opportunity needs to be available to everyone.
by liz gold
in from success to significance: the radical cpa guide
though it is slowly changing, most accounting firms are traditional in the sense that they are still owned and managed by white, baby boomer-aged men wearing nice suits and ties. it’s been the go-to standard for decades. slowly, i would argue, more hoodies and hip sneakers are taking over the suits, as is common in startup culture, but this obviously depends on the firm and its customers.
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and while technology may be changing at the speed of light, firm processes are getting more streamlined and even more firms are looking to value pricing because they just understand the limitations of timesheets, change also needs to be happening from a talent and business development perspective.
a diverse staff leads to diverse clients.
a more diverse client base results in more challenging work, higher profits and long-term growth.
recognizing and making decisions upon this connection can help tackle the seemingly insurmountable challenge of succession planning as well as the staffing shortage that just seems to get worse.
but first, let me say this. accounting firm veterans, the profession’s legacy partners (a majority of whom are older white men), come with historical, institutional knowledge that cannot be replaced or duplicated. they’ve lived through decades upon decades of change, and many have made it through the ups and downs successfully. many have compelling stories and insight to share.
talking about diversity and difference and inclusion does not erase that.
after all, they’ve built great and memorable companies and shared what they know (even if the feedback is hard to hear, they often have good points). many of them have helped countless people grow and prosper at all stages in their careers, and have served as excellent mentors to people of all ages and genders.
but they, like all of us, are not without their biases and blind spots. and many aren’t even aware of them. how could they be? it’s hard to know what we are not familiar with or don’t understand – especially if it’s never been on our radar before. and when you’ve been living large in a boys’ club, let’s be real, you can feel resistant to letting others in.
we need legacy partners to come forward and fight the good fight. in fact, while there is a grace in knowing when to retire, like jen wilson of convergence coaching said, the other side of that is, if the old guys aren’t ready to go, train them in the new ways!
“baby boomers are not ready to retire,” said tamika cody, former managing editor of accounting today. “they are saying, ‘i want to do more and my organization pushed me out. i want to stay and consult.’ the industry heads aren’t going to train the old guys, so offer the necessary technology training, and let them tell you they don’t need anything else.”
i agree. put the old guys to work.
however, with the caveat that the world is changing. and the legacy leaders in the accounting world must change, too. where to start? consider the following:
- check your influence. take stock of how much space you take up in a meeting, how your energy shifts the dynamics of a room, how people’s engagement changes when you are “just sitting in on” a meeting.
- share your power. you have a lot of it. and your decision-making impacts other people. delegate what you can. empower others to take ownership. give others prime opportunities.
- watch the jokes. language and how we talk to each other in the workplace has changed – not only because it’s “politically correct,” but because you want to be respectful and you don’t always know who’s in the room listening.
- acknowledge that your intention might not always match your impact. and people might not always want your help or input.
- be ready to be challenged on your ideas.
- be generous with your time and expertise: ask your employees where they want to go with their careers and how you can help get them there.
- know when it’s time to let go of something you’ve been doing for like, forever. pass it on. teach it to someone new and watch them make it their own.
- listen and ask questions! really hear what people are telling you (and be aware of what they are not telling you). be okay with not knowing all the latest of everything. humility goes a long way.
makes sense, right?
what i’m talking about – and what the radical cpa brand is all about – is that the traditional accounting firm culture comprises a social capital and political system that needs to transform, making room for others to emerge, innovate and lead. some people will need to move over, some people need to pull more people up, but one thing’s for sure: opportunity needs to be available to everyone, and there must be a new culture of respect in which people learn from each other. acceptance of difference needs to be part of the equation. and for all of this to be truly successful (and, frankly, less painful), we need our legacy partners to be champions in this cause.
breaking it down
more than a decade ago, when i first joined the editorial team at accounting today and started working the beat, i didn’t know what to expect. but i quickly realized that despite the profession being conservative, and finding the homogeneousness of managing partners stifling, i was seeing this undercurrent of women and people of color (poc) and young people emerging. at least, i was looking for them. i knew it then and i know it now: this new demographic with a passion for accounting as the common denominator would be the future.
and it is.
however, i can’t speak for everyone. i can just tell you what i’ve seen and what i’ve experienced. i have my own blind spots. and the truth is, people of color might beg to differ.
according to cody, many people of color don’t see others like them in midsized accounting firms; many still get overlooked for jobs even though they have all the top-notch qualifications and skills and outstanding resumes.
is that happening in your firm?
when you talk about diversity and inclusion, you must break it down. you may say you have diversity in your firm, but what population is diverse?
according to rhodes perry of rhodes perry consulting, a global strategic management firm helping executives build lgbtq+ diverse and inclusive workplace cultures, “it’s likely that your frontline staff, or your entry-level staff positions are where you have the most diversity.” but as perry pointed out and what rings true in many accounting firms, as you travel up the hierarchy, it becomes more reflective of the dominant baby boomer culture – and in most instances, it means whiter and more male the higher you go.
perry added that inclusion happens when you stitch employees into the most important parts of the organization – in leadership positions – and you are actively engaging them through committee responsibilities, where they can share their ideas and use them for strategic decision-making. this leads to innovation and higher levels of performance … not to mention an increase in the bottom line.
but why is being intentional about this important?
let’s look at some stats. eighty-five percent of professional staff at cpa firms are white, according to the aicpa’s 2015 report, “trends in the supply of accounting graduates and the demand for public accounting recruits.” the same survey reports that 31 percent of new hires in 2013-2014 were women of color. half of people of color do not feel obliged to stay at their current firm, according to the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission’s 2014 national aggregate report of accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services, “job patterns for minorities and women in private industry.” according to the 2015 accounting move project report, women are 47 percent of all professional staff at cpa firms, but make up just 22 percent of partners and principals. it is getting better, albeit slowly: the percentage of women on management committees is growing, to 23 percent in 2015, up from 17 percent in 2011.
the aicpa is working on improving those numbers. it posted a statement articulating the business case for diversity and inclusion on its website, and it introduced its national commission on diversity & inclusion in september 2012.
“one of the focuses of the group has been shifting the understanding of why diversity and inclusion is important,” said kimberly ellison-taylor, cpa, cgma, and global accounting strategy director for the financial and professional services industries for oracle america. “it’s more than the right thing to do; it’s a business imperative with the shifts in the u.s. demographics and rise in entrepreneurial capital among minorities. as the business case continues to crystalize and become more of a reality around the country, the conversation around diversity and inclusion shifts from ‘why’ to ‘how.’”
ellison-taylor, who is the first female african-american chairman of aicpa’s board of directors, pointed to several resources from the aicpa that can help this endeavor. there’s the accounting inclusion maturity model, a tool designed to help firms determine where they are in their efforts and what it would take to get them to where they want to be. there’s a recruitment and retention toolkit that provides firms with step-by-step actions on attracting, recruiting and retaining diverse talent, while addressing topics such as creating a culture of inclusion and unconscious bias.
“if a firm would like to engage a more diverse workforce, they need to show up where they grow up, meaning they should ensure their leaders and their company brand are familiar to diverse talent,” ellison-taylor said. “this can be achieved by spending quality time on campuses, clubs and organizations where diverse talent is being groomed for the profession.”