Featured Article - The "Best Practices" Series for Today's Leading Firms

In this Edition - Staffing and Management

By Jennifer L. Katrulya, CPA, CEO - Business Management Resource Group, LLC

Advanced Certified QuickBooks® ProAdvisor
Certified Enterprise Solutions® Consultant
Certified QuickBooks Point of Sale® Consultant
Participant in Intuit's Solution Provider Program
Accountant and Advisor Customer Council for Intuit, Inc. – Program Participant 2008-2009, 2009-2010
Member of the Intuit Accounting Professionals Trainer and Writer Network

Positioning Your Firm to be the "Employer of Choice" for the Industry's Top Talent

On a weekly basis I have the incredible opportunity to work with CPA firms of all sizes that want to achieve unprecedented success using today's leading hosted and SaaS applications. The size and structure of the firm can often play a large role in determining how we will work together, what areas of the firm we will focus on first, and the resources that are available to address solutions. However, there is one area that we find firms of all sizes struggle with in many similar ways and want to address early on as far as establishing or improving their "Best Practices". That area of course is staffing and management.

With so much pressure on firms to accomplish more with less and with fierce competition in the industry with regard to hiring, compensating, motivating and retaining high performing staff, employers need to be able to take advantage of every opportunity they have to differentiate themselves as being a "ideal place to work," to maximize productivity and efficiencies, and to produce results.

Since the subject of staffing and management can be overwhelming when firms try to determine how they would "turn the ship" from their existing structure to something new, I generally recommend that the CPA firms we work with approach this process as if the firm were just being started today, did not have any staff, and with the sense that the "sky is the limit" as far as the options for structuring how the firm hires, compensates, motivates and retains a high performance staff.

The specific staffing and management areas we target and the solutions we create are specific to each firm. However, we do find that they are some key solutions that can provide fast and significant results for almost every firm that wants to inspire its staff, encourage and reward ideas and productivity, and provide more flexible work arrangements.

Form an Employee Advisory Committee Talent

As business owners and managers, you know who the top performers are on your staff. If you are not sure, then it's my hope that you will take some of the tips mentioned here as a starting point and take steps in your firm to begin gathering that information. In order to move any firm forward, the key to success is keeping track of how you found those employees so that you have a clear sense of where to commit your resources as you search for new staff in the future. As or more important is finding out what makes those top performers so successful, what motivates them to go the extra mile time and again to succeed, and what you need to do as a company to ensure you retain them for the long term.

One of the easiest ways to get this critical information is to ask! We have found one of the most successful approaches to this is to form an Employee Advisory Committee. Depending on the size of the firm, we have seen Advisory Committees that started with 2 employees and some that started with 15 employees. If your firm has a staff of 10 or less, we do think it's a great idea to involve all of them in the process at least initially so that you get a well rounded range of feedback. For larger companies we suggest announcing a company-wide application process where staff of all levels can apply to be a part of the firm's Committee. Carefully explain the purpose of the Committee, the goals, the commitment that is expected from each participant, and then both the application and selection process. As part of the application process you want to ask them for suggestions about improvements that could be made in various areas of the firm, ask for points of constructive criticism/feedback, and potentially ask other questions that will give you a wealth of information even before you've formed the Committee itself. Some of the most important things to consider as you select your Committee members are:

Your most valuable members will be those that will contribute openly and even those that may initially have more constructive criticism to share than positive feedback. Remember that you are looking for an honest team that will help you to drive long term success and growth. This means addressing that constructive criticism openly as part of the Committee discussions. You do not want a room full only of members who will say that the company is perfect, they love their jobs, and would not change a thing. Every company has ongoing room for improvement, and the ones best positioned for success will embrace opportunities to hear about it and act on the feedback they receive.
It is ideal to select employees that range from entry level to senior management. Your entry level staff members are often dealing with the "in the trenches" processes and procedures of your company, and will provide feedback, suggestions and other information that is only available to them in a day to day "hands on" way. Mid-level, advancing staff may have been excellent producers that are now being asked to manage staff for the first time, manage firm budgets and realizations, and other things "beyond themselves" that they did not need to manage before. This is a critical "growing pain" stage for any firm that can impact staff retention not only at this level but for the positions that report to it, and also impact the quality of the support these positions provide to the senior managers (or other staff levels) they report to. Your senior members of course will bring to the table their years of technical and management expertise, but may be surprised to find out how much they will learn about emerging technology solutions, the needs of the "next generation" of professionals, about staff morale and other key points from the other members of the Committee. Each level of staff will likely have different "touch points" with firm clients, so they will also have different types of client feedback and suggestions to share that will shed light on ways the firm can improve client fulfillment processes and communication.

