partners: your middle managers are getting squeezed

staff just don’t feel comfortable asking for things that help their mental and physical well-being.

by seth fineberg
accountants forward

this may seem mysterious, but when it comes to ensuring job satisfaction and retaining staff, firm leaders should pay closer attention to middle management/mid-career staff and their connection to employees and the work itself, according to a survey conducted by tri-merit group co-founder randy crabtree, hb publishing & marketing company founder hank berkowitz, and myself at accountants forward.

more staffing here | more surveys and research here | more seth fineberg here

“everything about putting your people first leads to increasing the satisfaction of those who work in the profession,” says crabtree. “things like firms having your back, supporting their growth or getting to know who the people you work with are matters greatly.” he added, “when you have a good variety of work to do and find you enjoy that work, you won’t mind working the extra hours at times either.”

the survey is part of a larger initiative to determine why so many accountants are leaving the profession and how firm leaders can improve retention, prevent burnout and increase overall job satisfaction. the first phase of the survey explored how accountants work and what drives their career satisfaction through our accountants annual professional satisfaction survey.

“while there have been countless efforts to take the pulse of the accounting profession and to determine what’s causing the talent pipeline shortage, we wanted to look at it, not like recruiters and hr professionals, but like insurers and risk management professionals,” says berkowitz, who helped compile and analyze the data collected in the new survey. “in other words, could we use predictive modeling to isolate segments of the cpa profession most likely to leave and help firms identify them before they enter the ’high risk’ stages of their career?”

the first of the aforementioned standout findings showed that directors/senior managers and manager-level staff were the accountants least satisfied with their careers overall, with only 25 percent and 17 percent, respectively, saying they felt “highly satisfied” in the work. what also stood out was why they felt this way, and it’s not likely what you think.

typically, people think of accountants as overworked since they tend to work many hours, particularly during busy times of the year. nearly half (45 percent) of survey respondents say they work 60 hours a week or more during peak times of the year. however, we were surprised to learn that two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) say they are “highly satisfied” with the work they chose to do despite working long hours. conversely, most those who didn’t enjoy their work indicated as much despite working fewer hours (under 40 per week).

another common narrative is that accountants are underpaid compared to their peers in comparable careers. while other surveys show this may be the case, our survey found that only one-third of accountants (31 percent) felt underpaid. so, what is keeping the aforementioned staff unsatisfied? the drivers tend to fall into one of three buckets:

lack of support

difficult clients greatly affect employee dissatisfaction and regularly increase stress levels. accountants inherently have a difficult time saying “no” and often end up with what we refer to as “c” and “d” level clients. you know, the ones that tend to take up the majority of your time but contribute to a nominal amount of your firm’s revenue?

we asked a few questions about how firms support their staff in various ways, particularly when it comes to difficult clients, and the results were eye-opening.

• only 32 percent of respondents tell us their firm supports them with difficult clients, even if it means a loss of $$$.
• 23 percent say they’d speak to/warn clients about unacceptable behavior (i.e., verbally abusing staff).
• 11 percent will reassign staff to avoid working with difficult clients.

health and well-being.

we’re seeing more post-pandemic work flexibility and less demand for 100 percent office time, with 84 percent of our own survey respondents saying their firms allow them to work from home at least part of the time. but, the fact remains that accounting firm staff just don’t feel comfortable asking for things that help with their mental and physical well-being.

while our survey results were inconclusive about the degree to which mental and physical health issues contributed to burnout or quitting (we are hoping to get more definitive data over time), there are certain factors related to staff health and well-being you should pay to if you have any hope of retaining them.

for example, our survey found many respondents were not comfortable asking for help in the following areas:

• long-term illness or disability assistance (32 percent)
• stress management (21 percent)
• mental health (19 percent)
• burnout prevention (14 percent)

lack of culture

culture is one of those things that almost every firm leader says sets them apart. but ask staff members to describe their firm’s culture, and you won’t get much consistency, just a lot of queasiness. you may discover many things that bother employees and, over time, will cause them to feel dissatisfied, sometimes to the point of quitting.

another surprising finding is that less than half of respondents who work in pleasant (but not challenging) work environments are highly satisfied with their careers.

here are just a handful of other factors that could be a wakeup call to firm leaders when it comes to touting culture as a defining factor:

• only 43 percent said their firm is collaborative, supportive and nurturing.
• only 35 percent said their firm is diverse and inclusive.
• only 34 percent said their firm provides good professional development opportunities.
• only 33 percent say colleagues/superiors know their hobbies/passions outside of work.
• only 32 percent said there are plenty of growth opportunities for those not on a partner track.

case in point:

• 75 percent of cpas with various work responsibilities and client mix are highly satisfied with their careers.
• only 33 percent of those who lack variety in their work are highly satisfied.

the survey work is far from over. there are plenty of factors to explore on the path to figuring out and ultimately preventing accountants from leaving the profession. we hope to reveal more of our findings and build on why accountants leave and whether they are satisfied with their career move outside of accounting.

posted on september 25, 2024