Sustainable growth starts with people

A people-first approach to sustainable growth

With Insperity supporting human resources administration, Barnum Financial Group’s leaders spend their time on the people who drive the business

Joe Rokowski spent more than three decades on the revenue side of wealth management before he took charge of the people side. Two and a half years ago, he joined Barnum Financial Group, a wealth management firm in Shelton, Connecticut, as its Chief of Human Capital and Strategy. He started with one conviction: the firm’s growth would depend on the people who serve its clients. For him, talent drives results and that instinct shapes how he runs the people side today. That conviction comes from a long run in the business. He spent most of it at a large financial services firm, working across finance and operations before running its trust company as president. He later consulted for banks, broker-dealers and advisory firms, then returned to fulltime leadership because he missed developing people.

The challenge

Fast growth, and the human resources work behind it

A people-first strategy is only as strong as a company’s ability to sustain it while growing, and Barnum Financial Group is growing fast. It hires roughly 70 new financial advisors a year, plus another 80 to 100 employees in other roles. Every wave of new hires is a chance to reinforce the culture or weaken it, which is why a strategy is so important.

Growth multiplies the HR administrative work, too. Each hire requires work related to onboarding, payroll and benefits. Companies with larger, multi-state workforces must keep up with shifting employment laws and face high-stakes moments such as a difficult termination or a discrimination complaint. Often in small to midsized companies, the leaders who should be developing people and setting strategy are the ones left to handle all of it. Unfortunately, every hour they give to human resources administration takes away from the time they could spend leading.

The solution

Get support for HR administration, invest in the people

Barnum Financial Group answered that trade-off by reaching out to a partner. The Insperity® HR360 solution provides support for many of the administrative HR functions – including onboarding and payroll – and provides employee access to benefits. Our experienced HR specialists help with the company’s employer-related compliance efforts. The company can call on these HR specialists as needed to discuss employee relations issues and HR best practices related to workplace requirements. What that buys is capacity. With the paperwork off their desks and experienced HR support a call away, Rokowski and his managers get their hours back for the work that grows the business: recruiting well, developing employees, and focusing on the strategy a growing firm demands.

Rokowski describes the job simply: Build an engaged workforce, and it becomes the engine that serves clients and drives growth. He spends his time on employees and financial advisors, and he tracks the results: stronger performance, lower turnover, faster growth.

Onboarding is key. The company now builds its culture into a new hire’s first day instead of leaving them to figure it out. Everyone starts with a formal orientation – the company’s history, a word from leadership and a genuine welcome – then a first month mapped out with mentors, introductions and regular team events. “We don’t want to leave it up to chance,” Rokowski said. He believes the structured onboarding process helps new hires become productive more quickly, so they can feel sure they made the right choice. This is often what keeps a new recruit from leaving early.

Onboarding sets the culture; but daily habits sustain it. So, each morning, teams hold a short huddle around a one-sentence purpose, marking wins and flagging what needs attention. How a manager treats someone shapes how they feel about the job, so Rokowski invests where it counts most: in his managers. Managers are coached to lead with candor. Rokowski, for example, will open a meeting by admitting a colleague knows a process better than he does. “I’ll say, I need your help,” he said. That openness gives people room to raise a problem while it is still small.

He keeps a read on morale all year, through daily conversation and regular roundtables rather than what’s commonly practiced — one annual survey. Rokowski’s logic is simple: people who feel they belong tend to stay because they often place a high value on feeling respected and included at work. When employees or advisors leave, there’s a risk clients follow, so loyalty is essential to the firm’s growth. He even puts a number on it, saying he has seen employees prioritize growth opportunities and strong leadership over compensation.

The results

Engaged employees, stronger client relationships

Two years in, the results are showing up in the things Rokowski tracks most closely: how quickly new people settle, and how long strong teams stay together. New hires say they feel at home much sooner. And the churn that used to be seen every couple of years has eased.

 Client relationships take years to build and depend on trust. When employees and financial advisors feel supported and stay, they keep those client relationships intact and deliver consistent service. Because Insperity HR360 supports the human resources administration and helps develop managers, Barnum’s leaders have the time to invest in those relationships. Continuity is highly valued by financial services clients

That care is deliberate, and it fits how the company operates: get a little better every day. “Get 1% better,” Rokowski says, “and measure the gain, not the gap.” One example: teams now end every meeting by agreeing who does what next, so nothing gets dropped when one team passes work to another. He applies that to people, too. Better hiring, better development, better retention: each one a small gain, but together they add up to a workforce that performs and stays.

Looking ahead

Built to keep growing

Barnum Financial Group plans to keep hiring and keep growing, and its approach to people is built to scale. Every hour of work Insperity takes off a leader’s plate goes back into the business. A stable, engaged workforce is what lets the firm grow quickly without losing what makes it work.

Engagement keeps the people; the reclaimed time lets leaders grow the business around them.