GAMA International Journal November-December 2013 - 23

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Communicating to leads why there is interest in them
Inviting leads only to the next step: screening
Making no attempt to sell the career at this point
Finding reasons to call, not reasons to pass
Being prepared to answer questions in a balanced way
Preparing questionnaires and phone screen questions
covering the minimum qualifications to be considered in
the screening contact
Taking and retaining notes on all individual screening
decisions
Asking leads, especially those screened out of the process,
for referrals to others who might be a fit

After candidates pass the initial screening, you might
consider giving them the GAMA International brochure
Doing Well by Doing Good, an excellent resource that helps
explain the career they may soon be launching.
Selection

Selection has two objectives: (1) to make a quality decision
about whether an offer should be made to a candidate, and
(2) to lead candidates to make the right decision for them if
an offer is presented.
The first of these objectives is obvious and fundamental,
but the second is just as important. It is not uncommon for
candidates to hold idealized, even unrealistic visions of the
career. They may possess all of the characteristics you desire,
yet not know enough to know what they don't know but
should be seeking to understand.
It falls to the selection team to ensure that the candidate
is adequately prepared to make a decision should an offer be
made. It does this by making sure that the process exposes
candidates to issues they may not know enough to ask
about. For example, when a candidate asks whether leads
will be furnished to them, the answer is either yes or no, but
the larger issue this question exposes is whether the candidate can be coached to be proactive in their prospecting, a
skill necessary regardless of the source of the lead. A
job-sampling exercise can be used to help candidates
experience prospecting emotions firsthand.
Team members should identify what these issues are in
their organization and include experiences within the
selection process to afford each candidate the opportunity to
experience not necessarily the actual issue they will face, but
a simulation of it. This approach will help candidates
determine whether the career is right for them, a factor
critical to achieving "quality." In addition to job sampling, it
can be beneficial to assign candidates to "shadow" a
successful team member for a day, to attend a training
meeting, and even to experience the approach your firm
takes with prospects during your client-acquisition process.
Selection is an intensive process with many operational
and structural aspects. (See also sidebar "Selection Best
Practices," page 22.) Successful organizations often include
these components in their processes: multiple interviews;
workshops; job sampling; reference and background
investigations; testing; the VIP interview; approval of the
offer by the head of the agency; the presentation of a

contingent or firm offer; and the acceptance or rejection of
the presented offer.
Onboarding

Onboarding is sometimes seen as an administrative
process separate from recruiting. It is commonly
thought to include issues such as mundane orientation
to technology, the physical office, where to park, how
to pay for coffee, and so on. This is unfortunate,
because onboarding is the function where "quality" is
sewn in.
Onboarding is the process of providing new hires
with what they need in order to succeed. For a new
producer, this really isn't so much about where to park.
In most cases, new producers will need significant
support, coaching, mentoring, and oversight for some
time. The onboarding process should be considered
under way at the point of acceptance of the offer and be
as structured as the rest of the recruiting process for a
period of at least six to 12 months, or even longer.
Without careful planning and management of the
onboarding process, much of the hard work and
achievement of the previous phases of recruiting may be
lost as new producers find themselves floundering.
These are the five pillars of the onboarding process:
activity oversight; drill-for-skill sessions; case reviews;
joint fieldwork; and product and process training.
Quality is found and developed through thoughtful
design and effective execution of each area covered
here, but sourcing is where it all begins. To find more
quality, source more deeply. During sourcing, look for
reasons to include candidates, not reasons to avoid
calling them. Even résumés that do not list financial
services as a target career can lead to successful
candidates. Like a manufacturing process, sourcing is
the input that sets the pace for the entire system.
Having larger numbers of candidates to choose from in
the end will enhance the quality of the result when
quality-control processes are executed throughout the
process.
So happy net fishing!

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John A. Ramos, CMFC, is the owner
» Trajectory Consulting, a professional
of
development firm that focuses on assisting
new and experienced leaders in the insurance
and financial services industry in expediting
and improving their processes and systems.
John began his career in financial services as
a producer with Waddell & Reed, where he
eventually served more than 25 years in leadership roles, 11 of them
as regional vice president for the firm's operations in the Pacific states.
He has served as a volunteer with GAMA International for the last five
years. John lives in Albuquerque, N.Mex.,with his wife, Mary Ann. He
can be reached at john@getjohnramos.com.

november/december 2013

GAMA International Journal November-December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GAMA International Journal November-December 2013