Are Your Team Members Too Comfortable?
Source: RedZone, Play of the Month
The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Accountants Advisory Group.
Wikipedia defines the “comfort zone” as a “behavioral state within which a person operates within boundaries which create an unfounded sense of security and will tend to stay within that zone without stepping out of it. To step outside a comfort zone, a person must experiment with new and different behaviors.”
The number of partners and managers in the CPA profession who fall into the definition above has reached epidemic proportions and is at the root of succession planning problems and a significant reason for massive consolidation in the profession.
How can firm management change the culture and move “comfort zoners” towards the Red Zone (a zone in which their performance can be enhanced and their skills optimized)? Here are a few ways:
- Develop a system of accountability with key performance criteria and progressive goals and objectives at all levels of the professional ranks. Implement a performance management system that rewards for higher levels of technical and professional competencies.
- Continuously require partners and managers to delegate work and clients down the pyramid and to take on more challenging work and more complex clients. Promote creativity and innovation of client services.
- Set new business goals and objectives that require partners and managers to engage more profitable and quality clients each year. Provide them practical practice development training in the areas in which they have the most potential to succeed.
- Once the “up or out” policy became less prevalent in the CPA profession, the comfort zone culture became more pervasive. A more balanced approach to an up or out policy should be instituted to motivate professionals to attain higher levels of success.
For the complete article, read “Move Out of the Comfort Zone and Into the Red Zone.”
From RedZone, Play of the Month, Accountants Advisory Group, March 2013, http://www.accountantsadvisory.com.