Take outs

• Staff satisfaction is linked to better technology adoption and greater client satisfaction follows
• Superior technology is required for hybrid home-office environments
• Simplifying and integrating technology systems and the tech stack can improve staff satisfaction
• Training, guides, better processes, and more time to learn should be part of any tech implementation

 

Think AdviceTech and you usually think of the impact technology has on the operations and bottom line of an advice firm. As technology becomes more pervasive in our daily lives it is often important to take a step back and look at the direct impact on people.

The 2022 AdviceTech Report looks at the human side of technology, not only through the lenses of staff, but also clients, technology partners and suppliers.

Think about an average working day. Advice staff are probably using a CRM, managing client investments on their super platform, chatting with colleagues using Teams, sending emails in Outlook, making Zoom or MS Teams calls with clients, writing documents in Word, paying salaries using a payroll system and posting on social media.

The 2022 AdviceTech Report indicates that most advice firms use an average of 14 technologies in their practice, with AdviceTech Stars using 17, and the majority of staff using a lot of these technologies at least daily.

“When we think about improving staff satisfaction, our focus often turns to increasing pay, improving staff culture, giving more leave or providing other employee benefits. However, how many have considered the role technology plays on staff satisfaction?” asks Matt Heine, Joint Managing Director of Netwealth.

“Are staff getting the most out of their AdviceTech? Is it creating daily friction and frustrations impacting their happiness and satisfaction? Or is it maximising staff potential?” asks Matt.

 

 

AdviceTech Stars, the benchmark for advice firms in Netwealth’s 2022 AdviceTech report, recognise the relationship between technology and staff satisfaction, and their role in building that relationship, with almost 9 in 10 (86.7% compared to 73.6% overall) saying their business is responsible for fostering a healthy relationship with work technology.

9 in 10 Stars (91.1% and 78.2% overall) also agree that an integrated tech stack improves staff satisfaction. Almost 8 in 10 Stars agree that tech leads to improve teamwork and collaboration, and to happier and more engaged staff.

Around 6 in 10 Stars (62.2% and 53.8% overall) agree technology helps them recruit and retain top talent, improve employee wellbeing (60.0% Stars and 62.2% overall) and improve staff culture (57.8% Stars and 53.5% overall).
Yet according to the 2022 AdviceTech report, only 13% of firms overall say they have staff that are very satisfied with their business technology (the majority are somewhat satisfied).

“The opportunity for firms is to address this, and in in our report we have identified several tactics they may adopt", says Matt. “This first of these is for Advice firms to consider supporting their hybrid working arrangements with the right technology, such as VPNs, as well as proper IT support.”

“To improve employee satisfaction, firms can also consider simplifying their core AdviceTech, using integration tools like Xeppo, or even reducing the number of tools they use.”

“With only one in three advice firms (35.6%) thinking their staff consider themselves masters of the AdviceTech they use and just over half of firms (55.8%) thinking their staff get appropriate training on new software or software upgrades, the other obvious tactic is to give staff more training on technology, access to how-to videos as well as giving them just more time in their day to play around and learn about the tools.”

Finally, Netwealth’s 2022 AdviceTech Report reported a correlation acknowledged by businesses between happy and satisfied staff and happy clients, with nearly all Stars (95.6%) and almost nine in 10 advice businesses (86.8%) agreeing that the improved satisfaction of staff leads to improved client satisfaction.

More about AdviceTech Stars

AdviceTech Stars are firms that lead the way in many aspects of technology use, and which provide a useful guide to other firms wishing to take advantage of AdviceTech. AdviceTech Stars lead the way on both technology adoption and business performance. They’ve found the sweet spot of using the right AdviceTech in the right way, to address clearly identified issues and to generate tangible business and client benefits.

While many (64.4%) advice firms increased their revenue last year, more than 9 in 10 AdviceTech Stars (91.1%) increased theirs. Nearly half of Stars (46.7%) increased their revenue by between 11% and 25%; and more than one in six (17.8%) increased their revenue by more than 25%.

AdviceTech Stars use a greater number (17) of technologies than the average firm (14). They spend more as a percentage of revenue of technology – 9.7%, on average (compared to 8.0% of overall firms), and they also plan to spend more in future. Critically, they dedicate appropriate capital, resources and planning to technology. Over half (57.8%) have a clear map of the technology road ahead (versus 34.3%).

About the survey

The 2022 Netwealth AdviceTech Research Report surveyed 303 advice firms. Fieldwork took place from April 13 to May 19, 2022. The report is available at www.netwealth.com.au/advicetech.