What Staff Wants
Source: Journal of Accountancy
The AICPA Private Company Practices Section surveyed highly talented staff members about their job attitudes. It also surveyed partners about the same.
The main reasons staff join a firm, in order of importance, are:
- Growth opportunities.
- Paid time off.
- Compensation.
- Respect for the firm’s mission statement.
Partners responded as follows:
- Compensation.
- Medical benefits.
- Paid time off.
- Growth opportunities.
Similar responses were given by both sides on why staff stays with the firm. Respect for the firm’s mission statement moved to number one on staff responses and to number three on partner responses.
Although both staff and partners placed high importance on growth opportunities, most CPA firms do not have leadership development, career professional, or partner training programs.
The article also presents a number of interviews with staff from low-turnover firms about their initiatives:
Plante & Moran, Southfield, Michigan—Determine the firm’s values and goals and develop policies to support them. Make sure staff understands each succeeding step in their career paths.
Schoenfeld Mendelsohn Goldfarb, Woodbury, New York—Survey staff to find out what incentives motivate them to work toward firm goals.
Lattimore, Black, Morgan & Cain, Brentwood, Tennessee—Develop training programs appropriate for each staff level. Partners at smaller firms can do this in brainstorming sessions.
Other tips include:
- Share financial information with staff.
- Support flexible work schedules even if many staff don’t take advantage of them.
- Seek engagements that shift work away from busy season (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley work).
- Use staff satisfaction surveys.
- Use staff input when making hiring decisions.
- Treat staff like you treat recruits—social events help them develop a sense of belonging.
- Use spontaneous bonuses, company credit cards, loans for the CPA exam, etc.
- Run competitions for innovative ideas, with monetary rewards going to the winners.
From Journal of Accountancy, November 2006, http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/joahome.htm. For the complete article, click on the following link: http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/nov2006/dennis.htm.
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