Your new Committee will provide you with feedback and ideas that could not be obtained through any other process. During the last portion of each meeting, we recommend that you review the key "takeaway" points from the discussion, and agree on a series of action steps to be taken in the weeks that follow so that the results can be reported at the next meeting, and new goals can be set. Some action plans may take several meetings to fully complete, so interim updates keep everyone informed and keep energy around the ideas.

Leverage Your Champions to Maximize Results

The most successful firms are those that know how to leverage their staff to maximize results. A frequent challenge is encouraging managers at all levels to delegate projects and other work to supporting staff in order to free themselves up so that their time really is spent on the right work and the right level of involvement. With the increased shift toward building "Best Practice" firms using integrated technologies and streamlined workflow solutions, it has never been easier to involve more levels of staff in the process, and to recognize new leaders to help move the firm forward.

As you begin to implement new technology solutions in your firm, you will quickly begin to see which members of your staff rise to the challenge and excel both in terms of their behaviors and their actual work performance. One of the most powerful ways you can engage and reward those employees is to give them even more opportunities to evolve as your firm champions! We do this by selecting a "specialist" or small team of "specialists" to work with each of our key technology solution providers. This includes our software hosting provider, the software vendors that we work with, and the other key relationships that have become such a core part of our daily operations. These selected employees are given the time to work directly with the vendors to become "experts" in that solution. They are then identified as the employee or team responsible for helping to design the training programs for new firm staff and for our clients. They take the lead in resolving "help desk" issues for both our internal employees and for our clients, and they provide ongoing training to our employees as new releases are introduced, as they learn new "tips and tricks" to help us work more efficiently, and as they see new opportunities for growth. This has taken a huge burden off of our senior level staff who can manage and review the ongoing work, but who do not need to be involved in each of these steps.

Finally! Real Opportunities for Flexible Work Arrangements at all Levels

Some of the most common questions that I am asked when interviewing potential new employees or when I am working with clients who are addressing their staffing practices are related to flexible work arrangements as part of a position. This is also an area that I am most excited about, as I think it provides almost limitless opportunities for both the company and the staff. As a company, the ability to provide these flexible work arrangements can be a major factor a potential new employee considers when making a career decision or that impacts the ability to retain top-performing, long-term staff. In addition, designing the company in a way that offers flexible work arrangements has the added benefit of addressing a plan for how staff will work in cases of inclement weather, the potential for hiring employees in other geographic areas, and a number of other important points. For growing companies, flexible work arrangements that involve varied levels of telecommuting, shared work arrangements, non-traditional scheduling and other options for employees can also help by altering the schedules that employees need to work in the office and reducing the need for "brick and mortar" office space with a full-time desk for every person.

There are a number of things any company should consider when designing a flexible work structure:

Address the processes for communication, management, and ongoing monitoring/review in advance. Working with staff in a remote setting or when flexible schedules have been created can be a challenge for managers who are accustomed to being able to physically sit with staff to review work, monitor productivity by "peeking in the office door," or delegate work Monday through Friday during "standard" business hours. A set weekly meeting schedule with detailed accountability at all levels can help create a smooth ongoing process to ensure ongoing timely and accurate completion of work.
"Home Office" work environment requirements – develop a list of "minimum standards" each employee must be able to meet in order to qualify for a flexible work arrangement that includes telecommuting part-time or full-time. This list might include:

Redundant or "back-up" Internet connection options. If you have a staff member working remotely their main "lifeline" is the internet. It is important to ensure that if their primary source of Internet access is down for any reason, that there will be a "secondary" option in place. For example, if an employee is generally connected to the Internet through their cable provider, a secondary DSL plan would be an option.
Minimum computer system requirements – processing speed, memory, operating system, dual monitors, and/or other computer requirements may be critical in order for your staff to be able to successfully work with your hosted and SaaS applications. Ensuring that they meet these requirements can be key to a successful telecommuting arrangement. Many companies have started to offer equipment leasing options for employees as a way to support employees who need to upgrade their home equipment in order to meet the minimum requirements.
A specific space in the home that can be dedicated to work and will not have ongoing interference from family members, pets, or other use not related to work.

