From the Desk of Jen Goldman, CFP®, President of My Virtual COO:
In basketball, the pivot player’s key role is getting the ball and shooting it, or passing it to a player who is in position to score.
When it comes to the work environment, hiring the right pivot person can help your company grow quickly, with a reduced number of growing pains. However, getting a superstar into this crucial position requires strategy and the commitment to hard work.
The most common position for the pivot man, or woman, is that of Chief of Operations.
An experienced rock star COO makes all the difference by expertly handling challenges such as:
- understanding the true business needs of your firm
- prioritizing multiple initiatives
- managing the owners
- guiding support staff
Of course, this dream hire would make life easier for owners and the operating staff. Everyone can focus on their primary role – the guidance given by your COO for taking care of other routine tasks reduces the work load, and streamlines processes.
Everyone is happy and a happy workforce equals more success – but as the saying goes, “Success comes with a price.” And in this case, it’s making sure that you can afford to pay this superstar, and offer tempting benefits.
So how do you make this happen?
Onboarding new clients at an advanced pace is the most obvious strategy – of course this comes with a great deal of work. In fact, it can be a gamble. Another method is to take a cut in pay, or find other ways to reduce costs, and redirect that money. Before taking any of these steps, take stock of where you are, and create projections that show how quickly an experienced COO can make this investment worthwhile.
According to Kelli Cruz, Founder of Cruz Consulting Group, most firms find that once they hit the $500,000 to $1 million revenue mark, they have need of a full-time operations manager to run their day-to-day activities. At larger firms, with $1 million to $2 million in revenue, this role should evolve to that of a COO, who is responsible for all of the firm’s major functions: finances, risk management, compliance, human resources, client-service administration, sales, marketing and technology.
Perhaps you can’t make this happen, or don’t have the resources or time to undertake this hiring. What can you do? Huddle with your executive team and find ways to streamline operations, and determine if it’s possible to reduce tasks that are redundant and time consuming.
You may want to create a manager position that has fewer responsibilities than a COO, but can help with directing traffic and managing lower level positions. If you go this route, filling this position with an inside hire reduces training time and familiarity with your operation – speed counts in this process.
Kelli cautions, none of these approaches will be successful if the firm’s owners aren’t willing to relinquish some authority and cede a measure of control to the new manager. He or she needs to be empowered in the role, and given the freedom to work creatively, unfettered by too many rules.
Getting that pivot player can help your firm make that crucial turn, and make the leap from average to high class. But before you embark on this quest for greatness, take the time to determine if it’s possible – and if it’s not, remember there are other solutions that can act as serviceable stopgaps while you are working towards this goal.
