Retreat Time

As the sweltering heat continues this summer, it’s also heating up in the boardrooms of many a public accounting firm.

Not because the air conditioning finally gave up (although there was one firm where that happened, but that’s another story) but because several Partners can get a little hot under the collar during what is traditionally Partner retreat season.

So far this year I have had the privilege of facilitating half a dozen of these ‘get together’ events and several others are booked for August.

Each time the theme seems to be very similar, ‘We want to all get on the same page as to where we’re taking this firm in the future’ is the general overtone I hear.

And that’s a good thing.

It’s difficult to move in any direction if different parts of the firm are pulling in opposing directions.

However, in order to get moving towards the destination, it helps a great deal if you first know where you are on the map.

And that’s where many a firm falls down. Not because they’re not great people, not because they’re not great accountants, but because their goals and objectives may be in conflict.

As such, many a Partner retreat involves passionate debate about the future direction of the firm, what type of client to market to, what specialist skills to acquire and develop, how to structure the firm to best meet the needs of the clients, how to retain the firm’s best people, and what to look for in new recruits.

Quite a ‘heavy’ laundry list, and that’s only the beginning.

So what should a Partner retreat examine?

Let me explain what I see as the role of a Partner retreat.

It’s not an excuse to go away to a posh hotel, play golf, drink and tell jokes all night and return to the office none the wiser.

The role of the Partner retreat should be, in my opinion:

· To review the previous years performance of the firm as a whole
· To examine individual Partner’s contributions to the results of the previous year
· To compare those results to the goals/targets set at the previous years retreat
· Decide which areas need help and which to leave alone
· Decide where to allocate firm resources as a result
· To discuss strategy for the coming year
· To discuss options for tactics to employ to achieve the strategic goals
· To cover any partner issues that are unresolved (such as the partnership agreement, constitution, compensation schemes, chargeable and total time in the office and similar issues)
· To celebrate the successes of the previous year and think if the strategies used by successful parts of the firm can be applied elsewhere
· To examine firm structure and staffing levels
· To discuss acquisition/merger/succession planning issues
· To agree on a plan of action to work towards chosen goals for the coming year
· Finally, to develop a message or presentation to deliver to the staff with the intention of keeping them ‘in the loop’ and fired up about where the firm is going.

Once a plan and strategy is agreed upon, there have to be consequences for Partners who fail to comply in the coming year.

This could simply be a financial consequence, which would be handled by the compensation committee and, as such, would not be dealt with at the retreat.

However, wilful disrespect of the partnership’s goals and constant contravention of firm policies could give the other partners no choice but to conclude that there is no place in the firm for the offending partner.

Sometimes these issues bubble over at retreat time, but this is hardly the place for discussions of this nature.

The real purpose of the retreat is to discuss options for future strategies of the firm and make ‘big picture’ decisions.

Disgruntled Partners should resolve their dissatisfactions with each other in the privacy of their office and, if the best decision for the firm is for a partner to leave, that decision should be made as amicably as possible, within the confines of Partner meetings, leaving the retreat free to focus on the future direction of the firm.

One other popular subject that often arises in retreats in the firm’s acquisition policy. For many a firm growth by acquisition is a very sensible option. If acquisitions are made on an earn-out basis (and which are not in today’s market?) then an acquisition should be a very cost-effective policy to adopt.

This is something of an ‘in-vogue’ topic at present, and I am delighted to announce the release by the CICA of the first in a series of ‘toolkit’ books by yours truly. It’s called “The Practitioners’ Succession Planning Toolkit” and is now available directly from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.