Voice over IP (VOIP) telephone system – a VOIP telephone system structure can yield incredible benefits for a growing company. Using a high quality service provider is critical to success with a VOIP system in order to ensure the sound quality of calls. The advantages to a VOIP system are almost endless. The system can be integrated with many leading CRM software solutions, staff "extensions" can be routed/forwarded easily to one or more locations to accommodate staff who may work from the office some days, and then from a cellular or home phone or even from their computer on other days. For administrative teams that answer the phones and route calls there are significant opportunities to provide both flexible staffing and disaster planning solutions since the right system will allow administrative staff to answer calls from anywhere and route those calls to remote locations.

While in the past these points may have been areas companies considered only for senior level staff, it has become incredibly important to consider for staff at all levels. As an example, during this winter season many companies were faced with record snowfall, or record rain, and other side-effects of extreme and unexpected weather. However, because our staff are equipped to work from home with the same technology they would have in the office, 100% of our staff were able to work "normal" days in each instance, our phones were answered by our administrative staff just as they would be on any "normal" day, and we were able to keep our staff working safely from home. The billing that a firm can lose in just one "closed due to weather" day can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost billing, not to mention an immediate backlog of work and unhappy clients.

Win through Communication and Recognition

There has never been a better time to be in business in terms of the flexibility today's leading technology solutions can provide both for the company itself and for companies seeking to provide the optimal mix of opportunities and flexibilities for employees. At the same time, business and people are moving faster than ever, so it's easy to forget that what may seem like "little things" still matter most. Finding consistent, ongoing ways to communicate as a company is more critical than ever. In an environment often run by email, text messages, file sharing and remote work, it is still critical that employees feel they are a part of a team and that they are managed by someone or a group of people that care about them as individuals. As firms are updating their "Best Practices" for staffing and management that take into account these new opportunities and challenges, fostering an environment of open communication and frequent recognition can mean the different between poor, average, or "home run" results. Managers need ongoing training and development to help provide them with the skills and resources they need to recognize both large and small accomplishments achieved by their in-house and remote staff, and ensure that they provide very clear and frequent rewards when they are earned. This will help build a team with high morale, that is inspired to continue reaching new goals, and that feels appreciated for their efforts. It will also foster an environment of continued open communication and respect. Some simple and inexpensive ways to acknowledge employee accomplishments and/or ongoing positive efforts may include:

A simple email blast to a company distribution list acknowledging the accomplishment
Movie passes or dinner gift certificates to great local places. Our local theater sells movie gift packs that contain coupons for 2 movies, and movie snacks. I keep several of them in my desk at all times so that I can hand them out quickly and easily when an employee gets positive feedback from a client or other firm relationship, when they come up with a new idea that leads to an improvement in our company, or any number of other things that I want to acknowledge
Paid birthdays off
Monthly company lunches to support anyone with an "employment anniversary" that month
Conference/education budget – when staff complete certification programs for software applications, go "above and beyond" to independently improve their skills, as their billing realizations improve, or based on number of other possible scenarios, staff will earn "credits" toward their conference/education budget. As they accumulate credits in their budget, they can trade those credits in toward attendance at a number of conferences, educational classes or other events during the year
For remote staff, an emailed gift certificate is an easy and quick solution. We often use a website that will send a "Super Certificate®" that the recipient can trade in for any number of gift cards or other options.
Ask your staff! When a new hire joins our company, we ask them for their "Top 5 Rewards" under $100. It is amazing to see how different the answers can be! By taking the time to customize the rewards for different employees when possible, it gives the employee an even greater sense of being acknowledged on a personal level with very little additional work involved.

The most important step you'll take as a firm is the first one! Start by finding the people in your company that share your commitment to growth and success that includes embracing today's technology solutions, and schedule your first (or next) strategic planning meeting. Don't be afraid to seek guidance from people you know or from industry leaders who can help. You don't have to do it alone!