Analyst Troubles
I've been working with an analyst for about a year now, and he seems to be struggling with the more technical aspects of the job and listening to instructions. I try to mentor him and go through the mistakes he's making, and he constantly says "I get it now, thanks" only to make the same mistakes again. In addition, when there are nuances to a certain task, I try to lay out what they are, but he misses some of them each time. I can tell it's wearing on him and that he's feeling discouraged. He's a nice guy and puts in the effort with a good attitude, but he just doesn't seem to "get it". How do you all work with and mentor an analyst that seems to be struggling like this?
I've been on both sides of this. When I was a first year I would often just say "Ah yes I understand, thanks" even if I didnt fully understand mostly due to lack of confidence or being embarrassed that I didnt grasp what was being explained to me. Now in my second year when I had to train a new hire on some things, I noticed they did the same thing. I would walk them through something and they would tell me they got it, only for them to not do it correctly or ask me a few days later to explain it again.
Now when I walk someone through something or show them how to do something, I'll ask them to replicate what I did or explain it back to me. If they can do that while im still watching them then I know they got it, rather than just hearing them say they understand when they really dont and leaving them to try to figure it out. Also give them lots of Ritalin.
That‘s a good tip, thanks.
It's also very nice of you to even post this here. When I was an analyst, no one was willing to spend time guiding juniors as they were afraid that juniors would surpass them soon. Anyway, I left that shop.
Thanks lol, but the fact is that, selfishly, I want him to succeed because it makes my life and my VPs’ lives much easier in the long run. I do genuinely like the guy so willing to take extra steps to make sure he succeeds.
Good for you for going out of your way for wanting to help this kid. This is such a rare attitude these days in the corporate world. I can name only a handful of people who are this kind. Good job
How much have you worked with them directly in the past year and what has their live deal experience been like?
On a couple different projects now, so a decent amount.
A few things:
Ultimately IB and finance has some of the worst managers I have ever seen because bad managers can get away with it and the analysts are generally so self managing and correcting. However, if you get one who is a bit slower or struggling you need to actually do your job and be a manager motivating them and providing them strategies to succeed. This only works if they trust you though and genuinely view your relationship as positive. Sadly, when I was an analyst there was only 2 senior analysts, 1 associate and 1 VP I worked with during my entire 2 years who I felt I had this relationship with. In this relationship the analyst genuinely wants their feedback and to make them proud because the analyst trusts they knew more than then them and they would have your back. If you can win the analysts over and they have full confidence you are 1) trying to get a good work product 2) are more knowledgeable than them and 3) wouldn’t have them do something stupid and will protect them, they will run through a wall for you.
Great post. Couldn't agree more on the manager topic - in IB it's totally common to make it to MD with absolutely zero leadership/management training or experience. Maybe you're staffer for a year or have to somewhat wrangle analysts who don't technically report to you into making books, but it's so silly how little management focus there is. No reason you can't cluster analysts in twos or threes and have them report to separate VPs who have been trained on people management. Feels like an obvious hole that creates terrible managers and culture that IB literally doesn't give a shit about.
I do think we have that kind of trust built up as I never ever throw him under the bus. I think he doesn’t want to ask questions for fear of looking dumb, but at the same time he clearly needs to pay closer attention to instructions. Its frustrating, but I think the main takeaway from everyone is to be a bit more “micro manager”, which I don’t like as I always found that to be annoying when I was an analyst. Its a line I certainly struggle with because I don’t want to be overbearing and bossy.
If you have a good relationship, try looking at the problem more objectively and less from a feedback angle. Try this sort of script:
Your issue is almost certainly the analyst is afraid to check in/ doesn’t want to feel stupid and you aren’t doing a good enough job of making them feel comfortable to ask clarifying questions. No one wants to be bad at their job and people don’t intentionally make errors, so you need to coach them to align with your work style. The more you have those little check-ins and the more comfortable they get, the less you will need them and the more they will just intuitively understand what to do.
