2021 saw the highest number of resignations since The Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting this data in 2000. Whether we call this the Great Resignation, the Big Quit or the Great Reshuffle, with as many as 3% of all workers quitting their jobs in one month, employers must understand the reasons why their employees leave and what they can do to help retain and motivate them.
One frequently cited reason for employees resigning is burnout. According to one study, as many as half of workers report feeling burned out. And more employees report feeling burned out as they’ve started to work remotely most or all of the time.
The causes of burnout vary. But often, the root cause is something employers can solve. A Deloitte survey found 64% of professionals say they frequently feel frustrated at their job, and a further 29% said the biggest driver of burnout was working long hours.
Wealth management is no different, with 52% of financial and professional services industry employees reporting feeling burned out. Employers need to pay attention. What can wealth management firms do to ensure they can maintain their employees and prevent burnout?
Technology Plays an Important Role in Burnout
Burnout can be common in the financial advisory space. They’re trying to grow their business and support clients at a breakneck pace, often dealing with repetitive tasks that can add hours to their week. Many advisors report working more than 60 hours a week, with studies showing that as much as 60% of the day is spent on repetitive, administrative tasks to support their work.
Effective solutions already exist to help prevent burnout for all employees. These include:
- Encouraging employees to take mental health days.
- Ensuring vacation time gets used.
- Creating boundaries for the home/work balance for remote employees.
- Creating support networks for remote employees.
- Instituting tech tools that can reduce repetitive work.
Each of these measures will positively impact financial services professionals’ mental health. But one critical way employers can help WM employees, both remote and in-office, prevent burnout now is by providing and implementing a tech stack that can help them better manage their time and reduce their overall workload.
The numbers back this up. In one report, 32% of workers said they quit their job because their employers’ technology (or lack thereof) prevented them from doing their job well. In addition, many respondents reported that a company’s tech stack was increasingly becoming a key factor in why they were applying for a job.
Even if you encourage employees to take time off, if they feel like they have too much work to get done to support their clients, it won’t have the lasting benefits to help them combat burnout. Tech tools that can streamline automation and reduce their workload on repetitive tasks will free them up to focus on the aspects of their job that likely brought them into financial services in the first place: serving their clients.
Incorporating tools like a document management system or automation platform will help to transform the way they approach their business. It will impact and reduce the number of hours they’re working overtime to serve their clients and will help to lower frustration with menial tasks. Both can be critical tools to combat burnout and help your teams find time to focus on tasks that energize them and truly disconnect from work.
Docupace Can Help Combat Burnout
Docupace provides a DMS solution, among other solutions, to support financial advisors and other WM-adjacent roles in streamlining and automating tasks. The Docupace Platform supports the entire client lifecycle from onboarding new clients, storing documents within the cloud, reviewing alternative investment options, and supporting your team in more accurately completing common tasks.
A DMS, like Docupace, can help reduce paperwork. Less paper is environmentally friendly and can significantly lower frustration for WM professionals because paperwork can lead to errors and delays. Since Docupace is designed specifically for WM firms, it comes pre-built with tools that will easily fit into and improve workflows with tools that provide the right paperwork at the right time and auto-populate forms. It also has tools to support regulation and compliance, taking one more load off the mental burden for wealth management professionals.
By providing your team with the tools they need to automate some of their most common tasks, they can reduce repetitive work required to correct mistakes. These tools allow them to manage their time and mental energy more efficiently for other client-facing projects. With the right tools in place, you can help your financial professionals avoid burnout.
