Richter sends team members to its own university

When it comes to providing leadership training for team members, Richter goes a step beyond: the Montréal-based business advisory and family office has launched its own educational institution.

“Our culture is based on innovation, learning, philanthropy and exceptional client service,” says Andrea Musailowski, senior director of talent and culture. “Learning and talent development are at the forefront, so this year we implemented the Richter University learning platform.”

Richter University provides not only standardized education programs across the firm’s offices in Montréal, Toronto and Chicago, but individualized training in diverse aspects of the advisory business, including communication, leadership and human skills, as well as business development.

“It gives our people technical expertise, and as they develop their careers it will also provide them with other key skills,” explains partner Mindy Mayman. “For example, they might understand the tax law very well, but they also need to know how to handle family dynamics. So they will be equipped with all the skills they’ll need.”

Richter University is even available for mobile devices. “It ensures we’re supporting the hybrid model where people can learn at a time and place that fits their schedule,” says Musailowski. “Every team member has access to courses that align with the skill set they need to do their job effectively and advance to the next phase of their career.”

Further professional development for women is available through ‘Women in Leadership’ events every quarter, she adds. “These events give women at manager level or higher the opportunity to come together to share knowledge around business development, health and wellbeing, and work-life balance.”

Musailowski and Mayman are especially proud of Richter’s Business | Family Office model, which looks beyond tax and business advisory services to advise clients on things like generational wealth management, philanthropy, estate and insurance planning, and investments. Combining their expertise in business advisory and family office services, Richter team members bridge the gap between business and family.

It’s an integrated model that creates close relationships with clients, and provides benefits for staff as well. “Team members find the holistic approach both challenging and fulfilling,” says Mayman. “Challenging in that you don’t stay only in your lane of expertise, you get exposed to lots more, and fulfilling because you’ve helped business owners achieve their personal and business objectives.”

“We have client engagement on both the business advisory and family office sides, and we equip our team members to integrate families’ objectives at the intersection of these two worlds, which means we can provide our talent with more diverse career opportunities,” Musailowski adds. “They can take their foundational skill set and apply it to both sides, which makes us more competitive as an employer.”

In recent years Richter introduced a virtual health-care program that offers staff members a range of medical and mental health services through a mobile app.

“If a team member is feeling unwell physically or mentally, or their family is experiencing challenges, they can be connected immediately with the right type of resource,” says Mayman. “We also offer a family care solution to those team members who need babysitting or tutoring services for children.”

It’s well-known that in a team member survey, the word most used to describe Richter was “family.”

“I think that speaks to the internal culture as well as the clients we serve,” says Mayman. “Richter has always serviced private entrepreneurs and looked at their business needs, their families’ needs and where the two intersect. So ‘family’ is both the way we deal with our clients externally and the way we think of our people internally.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Montreal’s Top Employers winners, published February 28, 2023 in the Montreal Gazette. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Shared values create a family feeling at Richter

When COVID-19 forced the team at Richter LLP to start working remotely in 2020, no one was worried that the close-knit culture at the Montréal-based business advisory and family office services firm would be affected.

“There was just no way that was going to happen,” says Catherine Boivin, senior manager of Richter’s Risk, Performance and Technology division, who describes the company culture as family-like. “We truly feel that we all share the same values of innovation, collaboration and passion about our clients, as well as the feeling of family that makes it such a great place to work.”

And they have managed to maintain that closeness throughout the pandemic lockdowns, she says. “We just moved it online. We used to eat lunch together at the office; now we have virtual lunches, meetings and events as well as Lunch and Learns where someone will do a presentation and everyone shares ideas. We all recognized that staying connected was more important than ever.”

Boivin says that Richter’s virtual team discussions are key to its culture. “It’s the way we stay connected and share our way of seeing things,” she says. “When we share our experiences and talk about them, it makes us feel that we can relate to each other and create that family feeling. You feel like you can count on each other.”

Gregory Moore, a Toronto-based partner with Richter Family Office, which offers multi-family office services, says that one of the firm’s strengths is its emphasis on making clients and team members feel equally valued. “There’s a real culture of collaboration,” he says, “and an understanding that a business succeeds by ensuring it’s doing what’s in the best interests of its employees as well as its clients.”

That meant finding multiple ways to maintain connections with home-based team members. “The touch-points are professional but also social,” says Moore. “We have regular check-ins and webinars as well as virtual cocktail parties, and we recognize staff contributions with virtual gatherings where we celebrate in a fun and unique way the importance of their accomplishments.”

In addition to its flexible work arrangements, Richter moved to enhance team members’ benefits during the pandemic, doubling the amount allowed for mental health care, presenting webinars on mental health and well-being, and introducing a concierge service where parents can get help with childcare. “Team members can book services with a provider called Kiid to help with tutoring or babysitting, and it’s been really popular,” Boivin says.

The firm also provides online access to health-care professionals. “If you don’t have a family doctor, you can access that platform and reach out if you need prescriptions or medical advice,” says Boivin. “We also have a special program related to health and well-being that supports anything related to sports and outdoor activities. We want to make sure that our people are doing well, even in a difficult time.”

Moore draws a direct line between the firm’s expertise in in providing financial advice to families and its supportive culture. “I think nurturing is prevalent at Richter because we work with families and we understand the nuances and emotions and complexities around families and business,” he says. “And when that’s true, it’s easier to build a common understanding among team members.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers winners, published April 5, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.