This means they often hold themselves back from progressing. Their firms can hold them back too, even if indirectly, as the better they become the more work they tend to get given, Hoskin says.
"They're stifled by the amount of work that they have to do, which means they get stuck in this operational, tactical element of their job, and are not able to elevate themselves out of that job to be more strategic, and therefore more valuable, to help shape the direction of that business," she explains.
What's more, based on her experience so far she anticipates it will be difficult to even get business owners to let their managers go to events and spend time on training.
But she stresses, "we've got to get the sector behind this...recognising the importance of this role."
She warns any business not looking after their operations manager and developing them will just see them leave.
And where they do leave, it's typically "absolute chaos", she says. "Because nobody knows what to do".
More CEOs
Members of the BOMS network will be able to sign up to a 12-week business manager programme starting in January, which will teach them the core skills needed to develop as operational managers and help them deal with the responsibilities and demands of the role.
The resultant award is equivalent to Level 3.
But longer form courses are also in the planning.
"It's an interesting time in this role, but the objective of the group and the community is to see more business managers as MDs and CEOs of financial planning firms than we've got currently.
"Planners who hold that role as the owner, of course, and shareholder, of course, are not necessarily the best person to be the MD of that business," says Hoskin.
"And we want to provide that support to those people to want to be aspiring into that role, and it's that other career path.
"And if you [ask] any people who have got really great business managers what they think about them, they will all say we wouldn't be able to do what we do without them, this business would not run as well as it could if they weren't there."
She adds: "It's 15 years too late actually, but I got there eventually."
carmen.reichman@ft.com
