“In my firm, the advisors carry licenses, so we perform the licensed and registered activity, and anything that’s not a licensed or registered activity flows to the administrative support. So, if there’s too much data going to the admin side, you could have a tendency to overwhelm the backup staff and that’s where it starts to become a problem,” she said. “You need to make sure that you’re monitoring and taking care of your staff, and not putting them in a position where they’re going to experience burnout.”
Thompson said it can be a bigger danger in a holistic firm that is doing insurance, investment, financial, and tax planning. Advisors need to be aware of the workload they’re placing on their admin staff, particularly if they’ve been able to pull back themselves.
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Thompson, who’s recently experienced some physical health issues, said it’s important for advisors to be aware of how everyone in their business is doing and have strategies to support them. Her company’s advisors and staff know where they can draw the line between being present for clients and not becoming overwhelmed themselves.
That’s never truer than in the current circumstances, when everyone has weathered COVID and now is working with market volatility and clients concerned about rising inflation and interest rates.
