Ep 399: Maintaining Company Culture More Virtually (When Scaling Past $3B AUM With 10 Office Locations) with Kelli Kiemle
Aug 20, 2024
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Kelli Kiemle is the Managing Director of Growth and Client Experience at Halbert Hargrove, overseeing $3.1 billion in assets. She shares insights on maintaining a strong company culture while expanding across multiple offices. Kelli highlights innovative programs like biannual in-person meetings and a two-year mentorship scheme to enhance relationships and accountability. She discusses the significance of storytelling with 'Gladiator Stories' and aligning benefits with core values. Kelli also explores effective marketing strategies, focusing on SEO and PR to boost client engagement.
Kelli Kiemle emphasizes the importance of structured communication initiatives, like biannual meetings and weekly updates, to maintain company culture during growth.
The firm's core values of being fearless, constantly improving, having fun, and giving back are reinforced through unique storytelling practices and aligned employee benefits.
A formal two-year mentorship program for new hires fosters integration and relationship-building, ensuring they feel valued and supported from the start.
Deep dives
Leadership in Communication and Culture
The podcast highlights the efforts made by Kelly Keemly in leading internal communication strategies at Halbert Hargrove. As the Managing Director of Growth and Client Experience, Kelly ensures that despite the firm's growth and geographical dispersion, communication remains effective and consistent among employees. This is achieved through structured initiatives like twice-annual in-person meetings and weekly all-hands meetings, which foster relationships and provide updates on key metrics. These regular touchpoints help maintain the firm's culture, ensuring that team members feel connected and engaged across different locations.
Core Values Driving Firm Culture
The firm’s core values—being fearless, constantly improving, having fun, and giving back—serve as the foundation for its culture. Kelly explains how the company encourages employees to share 'gladiator stories' that celebrate their courageous actions on behalf of clients while also introducing 'goofs that give us guidance' to reflect on mistakes and learn from them. These practices not only reinforce the values but also instill a sense of belonging and encourage a growth mindset within the team. By aligning benefits with these values, such as funding educational opportunities and providing childcare subsidies, the firm fosters a supportive environment for its employees.
Structured Mentorship Program for New Hires
A formal two-year mentorship program has been established for new hires at Halbert Hargrove, facilitating their integration into the firm's culture. Each new employee is paired with a mentor who guides them through their initial months at the firm, ensuring they have a dedicated resource for questions and advice. This initiative not only helps speed up acclimatization but also fosters relationships and opens lines of communication. The structured approach includes scheduled monthly meetings, encouraging mentees to develop their careers while ensuring they feel valued from the onset.
Innovative Approaches to Employee Benefits
Kelly discusses how the firm’s employee benefits are closely linked to its core values, fostering a supportive and engaged workforce. Key benefits include unlimited responsible vacation time, educational funding, and childcare subsidies, which are designed to promote employee well-being and prevent burnout. The flexible vacation policy, for example, requires proactive encouragement for employees to take breaks, reflecting the firm’s commitment to employee health. This comprehensive approach to benefits not only satisfies current employees but also aids in attracting new talent to the firm.
Marketing and Sales Initiatives for Growth
The podcast outlines Kelly's strategies for driving growth at Halbert Hargrove, which include innovative marketing initiatives and sales coaching. Collaborating with a public relations firm and optimizing local search engine strategies has contributed to increasing the firm’s AUM past the $3 billion mark. Additionally, by hiring a sales coach, the firm has equipped its advisors with techniques to enhance their client engagement and close rates. This multifaceted approach ensures that as the firm grows, it remains focused on attracting new clients while addressing the natural skepticism regarding traditional sales methods in a fiduciary context.
Kelli Kiemle is the Managing Director of Growth and Client Experience of Halbert Hargrove, an RIA based out of California that oversees $3.1 billion in assets under management for 75 households. Kelli uniquely spearheads initiatives at Halbert Hargrove to uphold the firm’s four core values and foster a strong corporate culture, a critical task as the company expands to 50 employees across 10 offices in the western United States. This growth makes even their in-person offices effectively 'remote' and 'virtual' relative to the leadership at the firm's main headquarters.
Listen in as Kelli shares how she has implemented effective communication and relationship-building programs at Halbert Hargrove, including biannual in-person meetings and weekly all-hands sessions to enhance accountability and integrate new hires through a formal two-year mentorship program. She discusses initiatives that reinforce the firm’s core values—like sharing 'Gladiator Stories' and 'Goofs That Give Us Guidance'—and aligns employee benefits with these values by supporting education, charitable contributions, and family care, while also managing a unique vacation policy to prevent burnout. Additionally, Kelli explains her strategic role in growing the firm’s AUM past $3 billion, utilizing external PR and SEO, and integrating sales coaching to enhance client acquisition efforts without compromising the firm’s fiduciary commitments.