Also, yes there are some analysts who really “don’t get it” but from my experience that’s actually very rare. More often, the analysts that are stamped with the “don’t get it” name are ones who just haven’t had the chance to get a good manager or been given enough reps to put together a professional work product. If someone trusts you as a manager and doesn’t want to fail you even the biggest Potato of an analyst will put together good work. Carrot almost always works better than the stick.
People above covered it well, but this analyst is going to need to find a system that works for them. In these situations, I take 2-3x the time I would with a “quicker” analyst to explain things, I have them take detailed, annotated notes on the pages themselves, give them plenty of reference materials, etc. They’re going to have to find what works for them, all you can do is try to help them find that. I know this isn’t sage advice but until they find their ‘system’ they’re gonna screw up.
I appreciate it, certainly helpful to read about specific steps others have taken in this situation.
Associates terrified that they might have to actually do some work for once
I get the frustration when you frequently get left on an island in terms of workload, but making weird bitter comments on an online forum won’t make you feel better
Yeah I should just continue doing the same work I’ve done for the past ~3 years rather than teach you how to do it so you can pass it along to the….never mind.
One thing I appreciate my associates doing is laying out next steps in a clear way. This can be done via a summarized email, PowerPoint slides, etc but some system so I, the analyst, can follow instructions in a clear way. This helps since there are things an MD or VP might say, but I might not understand and so it would help to have clarification and what to prioritize
I do agree, it was useful for me when I was an A1, especially when starting on a new project
Something that gets a bit frustrating though now that I manage A1 is that some of them seem to be completely unable to remember things on their own. For example, if you send a summary email of what to do, they somewhat get it. But then if your VP brings something else and you come by their desk to tell them verbally, they say “ok,will do” but if they don’t process immediately then they would just forget it.
It’s also up to you to get organised in terms of deliverables
Really 2 options that I would try here. First, I would have a coming to Jesus meeting w/ him. Not reaming him out, but laying out where he's falling short and telling him that "I get it now - thanks" isn't the right response if he doesn't get it...Gotta tell me that you don't get it so that I can explain it and you can actually get it. This assumes that you're still interested in mentoring him and think he can become a solid contributor.
If you're not interested in mentoring him anymore and don't think that he's gonna be a contributor, stop picking him for your deal / pitch teams. If it seems that he's incapable of getting it and is content to yes-man you when he doesn't get it, it's probably a waste of your time to go out of your way to develop him as an analyst.
Option #2 is tough if you like the kid and think he has a good attitude, but candidly it doesn't seem that he's interested in getting it. In my experience, the better analysts don't go w/ the "Yeah - that makes sense" tact unless they actually understand the concept. If they don't understand something, they will ask you questions (at the risk of looking dumb) until they do get it. Honestly, if a first-year isn't regularly asking me questions, I assume that he either (a) thinks he's the smartest guy in the room while not actually knowing shit, (ii) has no awareness of the holes in his knowledge base and doesn't think he needs to ask questions (which is a terrible sign), or (iii) isn't particularly interested in learning. Guys w/ any of those thought processes aren't guys I'm betting will be an asset to the group or worth my time to mentor.
What happens during these situations if the analyst doesn’t improve? Does the analyst usually get canned? Or is it more of a really low bonus and gets staffed on shit deals?
Depends on the banks, in good market conditions would be the latter but right now you never know
One thing that gets annoying though is (and this is better than not asking questions at all, but still annoying) when they ask questions but always come to you directly for basic PPT/XLS things. Ffs, if you message me “I’m completely lost” and ask me to come to your desk to show you how to do a combo chart on XLS or make something transparent, it may be good to use google or ask other 1As first
For 7) I know people do this but this is a waster of paper/resources… Personally got used to checking PDFs and it works just as well. Actually a best practice is before sending something, open the attachment in your email and check it again.
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