Dealing With Four Generations in the CPA Firm

Source: The CPA Journal

Characterizing the generations:

Traditionalists
Traditionalists work long hours, place work ahead of leisure, are deferential toward superiors, and tend to be conventional. They often devote their entire careers to one employer.

Baby Boomers
Baby boomer couples are more likely to have dual careers. They work hard, believe in personal development, and expect gender equality. They are not as deferential toward superiors as traditionalists and prefer more informal organizational hierarchies. Known as members of the “Me Generation,” they tend not to have long-term relationships—either personally or professionally. Most expect to work, at least part time, beyond retirement age.

Generation X
Generation Xers are trying to make changes. They place family ahead of work and believe in education and freedom from authority. They are not particularly loyal to employers. They are highly confident and tend to develop strong niche skills that they make available wherever their personal requirements are best served.

Generation Y
Members of generation Y are also known as millennials, echo boomers, and the Internet generation. They believe in diversity of races, gender, and lifestyles. They are comfortable with computer technology and multi-tasking, and are focused on quick results, high-quality work, and working fast. Professional development is important. They expect flexible work arrangements, including telecommuting. Leaves of absence for having children are critical. In short, they place unusual demands on employers.

Each generation has been less respectful of structure in the work place, but all believe in hard work and longer hours. Not surprisingly, it is becoming more difficult to balance longer work hours with personal life. In the CPA profession, this is a major contributor to exits from public accounting.

Advantages of a Flexible Work Program

• Helps recruit young staff.
• Helps retain people through staged retirement plans.
• Increased retention and job satisfaction.
• Less burnout.
• Allows a wider geographic area for recruiting staff.
• Makes it easier to deal with seasonal increased hours.
• Clients find professionals are available to them more hours.
• Less office space required.

Flexible work arrangements should promote and support success in professional as well as personal lives. Productivity, not hours of work, should be rewarded. Employee participation in running the firm should be encouraged. The right tools must be provided.

Examples and advice on developing model programs can be found at www.aarp.org, www.familiesandwork.org and www.aicpa.org.

To read other articles on this subject from our archives, click on any of the following links:

From The CPA Journal, A Publication of the New York State Society of CPAs, February 2007, http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/toc/toc207.htm. For the complete article select the article: Meeting the Challenges of Age Diversity in the Workplace.