Our Young Guns, online today, prove there is fresh talent in the industry, but not enough is getting through
Our Young Guns, online today, prove there is fresh talent in the industry, but not enough is getting through
Today we're publishing our Young Guns 2015 online and throughout the day on twitter @MPA_Australia. We're proud to present 24 highly talented and exceptional individuals, who are already writing impressive loan volumes.
And here we have the problem: they are exceptional. Broking is a tough industry for young people to get into, which for some reason is something many brokers are proud of. It shouldn’t be; talented finance-orientated youngsters have plenty of other lucrative options in the banking sector. We can’t expect all new entrants to have the dedication and passion of these Young Guns – we need to look at the structure of this profession.
At an individual level I believe many experienced brokers are willing to support their young colleagues. Young Guns is not a ranking report, but among other criteria we do ask Young Guns to obtain a favourable reference from a colleague or manager, and the references we received were very kind indeed.
Still, individual kindness doesn’t make up for the barriers which put people off joining this industry. The biggest of these, I would argue, is our obsession with commission. We expect young brokers to work for commission, and lament that young people these days are too interested in salaries. That’s the wrong way round; if young people want salaries, we need to find a way of integrating that with incentives, at least for the first few years, as some pioneering operators are already doing.
Next are the costs involved in starting as a broker. I’m sceptical about whether training can (or should) be made any cheaper, but the broking community can help with those costs. So-called ‘graduate schemes’ are a start, as are scholarships like those recently announced by the FBAA, although we must make sure assistance is not confined to those with particularly extraordinary backgrounds.
Finally a change of attitude is required. Many current brokers’ attitudes seem to have been shaped by entering the industry mid-career, understandable given the industry is still young. But broking can and should be a lifetime career – it’s got the flexibility, excitement and financial rewards to attract the young, the old, and everyone in between.
I must emphasise that this is my view, not necessarily that of the MPA team, our Young Guns, or our sponsor Suncorp Bank. It’d be great to hear responses and suggestions from the industry in the comment boxes below.
You can read the Young Guns' stories on our rankings page and share their success on twitter - look out for the hashtag #MPAYoungGuns.
