According to newly-released research conducted by graduate recruitment firm Grad Mentor in partnership with Zurich, top-performing higher education graduates entering the financial advice industry are primarily incentivised by factors that may surprise some practice principals and licensees.
“[Australia’s major cities are] expensive places to live, and so clearly financial compensation matters to a certain extent, but it didn’t come up [in the course of our research] as often as flexible work conditions, aligned values or lifestyle factors,” said Alisdair Barr, founder and director of Grad Mentor, at a press conference in Sydney on Friday. “To remain competitive, firms need to take a fresh approach to compensation.”
Millennial advisers are attracted to employers that allow for flexible work conditions, ongoing professional development and education, a culture of innovation and technology adoption and a sense of social purpose or community involvement, the research found.
Recruitment of top Millennial talent is a major focus for financial advice practices looking to grow long-term businesses, Mr Barr said. In addition, this demographic is increasingly sought after because of their high levels of formal education, tech literacy and gender and cultural diversity, he added.
At the same time, there is still a lack of understanding of financial advice among top-performing high school students, Mr Barr lamented, with most high-quality industry entrants more likely to become acquainted with the profession until already studying in tertiary business schools.
This lack of exposure to the industry is a far greater hurdle to attracting top talent than negative perception due to media coverage or political commentary, Mr Barr said.
Zurich head of marketing and communications Richard Dunkerley said his organisation’s support of the Grad Mentor research reflected its commitment to seeing top talent enter the financial advice profession.
Given the constant flogging the industry / profession (whichever you prefer) receives in the press, the continual tightening of revenue, increasing compliance requirements, poor recruitment practices of most firms and inability to change career direction my question is why a 20 or 21 year old graduate would join the industry. Do an accounting degree and then assuming it is a “relevant degree” if you like you can change later in life.
A longitudinal study of how long graduates typically stay with the firm that gives them a start in the industry would be more helpful. For those that leave after 1 year – what was their reasoning for doing so – eg salary increase, perception that is the way to develop career ? For those that stay on beyond one year – what made them stay ? Do they have unique individual characteristics or was it something about the business they are working in ?