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: So having that ability to turn to the left and turn to the right and know you've got experts within the business when you're self-employed is massively important.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: There's even things like oh my god, the website's broken down when you're self-employed and you're sat in your back bedroom yeah right, I've been there for the last three three months right left recruit uk right.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna be an entrepreneur on my own with the financial plan of life, very quickly starting to work out that that's hard graph a lot of stuff.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to do, yeah lent into so many people and you forget that and you're thinking, oh my god, I gotta do it all myself and it's daunting and it's tiring because you know you're not doing the things you should be doing, because you're bogged down in things you shouldn't be doing.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: So that's really good and just for those who understand, to get people to understand who's listening to this podcast right now.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: So they're self-employed at the moment.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: They come into foster de novo.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: They're not coming in with their own brand, they're coming in and coming under the brand of foster de novo.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Right, they're a partner, they're called a partner they're called a partner, absolutely.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, foster de novo is a shareholder owned business, right, it's what it's.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Everyone has a common goal.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: That's the whole point.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: You know everyone works together.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Everything is in house.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: So that's what you're coming to join Like.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: And I will say, you know people are like well, why would I join?
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: It's like well, this is a home for you and your clients.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: This is where this is like a safe space nearly, where you know things are going to work.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: We can take away all of the admin.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: So you know an example of Nikos or whoever we help them with the admin so they don't have to manage them.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: We manage them, you know, through HR and all that side of things, so they don't have to deal with that aspect of it, but they're dedicated to them to work.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: So we bring all of that and it's very much's a cultural alignment.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: It's it's just having a home where you feel that your clients are going to be looked after.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: You're going to be looked after and hopefully, you know, in the future you'll then sell those back to us and, you know, sail off into the sunset, I suppose beautiful and obviously, having that sort of integration, the advisor within the business, it becomes easier for the advisor to be able to sell that business within and easy for you guys to buy because the due diligence clean exactly exactly where it's low risk.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: You know, we know what we're dealing with.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we, we can do.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: We can look at the book in depth so we know exactly where it is.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah it's a nice relaxing way to um exit the profession.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Look average age 55 years old, right, and a lot of people even younger that don't want to be working.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: If they don't have to, they might want to exit their business.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: A lot younger, but really when you're kind of working towards an exit, you're working towards a goal which is quite easy to do within financial planning when you're in the right ecosystem.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: When you're in the right place.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: When you are doing that, you do need a bit of a runway.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So I always think if you're thinking about exiting your business, you need to be thinking about it probably five years before.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, minimum.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: So if you think about it for five years and you think to yourself, okay, well, how can I either ramp up for a bit and then plateau to exit five years doing that?
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: You don't really again want to be doing that in your back bedroom you know, or at home in the home office.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: You want to be in a supportive environment.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: They're going to look after, you integrate it so when you walk away, you're going to get the value that you want and you're not going to get hit two years down the right down the road you know, you hear eight times valuations right, and I speak to advisors, they just didn't get that no you know, they were told that, but they're walking away with three and a half times, yeah, highly disappointed.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: So being involved in a business where they say look, you know you join us, here's an evaluation, this is the valuation.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: You know, this is what this is.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: We're going to be aiming to be doing this, so that's really interesting because it brings on some acquisitions, then because not only are you involved in the talent attraction, recruitment, you're responsible, then, for the employed advisors and the employee team in general.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're in uh, and the self-employed advisors coming on in, so which we call partners.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: You're then also involved now in acquisitions yes, tell us a little bit tell us a little bit about that so again it's.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: I just feel like my role just keeps just extending.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: So you know the two areas that we talked about.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: So acquisitions when they come on board, obviously they're normally the advisors are self employed or DAs or whatever.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: But obviously when we acquire a business they become employed.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: So I look after the training, the induction of the partners, whatever they need.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: So it sort of naturally then just falls into my remit that I'm then going to manage them as well and then they fit in with all of my sort of managed partners that I look after and I'm again that point of contact for whatever they need.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: And you know, and doing an acquisition it's never a smooth ride.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: You know there's always bumps in the road and and again, as I said, it's it's.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: It's not about telling people how to do things or telling them that this is our way.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: It's about listening to them and understanding how they want to do it and how it fits with us and making sure that everyone's comfortable.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: And the same happens with the practice buyouts, because normally our partners are in the business, obviously.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: So I then look at the succession planning for them.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: So that could either be internally and then we might sort of put a place their client bank within other employee partners, or you're going external and you're looking for another partner externally.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: By default I then, because I've interviewed them and taken them through the process, then we'll end up managing them as well.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: So it's it's just a people role it's it's all things private wealth and people.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I think, yeah, it's sort of where it is, it's great.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: I love it honestly well, it suits you yeah you've evolved into that role, but the thing is as well, you haven't sat, still have you.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: You've looked for new opportunities for you to develop your skill sets, but I've looked for them, but I think fostering over is brilliant at going oh okay, that person's really good at this like noticing a skill and saying we think you'd be really good in this role.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Now, as you said I'm I always go looking for things, so I'm always just and everything that's happened to me it's just been a natural evolution I think of just how much I work with partners.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: you know, I was very involved in consumer duty and proposition and AI and all that sort of stuff, because everything that happens affects my partners, so obviously I want to have an influence over that and make sure that it's going to work for them.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: So it's natural, I think, but it is never the role that I thought I'd signed up for five years ago.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Do you know what I mean?
