The AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) recently completed a national survey about the attitudes and aspirations of the most promising young accounting professionals. The 2011 PCPS Top Talent Study (available at tinyurl.com/6tygubv) suggests how firms of all sizes can hang on to top talent.
Foster a culture of trust and open access to
management. The survey reported decreased trust in firm
leadership among 40% of high-potential CPAs. This might indicate that
firm leaders did not communicate well during the recession and failed
to adequately explain key decisions. To foster better communication,
firm leaders should maintain a true opendoor policy for employees.
That’s easier at small firms, where the hierarchy is more informal,
allowing for continual interaction between staff and firm leaders. At
firms with more than 10 employees, management should hold face-to-face
meetings with high potentials at least once a year.
Make work/life balance a firm priority. The
brightest young CPAs are much more focused on successfully integrating
their professional and personal lives than their predecessors were.
High-potential CPAs rank flexible work schedules (77.5%) and
telecommuting (63.1%) as the top priorities in maintaining work/life
balance. Firms also should monitor work hours and travel time to make
sure future leaders aren’t burning out. Regardless of size, firms
should encourage staff to take vacations and address family matters
when needed.
Provide a competitive compensation package. Salary
is the top factor in retaining high-potential CPAs and the second most
important factor in attracting them, the survey found. That’s to the
advantage of large firms (those with at least 21 employees), which
usually can pay higher wages than smaller firms. Young talent also
highly values retirement plans.
Transform each engagement into a training
opportunity. Involve top young talent from start to
finish, ensuring they grasp the breadth and complexity of each
engagement. Smaller firms can assign only limited resources to each
engagement, allowing high potentials greater access to key
individuals. However, larger firms can offer unique training
opportunities by exposing most promising young talent to a broader
portfolio of clients in multiple industries. This is important because
career development ranks as the top attraction factor and No. 2
retention factor for high potentials.
Implement diversity initiatives for women and
minorities. Such programs can have a substantial effect
on attracting and retaining women and minorities by enhancing their
sense of belonging and recognition. The survey found that nonwhite
respondents are particularly interested in tuition reimbursement,
sabbatical leave, firmwide diversity initiatives, equity incentives
and a mentoring program, formal or informal. Nonwhites are 97% more
likely than whites to stay at an employer with a firmwide diversity
program and are 102% more likely to stay with a firm that offers
tuition reimbursement.
Identify emerging partners as early as possible.
With career growth high on the high potentials’ priority list, it is
important to establish a career road map with top talent. This can
help them enhance leadership and business development skills. Emerging
partners should be exposed to client retention and client development
meetings. They also should participate in networking activities,
speaking engagements and business proposals involving the acquisition
of new clients. This can be best achieved by pairing an emerging
partner with an experienced partner.
—By Yasmine El-Ramly, CPA/CITP, ( yelramly@aicpa.org ), a project manager with the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section in Durham, N.C.
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