plus what they mean for partners.
by martin bissett
passport to partnership
ultimately, when we have to interact with clients, subordinates, superiors or peers, the questions are always the same: who do i need to deliver this information to and what approach would they respond most favorably to?
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in arriving at “communication” we come to the most intangible of all the components to obtain a “passport to partnership.”
in the research, which is ongoing and evolving, communication is the term given in the study to where partners look for senior managers to demonstrate that they can do two things with existing client relationships:
- increase loyalty to the firm through client service and demonstrated empathy.
- increase fees through a greater understanding of the client’s business and related challenges/needs.
previous “c” headings are common sense and most with a management position within an accounting firm would be able to guess them correctly; but with communication we have another example of where common sense doesn’t seem to widely translate into common application.
why is that?
well, the feedback indicates that the top reasons why senior managers, who have access to client relationships, struggle to achieve the two criteria above are:
- a fear of upsetting the client.
- a fear of providing poor advice.
- a lack of business development knowhow.
- a belief that it is not their place to get involved in anything beyond the technical aspects of the engagement.
it is illuminating that the same partners who look for the demonstration of these skills from managers also have managers in their firms who fear doing so. does this provide the firm with a training opportunity or a leadership opportunity – or both?
it would be unfortunate and ironic if a lack of communication internally between partners and managers led to a lack of communication externally with clients and managers.
these are of course general findings, however, and each firm’s culture will set a different precedent.
the true takeaway from this third “c” is to underline for senior managers and would-be partners what it can actually take to realize their career goals.
overcoming the fear of making a mistake and implementing simple relationship-building skills can accelerate a manager’s push to join the firm’s elite.