A survey by consulting firm Bay Street Group, in Dobbs Ferry, New York, asked accountants to tell how they feel about their jobs. The survey included accountants in public practice and in industry. Here are their responses:

Overloaded with work	53 percent
Insufficient compensation	36 percent
Insufficient recognition	34 percent

A different survey by Bay Street Group shows 40 percent of accountants would consider changing jobs, while 11 percent love their jobs.

Finally, in another Bay Street survey, 44 percent of accountants looked forward to going to work, 32 percent do not know what their firms or clients expect from them, and 55 percent said their work load detracts from their private life.

Bruce Marcus, nationally known consultant (www.themarcusperspective.typepad.com), says the typical accounting firm is not an inviting place to job candidates. He provides these recommendations:

• Rethink compensation methods. There are many new alternatives.
• Delegate more responsibility to staff.
• Include staff names in promotional and marketing materials.
• Focus on creating better work/family balance.
• There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by communicating more information to staff. This is especially important in relation to firm goals and objectives.
• Staff should be informed about what clients expect and what the firm expects in terms of work quality.

Overly heavy work load is not necessarily related just to quantity of work. It may be caused by poor management of projects. Do you have managers who are unaware of making excessive demands on staff?

From CPA Insider, June 26, 2006 (www.cpa2biz.com). For the complete article, click on the following link: https://www.cpa2biz.com/News/Columnists/Telberg/Staff+Shortage.htm.