four keys to being a great mentor. ten skill areas to develop. eight training best practices.
by marc rosenberg
how to bring in new partners
firms have two levels of expectations of new partners. many firms aren’t consciously aware of these alternatives, but they exist nonetheless, and they are quite different from each other.
more: it shouldn’t take so long to make partner | 16 steps to creating a partnership path | six ways new partners differ from managers | the four essentials for every new partner | tell potential partners what it takes
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expectation 1: the new partner is qualified for the job.
new partners must drive the firm by
- increasing revenue by bringing in new clients.
- retaining clients and expanding services to them.
- developing staff, helping them learn and grow.
- providing proactive, world-class service to clients.
- having the leadership skills to take over the firm from existing partners.
if new partners don’t do these things, then they don’t fully perform like partners.
expectation 2: we hope the new partner will become qualified for the job.
when they promote staff, some owners hope the new partners will magically acquire partner-level skills. but often the new partners are best suited for retaining the status quo and simply aren’t capable of driving the firm.
a few weeks before writing this, i started working with a small firm that was fortunate to have two managers meeting the requirements for partner. in the managing partner’s words: “they are rock-solid and already performing at a partner level.” this is what every firm should want!
this post is written from the following perspectives:
the firm chooses the first of the two alternatives for new partner expectations.
- staff are just as important as clients. the partners don’t just say it. they act on it.
- every generation of partner, from experienced to brand-new ones, is responsible for developing the next generation of partners.
mentoring to help staff succeed and advance
“the delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” – steven spielberg
the old-school attitude of developing staff is that they should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. partners are available to answer questions, but staff must always take the initiative.
the new-school attitude is for partners and managers to be proactive in developing staff. it should be a badge of honor (also handsomely compensated) for a partner or manager to be given credit for staff advancing under their tutelage and sponsorship.
here are the most important things that partners and managers do to perform as great mentors:
- provide a safe place for staff to vent their true feelings, to ask questions, to seek guidance, to confide in you.
- advise staff how to advance in the firm and proactively help them along the way. formal written goals should be set and monitored.
- focus on being a good listener, not a preacher or lecturer.
- mentoring must be done continuously, not just once or twice a year in formal, stiff meetings to meet a firm requirement. mentors get to know what their protégés are like outside of work as well as professionally.
performance feedback
“average players want to be left alone. good players want to be coached. great players want to be told the truth.” – doc rivers, nba basketball coach
“good employees make mistakes. great leaders allow them to.” – amy rees anderson, rees capital, managing partner
the best book on management i have ever read was written 20 years ago. “the one minute manager” by ken blanchard and spencer johnson focuses on performance feedback. it’s also about how to be a great mentor. new partners should read this book carefully and practice it every day.
here are the three secrets of “the one minute manager.” each of them takes only one minute to put into practice.
- one-minute goal setting. make it clear what the responsibilities are and what the subordinate is held accountable for. it should take no more than a minute to read each goal.
- one-minute praisings. give clear feedback on how staff are doing. praise people immediately, giving specifics. catch people doing something right. people who feel good about themselves produce good results.
- one-minute reprimands. give clear feedback on when staff do something that fails to meet expectations. be specific. give feedback that communicates unhappiness with the results; don’t attack staff personally. reassure them that you think well of them and that you value them as employees.
continuous feedback always trumps annual reviews. continuous feedback means that when a project is completed, regardless of how short or easy it may be, the staff are given immediate feedback on their performance. this way feedback is fresh and can be used by the staff to immediately improve their performance on the very next project.
most supervisors and their subordinates hate annual performance reviews. why? because (a) there often has been little or no feedback for an entire year, so when ancient history is dredged up, it surprises the subordinate; and (b) the session mostly looks back instead of forward. both parties to the review are anxious and awkward. there is a role at firms for annual reviews, but only if there is continuous feedback during the year and the review session looks forward.
the annual session should provide guidance in these areas: what does the employee need to work on? what are his or her goals for the coming year? what does the person need to do to advance?
leadership development
jack welch was the longtime, highly successful ceo of general electric. he said: “before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. when you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” the #1 factor in evaluating the performance of division presidents reporting to welch was their success at developing leaders under them, even more so than profits.
this should be the credo of all partners, including new ones.
here are the main ways cpa firms are developing their staff into leaders:
- mentoring, primarily by partners, but at larger firms managers are mentors as well.
- outside leadership development programs designed specifically for cpa firms. these programs are curriculum-based. they have multiple sessions, last from several months to two or three years and address a variety of subjects related to leadership.
