thirty ways that firms are developing staff into partners.
by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset
“before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. when you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – jack welch
“good employees make mistakes. great leaders let them.” – anonymous
we are probably the millionth people to form a list of important leadership qualities, but we want to share what we have learned from working with cpa firms for over 20 years.
more: eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management | what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
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many of these traits are geared to partners and firm management, but many apply to staff as well.
vision: a leader is always thinking about what the firm should be and regularly meets with other firms to share best practices. good leaders embrace change.
delegation: leaders should not be burdened with heavy client responsibility and administration. they need to have the mental focus to create the time to manage a cpa firm well.
people skills: treat people well; show empathy. leaders see people for what they can be, for their potential. great leaders understand that the no. 1 reason staff leave firms is a poor relationship with the boss, so they work hard to be great bosses.
inspiration: introduce excitement and enthusiasm into the firm. this goes a long way toward engaging staff in the firm, a key to retention. you want staff to look forward to coming to work each day.
conflict resolution: excel at conflict management; deal with problems promptly.
change: facilitate change and overcome resistance to it. stubbornly clinging to the old ways guarantees defeat. understand the words of roberto goezueta, former president of coca-cola: “to succeed, we have to disturb the present.”
listening: listening is the first act of respect and mutual support.
accountability: unless there are consequences when people fail to do what is expected of them, they will be less likely to meet expectations. good leaders hold others accountable in positive ways instead of holding a club over their heads.
leadership development: leaders grow the people to lead the organization before the current leaders are gone.
communication: good communication is all about talking and writing … clearly.
the cpa firm is a business, not a practice
cpa firms are businesses and should be run as such. embrace the corporate, not the partnership, governance model.
says tony kendall, managing partner of mitchell and titus: “i can’t manage this firm if i have to take a vote every time i want to make a decision.”
charisma is vastly overrated; it’s more important to be a leader with inspired standards.
what firms are doing to develop staff into partners
leadership development practices
- proactive participation in the firm’s mentoring program and/or informal coaching
- extensive experience supervising staff on engagements, starting with seniors
- staff review the performance of other staff who work with them on their engagements.
- staff sit in on high-level client meetings to observe partner conduct, even if their time can’t be billed.
- staff prepare the agendas for these meetings and prepare the minutes afterward.
- turn clients over to staff with complete responsibility.
- staff draft client billing and assist with collections.
- staff develop skills at managing multiple client projects at the same time.
- develop written smart goals with deadlines; hold staff accountable for meeting them.
- staff accompany partners on sales calls.
- staff prepare engagement letters and proposals.
- pursue specialties, carving out a reputation for being the go-to person for something.
- get staff involved with client consulting.
- invite those managers who are on a partner track to certain portions of partner meetings and retreats. share firm financials with them as appropriate.
- at an appropriate level, explain to staff what it means to be a partner. cover both benefits and obligations. ask them if they want to be partners. have regular conversations with them about their interest in becoming partners.
- partners are required to delegate; they can’t opt out of leadership development.
training
- have staff attend formal outside leadership development programs that have multiple sessions.
- have staff attend high-level technical conferences to sharpen their technical skills.
- implement business development training programs; they may be part of leadership development programs or separate.
- have staff become increasingly active in business development activities.
- get the staff to review the performance of other staff or interns who work with them on their engagements.
- provide whatever training is needed to perform the most complex projects. partners should never complain that they have to do all the complex work because managers can’t do it.
firmwide career development
- create formal, written criteria for becoming partner. publicize the information to all staff.
- create formal, written core competencies for promotion to each level/position in the firm.
- identify partner-potentials. communicate your opinion to them and gauge their interest in becoming partners.
- create a non-equity partner track to ensure a good fit before people become equity partners.
interpersonal skills development
- get your staff involved in organizations to gain experience in networking.
- give them challenging assignments.
- encourage them to explore new technologies and new ways of doing things.
