Advanced Broker Training Program at Scottrade

By Margery Weinstein

Scottrade offers an Advanced Broker Training program to improve the operational skills of brokers who have been identified by their managers or Branch Administration as candidates for promotion. This program was established to empower brokers to take leadership and initiative roles within the organization, strengthen a broker’s network with resources and contacts within Scottrade, and improve brokers’ understanding of Scottrade initiatives and expectations while learning how to implement them in the branch. Here are other details of this program:

• Eligible associates are brokers who have been licensed for two years or more (of that time, they must work at Scottrade for at least six months). Before being accepted to the program, nominated applicants are rated by their manager or Branch Administration on various areas, including customer interactions, job proficiency, and leadership and teamwork.
• Held at the company’s St. Louis headquarters, the one-week, instructor-led training program offers an in-depth look at many of the subjects the brokers will need to know as their career paths progress. Participants attend approximately 25 different seminars and workshops delivered by executives, directors, managers, and training specialists. Topics include options, order entry, reorganizations, margin, time management, and maximizing customer interactions. These skills prepare talented and dedicated up-and-comers for the leadership roles that likely will be made available to them.
• Behavior change is one key way the company measures results from this program. Approximately five to six weeks after attendees graduate from the Advanced Broker Training program, the participants and their managers complete a follow-up assessment tracking behavior changes they have observed or demonstrated. Of those surveyed from January 2011 to April 2011, participants and their managers noticed the following behavior improvements:

Participant Assessments

• 91 percent of participants indicated they were demonstrating improved customer interaction skills.
• 70 percent indicated they were demonstrating a higher level of motivation.
• 70 percent indicated they were demonstrating additional responsibility at the branch.
• 68 percent indicated they were demonstrating better communication skills.
• 50 percent indicated they were demonstrating more effective use of time.

Manager Assessments

• 65 percent of managers observed higher levels of motivation.
• 47 percent observed additional responsibility at the branch.
• 42 percent observed improved customer interaction skills.

Since the program started in 2008, the Advanced Broker Training program has graduated 240 brokers, of which 93 percent are still active associates at Scottrade. To date, approximately 30 percent of those graduates have been promoted to management positions. Due to the popularity of these sessions, the company has increased the frequency from seven sessions in 2010 to nine in 2011 and had 18 associates on the wait list for 2012.

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