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.
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.
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.
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.
Man I like you PE people, this is great. I may practice this in front of the mirror a few times lol
I can certainly come off as a bit cold to analysts when it comes to work despite being more outgoing and friendly to them outside of the work setting. I'll focus on fixing that and also trying to drill down into their exact thoughts.
Lol, I’m a rare good manager. It always baffled me how managers were assholes as an analyst and post. Like it benefits a manager to have juniors that want to work for you. It doesn’t mean you are a pushover, but being a good manager just makes conversations more efficient. They aren’t afraid to ask clarifying questions, so there aren’t a lot of back and forths and if they give crap work there’s an honesty about it where I just raise my eyebrow and they scramble to fix it without me saying anything else because they know they screwed up. I don’t need to dance around the bush because they view me saying a slide or sheet looks like crap as the last straw driving them to quit. You have to remember, younger employees take feedback as an attack on their self worth, so you need to baby them and help them detach feedback from the personal relationship. It shouldn’t need to be said but it often does: “just because I give negative feedback or a correction doesn’t mean I am mad at you or hate you. It’s normal to make mistakes and if you fix them and don’t make that mistake again you are a rockstar analyst. Plus, we are in this together and much like the guy above said, “the more you succeed the easier your managers life is””