What should family office leaders look for when hiring professional staff? Each position will have its own set of specific skills — in accounting, for example, or asset management. But succeeding in a family office also requires alignment with the family, something that can be more difficult to define or to assess in an interview. Five family office experts offer their insights into the qualities they look for when hiring family office professionals:
Flexibility and humility are key characteristics that I like to see in a potential family office employee. These offices and family systems are dynamic, and the service model is subject to change with the changing needs and evolution of the family system, so I think it is important for candidates to be open to embracing change.
— Janet Arzt, founder and managing partner of Parere Advisory
Trustworthiness to handle family intimacies and to be objective and professional in their decision making. Objectivity and professionalism enhance respectability, which in turn is fundamental for the family office’s role in discerning the proper path forward when beneficiaries are at odds. A respectable FO leadership will bring about acceptance from the beneficiaries to what can, at times, be difficult decisions for its members.
— Alexander Degwitz, family council chair and head of GEMIS, the family office of the Maldonado family
We focus on core values first: integrity, ownership, respect, diversity and inclusion, teamwork, community and work/life balance. Culture is very important. If we are going to have a long-term employee in a closely held family business, we want them to fit our culture and core values.
— Michael Dunleavy, chief financial officer and group president of finance, Van Metre Companies
We look for people with a strong urge to serve. We look at the family office world as a very service-oriented space. It’s a career, not a job, if you will. And since there is often little upward mobility, we want people with a passion for what they are doing.
— Josh Kanter, founder and CEO of leafplanner
Beyond the basic skills required to fulfill a role, hiring family office employees can be tricky. These employees represent the family they work for, even outside of the workplace, making alignment with the family’s values extremely important. It’s also imperative that these employees feel comfortable working with a family of means, and can develop professional relationships with both the other employees and family members. If skills, values and relationship building are all met, it can be a recipe for a great long-term partnership between the employees and the family.
— Bryn Monahan, family enterprise consultant with Relative Solutions, and fourth-generation family member
