Exceeding Staff Expectations.

It seems that the ‘hot topics’ remain pretty much the same in the public accounting domain:

• Finding good people to join and then stay with the firm
• Getting students through the exam process
• Setting suitable salary levels and bonus schemes/benefits
• Growing the practice by marketing and/or acquisition or merger
• Finding better quality clients
• Selling more services (of a value-added nature) to those clients
• Partner compensation models
• Quality assurance issues
• Devising an exit strategy for the firm

Some recent questions posed to me by clients recently include:

• “How can we attract & retain great people?”
• “Why do so many successful UFE writers eventually leave the profession?”
• “How can my small firm compete with the big four on salaries?”
• “What do clients really want from their accountant?”
• “Why am I struggling to close a deal to buy a firm?”
• “How do I fire my worst clients in the hope I will replace them with better clients?”
• “How can I be creative and offer something different to my clients?”
• “How do I fairly compensate a non-equity partner?”
• “What do I need to do to keep up to date with the Audit & Assurance quality issues?”
• “When is the ideal time to sell – do I merge now or sell later?”

And so it is that my clients have helped me select the topics to write about for the next few issues.

This time out I am going to follow up from my last column, when I wrote about how candidates should not go about changing firm, and spin it around. How can a small to medium sized practice create a compelling story that would make candidates select them as an employer of choice, where long-term career aspects can be met and, indeed, exceeded?

So, how can they? Well there are many tools at your disposal. One of the factors about a smaller firm that many see as a weakness can be turned around and highlighted as a strength. Size.

Because you’re not so large, you’re not so beaurocratic, and decision are easily and quickly made and implemented. That means any ideas staff may have can quickly make their way to the top (partner level) and, if deemed to have merit, be implemented.

In some cases it could be a case that a staff member suggests on a Wednesday to a partner ‘why don’t we do that like this…’ and by Friday it becomes the new ‘best practice’ within the firm.

In other cases a simple suggestion here or there could also have a financial reward if implemented.
An i-tunes gift certificate for $25 isn’t going to break the bank, and is sure to be appreciated by your younger staff members.

The biggest ‘bang for the buck’ though, comes from creating the right environment, both physically and environmentally.

For example, I have several clients who have created first class office space. They have sunk a fair chunk of change into their premises and furnishings because they know that they need to create the right atmosphere, not just for clients who see reception, the partners office and maybe a meeting room once a year, but also for staff who spend eight or more hours there a day, every day. This shows the team that their comfort and enjoyment of their surroundings is important to the firm and I can almost guarantee that they do slightly better work as a result. Pride in the workplace creates pride in the work.

Pride in the work creates a stellar reputation in the marketplace, and that gets around to other potential employees.
The root of low morale at the office is almost exclusively set by partners. Who is first to arrive, last to leave and works the most weekends? If this sounds like a partner (or group of partners) at your firm, they’re probably inadvertently lowering morale.

Partners need to set an example to today’s work force. It’s okay to leave at five! Get a life! Enjoy yourself! These things need to be built into the very fabric of the firm, and that has to come from the top.

Back in the day, when I was a freshman in a small accounting firm, it was frowned upon if anyone left the office before 6.30pm. It was just the way it was, we had to ‘earn our stripes’ if we wanted to move up, and that meant putting in the hours.

Today’s workforce is different. They are willing to work hard while they’re there, but they don’t want to be there much beyond 5pm.

That’s why we get so many resumes from people at the big firms, where the word ‘sweatshop’ is still revered as the billable hour remains sacrosanct.

We live in a world that has permanently changed. The rules of diminishing returns are more important than ever. So if someone is still working at 11pm, and they’ve been there since 7.30am, do you really believe that the quality of the work they did in their last hour is of the same level of those first few hours? Come on, get real.

I now see CA firms with pool tables, ‘field trips’ (to clients premises prior to starting an audit – or just a day at the Zoo), birthday parties, social events, charity poker events and more. Ask yourself this simple question: ‘What is the cost of a fun event for the firm and how does that compare to the saved cost of using a head-hunting firm to find one less replacement in the coming year due to a higher retention rate?’ Then it starts to become a no-brainer.

Have fun at work, let people catch you having fun, and encourage others to do the same. Inject some fun into your marketing materials, your web site and your day to day activities. Then you might see turnover reduced, replacement costs reduced, client satisfaction levels raised and, dare I say it, firm profitability increased, as there is direct correlation between all factors.

Give it some thought and try to come up with some ideas for injecting some fun into the office. I’ll see you next time, when we’ll look at getting students through the exam process.

© MFA Group Inc, 2008