Page 113 - Successful Onboarding

102 • Successful Onboarding

pairing products and services education with professional development at
the team level. Phase I of the four-phase program focuses on Series 7,
Series 66, and Life & Insurance licensing. Phase II includes 33 curricu-
lum modules to ensure each FAA has a broad and deep understanding of
the solutions offered and supported by Baird. Phase III is a two-week phase
during which all FAAs are required to participate in training at Milwau-
kee headquarters. In addition to participating in roles plays, case studies,
and technology demonstrations, team members are also required to join
their FAAs for a two-day instrumental business planning workshop. The
final phase of the program, Phase IV, requires each FAA to present their
team’s formal, comprehensive business plan to a panel of representatives
from Sales Management, Talent & Development, business coaches and
veteran Financial Advisors. This presentation establishes the FAAs role on
their newly established team and brings them to the final component of
onboarding—graduation with CEO & President Paul Purcell.
Throughout the new hire onboarding and teaming processes, Branch
Managers who oversee Baird’s PWM branches, play critical roles. They are
responsible for the profitability of the branch network and are thereby incen-
tivized to do what they can to coach their new teams and advisors. The entire
process is supported by a team of specialists in Human Capital, Products &
Services, Compliance, Legal Services, Marketing & Communications and
many more areas of Baird’s Corporate Resource Groups. By involving key
stakeholders from across the organization, this approach is intended to
enhance the likelihood of new advisor and new team successes. Evidenced
by their success rate of new associates being about four times greater than the
industry average, it looks like the PWM division of Baird is achieving its goal.
The enrollment of new associates into the team structure at the onset of
onboarding has been a key contributor to helping to institutionalize the team-
based approach as part of Baird’s culture and successful business model.

Getting Started:The Cultural Audit

We have examined how important it is for firms to include cultural con-
versations as part of strategic onboarding programs. Now it is time to dis-
cuss how to do it. Before firms can begin to develop a formal way of
engaging new hires on the topic of organizational culture, management