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: It's completely different, but it's brilliant and I wouldn't change it these podcast episodes with foster de novo, because I didn't quite know exactly how good foster de novo are in respect to career development yeah, you know it's not one or two people that I'm talking to, because I'm talking to people outside of the podcast as well.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: You know people getting five, six, seven promotions.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Josie had ryan coming straight in with nothing and then working his way up to be a financial planner, if he wants to?
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: yeah, one of the things I've always said in the financial planning profession, probably due to the fact that there's so many small firms I think the average firm size is about 10, right, and the average age of the advisor is 55.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: So you've got these people running businesses that aren't really interested that much in career development of people coming through so you know you've got these kind of admin, power planner or advisor without any directional path at all.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: So you've got all these people sitting at admin, all these people sitting in power planners that would make amazing advisors, but no one's really giving them the career development plan to do it.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Foster de novo has invested heavily in that yeah and it's the career framework and the pathway that excites people because they know they've got a goal to work towards, whatever that might well be, and you don't have to transition.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: You could be an administrator going into power planning like a traditional type route, but you could also go off into the advice route or compliance or marketing or project management yeah and the one of the things I've noticed is that top down, it's encouraged to be ambitious.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: It's not like, no, no, you stay in your place oh no, okay, I mean, that's just.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: It's just not the way you should work in a company.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: If you try and stifle anyone, they will leave.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: And really you need to look at and somebody used this term the other day and I apologize, but unique ability of people.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: You need to look at what their strong skill set is and use that to the advantage of the business.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: And if you're not doing that, then people are just sitting in their box and I just don't think that's how we'd ever be.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: But I think it's down to also the size that we are.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: You know we're still.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: We've got enough sort of fleet of foot to do what we want.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: We can look around the business and we are growing and we're growing, you know, rapidly now with acquisitions and that sort of thing.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: But there's always a space for somebody that wants to stay and wants to grow and move in a different direction.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Lots of different role types, lots of career development opportunities, employed or self-employed, cast or non-cast.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I think, completely honest with you, there's not many companies out there that are offering the career development that you are.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: I think you are head and shoulders above most firms in the uk make me very happy.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah honestly, 100 I'm not just saying that genuinely your head and shoulders, yeah, and I know that because when I worked in recruitment, it was always difficult to get vacancies from you because you were filling them on an internal basis, because so many people were coming directly to you to want to work for you and your staff retention was off the charts.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so, because you're moving people around and that's what people want from their career development.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: They want to be feel like they've got opportunity, or the opportunity to stay put where they actually are yeah, of which no pressure no pressure.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: No, yeah, no pressure at all.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: You know I love about this office as well high energy, lots of stuff going, stuff going on I'm a big fan of.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Whenever I come back to London, I live in sleepy old Yatting right in the Mending.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Whenever I go into London, I'm energized.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: When I walk into this building, here it's energized yeah, it's busy.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: And we find that, and when we bring our acquisitions here or I bring new partners in and they meet everyone and they start me, they're just like, wow, this is because we always say to people I do anyway, you know, we're fast paced.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: And everyone's like, oh yeah, no, no, no, that's fine, you're fast paced.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: And then they sort of join and they're like, oh gosh, this is fast.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: And we're like, is it?
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Well, this is normal, like we're working at normal speed now, but the energy in the office is phenomenal.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Um, it's just, it's just.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: People are buzzing, people are happy, people are excited to work here.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: Um, which is nice.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: I always know it's a good culture when self-employed advisors want to come into the office.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you've got that, haven't you?
