don’t fire that staffer on may 18!

four reasons not to let people go after tax season.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: i am planning on letting go of some staff after tax season and will hire replacements at a higher level. any suggestions?

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answer: 1) your implication is that you will hire replacements at a higher level.

i do not like that. i like hiring out of school and training internally. i’ve written about this many times and shared my ideas ad infinitum and will not repeat that here since you can search back to previous q&as (or read my 30:30 training method book).

2) you said you will hire and then fire, so you will not be short-staffed, but expect to not be as busy until september, so you might end up letting the staff go before you get the replacements. if you are really not that busy then why not wait until the end of summer to hire the replacements?

3) based on what we discussed, your reasons for letting the staff go look like you did not fully evaluate their entire performance. one of the reasons you gave is that they are not growing and are dead-ended. i also previously dealt with the reasons for staff maxing out, but here are some additional things to consider.

• did you look at their entire work load and see how many clients they are handling and how often these clients call them instead of you with routine questions?
• did you notice whether the staff person passes on to you difficult questions and lets you know about changes in the clients’ lives and situations?
• if they are the first line of contact for almost everything and keep you informed and understand their limitations, you might have a more valuable employee than you realize.
• that staff person may not be growing, but might be helping you maintain your book of clients at a low cost since you only need to get involved when something important arises, and to review the work and occasionally make corrections.
• also they might be great at following through on open items and always available to speak or meet with clients, always get their work done on time without extensions and have a high degree of trust with the client.
• keep in mind that with that staff person gone, you or your partners will be getting those clients’ phone calls.
• this person might be able to train and supervise someone under them and while they might not be growing as technical accountants, they might be doing a great job as client contact people and those skills could be growing. not everyone is cut out to be a top tax expert.
• the “not growing” staff person might be a go-to person for their peers. this has a value and that value has been shown by the other staff whose jobs are made better because of this person.

4) a firm has to have many seats filled. not everyone needs to be great in everything. you should also consider this when scheduling staff. good management is playing staff to their strengths and shielding them from their weaknesses. be a good manager!

posted on april 12, 2021