How to be a good Associate

I'm a senior analyst at an EB that has accepted an A2A promotion that will be starting over the summer. From the time I accepted the promotion, I was taken off of all of my analyst staffings and restaffed as an associate. I've been playing associate on deals and books with first year analysts working under me for the last few months.

I never minded working with hard-ass VPs and Associates and never took getting yelled at personally; however, I know that's not everyone, so I'm really trying not to be an asshole that yells and I always take them into a conference room if I'm providing constructive feedback so I don't embarrass them.

That being said, I feel like I'm not seeing the outcomes I'd like to see with this approach.

How do I motivate analysts to produce good work and act professionally at work without yelling at them and alienating myself. I've never had to motivate anyone other than myself before so this is new for me. Would love feedback from more senior folks as well as analysts.

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You can be firm with your feedback without being a dick about it and yelling - point out specific behaviors that are not working ("You did not incorporate all of the MD's comments" vs. "Your attn to detail is lacking") and do NOT use the shit sandwich (here's what you did well, here's what you did badly and need to work on - this can send a mixed signal where they hear the good and ignore the bad).

To some extent, your projects are just going to get lower priority which may contribute to shittier work too, just because you're in a bit of a hierarchical gray area right now. Be sure to not do the analyst's work for them, and if they are not putting forth their best effort, then I would put the ball back in their court with minimal effort too - like if you are reviewing a turn and there's clearly shit that is wrong or missed in the first few pages, stop there and just tell the analyst to recheck and redo the whole thing.

Can you maybe elaborate more on what you feel like you're not getting from the analysts?

 

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