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: They're all in the office, they absolutely love it, um, they're doing brilliantly.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: But then I've also got, you know, uh, one of my partners who's about to do a pbo, who joined at exactly the same time as me.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: So we sort of did, we've done this whole journey together, basically, and he's in once a week and he just, you know, he uses the offices but then he wants to come and have a drink and meet the guys and talk with the admin, and it's just so.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: It is really, and it sort of feels like we're going back to pre-COVID, and that's what we've always wanted, because Foster de Novo is all about culture and people and you know, we used to have a much bigger office pre-COVID and we moved and we moved to this one, and now we're like, oh, we might need a bigger office.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's good.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: So it's just you.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: You know people want to be in and it's yeah, it's really rewarding but you have to create that culture, um, and people are leaning more towards coming into the office support from being at home.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: You don't learn as much at home.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: No, you know, it's very, it's very tricky to learn from others and all these new people coming into the profession looking for that kind of oh I want this many days at home.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: It's like if you haven't got the experience, you should be in the office 100, because your learning is going to be 10 next, without a doubt.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: If you're, if you're around really good people, yeah, and you're using your ears, and you're using your eyes and you're learning every single day, um, I'm an advocate of the office.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: I'm also an advocate like if you had enough of the office, go in and work exactly.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: I think it's a real balance.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: I think you know if you've got meetings all day, then there's no point being in an office because all you're doing is running from room to room right but if you haven't, then come in and sit with your team and learn and develop, and you know you just absorb things.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: It's sort of like osmosis, isn't it?
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Like you just absorb all of the energy and what's going on around you.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, so yeah but that all sounds absolutely fantastic, helena.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Um, let's take a little look at what foster de novo can offer financial planners then, who join the business.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: What can we offer them?
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: I feel like I've said it a few times already, but I feel like we offer them a home.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: You know, I've said it before.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: You know we are sort of, I feel, like the last man standing in London of a firm that's the size that we are, that has the infrastructure that we do, that is still shareholder owned, you know, privately owned, and everyone has a piece of that.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: So any partner that joins, you know, has the ability to have shares and equity in the business.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: And it really is being in a firm, in a company, where you can grow and develop and we will do everything we can to help people, at whatever stage they're at, to build their businesses to whatever point they want to.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: And I do think it's missing now.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: You know you go into a network and I'm not slanting networks at all but you're very separate.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: It's disparate.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Everything is outside of where you are as an AR usually are usually, whereas you know compliance, marketing, investment proposition, you know admin ops, whatever sits in the same building as you, you know they're here at the end of the phone.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: So it really is a sort of very nice, friendly, culturally aligned home.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: I would say yeah look, the internet, tech and all of that made things easier for us to do business anywhere, right, um, and cheaper.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's lots of benefits to that, which is why foster they know they are investing so heavily in tech and I'm going to talk to helen love it a little bit about that, because a massive passion of hers, yeah, but let's not forget community and connection yeah, exactly and I think that's what you offer.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: You know, in spades is that community and connection, and I think it's ingrained in us.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: As much as we think we like to be on our own, we still want to be around those people and you kind of do need that support, you do need that guidance, and those are the things that I do see at foster de nevo that you do really well, and when you compared it to like a network, they do feel and look and sound very archaic.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Now you know out of date.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's the new world.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: I think if you want to be self-employed, you do want to be connected.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, I agree, and I think you know what we look for in anyone that's going to join.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: You know, be them employed, self-employed partners, admin, whatever is ours is all about people, right?
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: That's what our firm is and you'll hear that throughout all the podcasts, I know, but it's cultural alignment.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: When I'm looking to hire employed or self-employed partners, all I want to see the first thing is are you aligned to our values and our cultures?
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: How do you feel about your client bank?
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Anything after that we can build and develop and all the rest of it.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: That has to be number one.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: It's what Roger looks for in acquisitions.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: It's what we look for in everything that we do.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: So you know, I suppose, to finish on, if I may, you know we're open to meeting.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm open to meeting all sorts of people, all partners that we can look for, whether they're employed, self-employed, whether they're at the start of their journey and they've just done their exams, or whether they're halfway through and they want a new home, or whether they're looking to sell.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: You know, open to everyone really to come and see what we offer, because I know I'm part of it, but I do love it and I think it's a really great place to work.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and I'll finish on the note of if you do come meet Helena, she'll probably do the interview on the rooftop bar.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: How?
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: dare you.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Not because she loves drinking but, because it's a fantastic view and it's really quite a cool little perk of actually working in this wonderful office in the city.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Helena, it's been an absolute pleasure talking to you about your journey as talent and acquisition manager and whatever is going to be next.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: I know, yeah, it's coming.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Of Foster De Novo and we look forward to hearing about your success and foster de novo success in the future, which I'm sure they're going to have a huge amount of thank you very much cheers.