- let them make mistakes.
young partners talk about their rise
at a chicago roundtable group i led, i convened a panel of three new partners from local cpa firms. all three firms were midsize, enjoyed sparkling reputations in the chicago community and were highly successful by any measure. highlights:
mr: what were the keys to becoming a partner for you?
panelist: first, earning a reputation with the partners for getting things done and being reliable. second, mentoring i received from older partners was critical to advancing in the firm. third, establishing solid relationships with clients. this enabled me to win clients’ trust as well as that of the partners.
mr: what are some techniques your mentors used to help you learn and grow?
panelist: although we are improving at it, none of us made our mark by being rainmakers. but our partners did two things to help us along. first, they understood that it’s easier to grow a book of business if you have one to begin with. partners delegated clients to us, allowing us to capitalize on our strong client relationship skills to develop more business with existing clients through expanded services and referrals.
second, when clients called the senior partners and left a message, they would forward the message to us, fill us in on the details, give us some talking points and have us return the clients’ calls.
it didn’t take long for the clients to start calling us first. the common thread was the partners were proactive in helping us advance.
mr: when did you know you were close to becoming a partner?
panelist: two things: first, we would hear it in partner meetings. the partners sang our praises. second, partners kept giving us more and more clients to manage and more complex assignments.
mr: as you observe the traits of young staff at your firms, how would you describe them?
panelist: (1) they have a lot of knowledge, (2) they constantly need rewards and encouragement, (3) they want a road map for how to get from point a to point b in their careers, (4) they are always looking for ways to use technology and go paperless, and (5) they like to communicate electronically, which unfortunately has led to (6) a reluctance to converse with clients.
leadership spotlight: jim metzler, cpa, cgma,
owner of metzler advisory group
our good friends at convergencecoaching, a consulting firm that works with cpa firms from coast to coast, publish an outstanding weekly blog that we make a point to read as often as we can.
in one post, they profiled jim metzler. he spent 32 years with buffalo-based cpa firm gaines metzler kriner and then cofounded convergencecoaching with jennifer wilson. later he served as vp of small firm interests for the aicpa. currently jim operates his own consulting firm, metzler advisory group.
convergencecoaching: what do you look for in young up-and-coming leaders?
jm: leadership for cpas has two distinct roles. the first is that cpas must lead clients through successes, challenges and new opportunities. that said, i look for up-and-coming cpas who are enthused and excited about the clients they work with.
they exhibit endless thirst to learn more about the clients and their businesses. their enthusiasm is driven by a desire to make a difference for their clients and to help them get to a place they couldn’t get to on their own. we can almost feel their eagerness to get out of the office and be with clients.
the other distinct role that up-and-coming leaders have is their participation and involvement within the firm. truly emerging leaders always volunteer to lead their firm’s community service initiatives, special projects and team-oriented activities. they are usually the same people who take the time to mentor and coach the newest recruits in the firm and are willing to give of themselves to help make their colleagues more successful.
convergencecoaching: how do you develop leadership in others?
jm: i’m deeply involved in the education of rising stars and new firm owners as part of the services of metzler advisory group. i mentor and coach an equal number of cpas and new firm owners who are not clients as well. there are many aspects to the coaching work i do, but the one theme i try to teach is how to think at a deeper level. this involves coming to grips with their own leadership strengths and weaknesses and their continuous improvement of both.
thinking, reflection and practice all add up to greater emotional maturity and accurate discernment in leadership situations.
convergencecoaching: what advice do you have for those looking to step into a leadership position in their firms?
jm: spend the time to learn more about themselves in their interactions and relationships with others, and then develop their leadership skills accordingly. the operative words here are “spend the time.” this is the achilles’ heel for cpas. who rarely set aside time for improvement of their own personal behavior and abilities.
i always advise them to set recurring, noncancellable appointments with themselves to work on leadership and personal development skills. few, if any, of us are born with high-level leadership skills, but the good news is that they can be learned and mastered.