- integrated with #1 and #2, staff are given client, staff and management opportunities to stretch their abilities and develop the talent to qualify for leadership positions in the firm, including partner.
effective leaders develop skills in these areas:
vision. a leader is always thinking about what the firm should be and regularly meets with other firms to share best practices.
delegation. leaders always err on the side of overdelegating to subordinates, stretching their abilities. new partners should avoid doing staff-level work. work can always be delegated, but responsibility for ensuring that the delegated work is done correctly and on time can never be delegated.
people skills. leaders treat people well and show empathy. they see people for what they can be. great leaders understand that the #1 reason staff leave firms is their relationship with the boss, so they work hard to be great bosses.
inspiration. leaders introduce excitement and enthusiasm into the firm. this goes a long way toward engaging staff in the firm, a key to retention. this way, staff look forward to coming to work each day.
conflict resolution. leaders excel at conflict management and deal with problems promptly. when there are disagreements among partners on an issue, the worst thing a new partner can do is be neutral. new partners should get into the habit of taking positions on issues and influencing others. new partners should never avoid conflicts because they are new, afraid to criticize revered senior partners or easily intimidated.
change. new partners play an important role in achieving change because their attitudes usually haven’t become hardened and resistant to change. understand what roberto goezueta, former president of coca-cola, said: “to succeed, we have to disturb the present.”
listening. paying attention to what others say 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 achieve their goals or meet expectations. good leaders hold others accountable in positive ways instead of wielding a club over their heads. equally important, good leaders are always willing to be accountable for their own performance and behavior.
communication. good communication is all about talking … clearly.
charisma is vastly overrated and rarely seen among cpa firm partners. it’s more important to be a leader with inspired standards.
make the staff’s work challenging
the aicpa has conducted numerous surveys over the years about what is most important to cpa firm staff. challenging work is always near the top of the list. (the other big ones are compensation and career growth opportunities and promotions.)
these are the things new partners and partner candidates can do to make staff’s work challenging:
- stretch the staff’s abilities. resist the temptation to retain the more complex, challenging and “fun” work for yourself and instead delegate it to staff. gradually give them more complex assignments.
- train staff to ask for more complex and challenging projects.
- there is a natural reluctance to delegate complex work to someone who lacks the skills, knowledge and experience to do the work. overcome this by taking the time to train staff to master these complex assignments.
- give your staff as much work variety as possible. this stretches their skills and helps them avoid doing the same things year after year.
- use technology, outsourcing and paraprofessionals to perform as much of the tedious work as possible.
training
the cpa profession is technically demanding. when staff join a cpa firm, they have a unique opportunity to receive excellent compensation while obtaining rigorous, continuous training in their work. new partners and partner candidates are the main providers of this training and should passionately pursue this job requirement.
here are training best practices:
- on-the-job training is the most effective form of training for cpa firm staff, especially young people. it starts with the supervisor reviewing the engagement with the team before the job begins, clarifying expectations and giving specific instructions.
- when a client project is complete, the supervisor should evaluate the performance of all team members. there should be a space on the client routing sheet for a signoff that this was done.
- work should be reviewed in a timely manner. supervisors should require the staff to make corrections themselves. making correction for them may be faster, but it won’t teach the staff anything.
- one-shot outside seminars need follow-up to be effective.
- mentors should meet with staff after they have completed an outside seminar to help put to use what they learned. the firm should assign work to the staff person in the area that the outside seminar focused on.
- after a staff person returns from an outside training seminar, he or she should be required to present the highlights in a staff meeting. there is no better way to learn something than by teaching it.
- use performance review and mentoring sessions to identify areas of future training for the person.
- build training time into client budgets. you don’t want a culture in which people avoid training younger staff because the budget doesn’t allow for it.
- lunch and learns. these are lunchtime, informal, small group sessions, often led by partners, on “business-thinking” subjects.
- the staff’s work should be performed and reviewed in the field as much possible.
recognizing and rewarding staff
one of my favorite lines from any source is from mark twain: “i can live on a good compliment two weeks with nothing else to eat.” we all know how good it feels to do something and be told we did a good job on it. people often say they don’t need this, but they are lying.
here is an excerpt from a 2013 forbes online article by meghan biro:
“people crave positive feedback and recognition when they put in extra effort. they love to be acknowledged by their leaders and peers and experience the glow that comes with knowing an achievement has been seen, appreciated and celebrated.
“financial reward is a great thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the equivalent of recognition. let’s not kid ourselves. it’s a short-term solution. neither is constant praise for average work. recognition is a key tool in developing and retaining staff for a reason: people need more than constructive feedback and positive affirmation. they need recognition of extra effort. they need to ‘feel’ it. this will always be a basic human need.”
biro continues: “an effective approach to employee recognition encompasses these key points:
- in the moment. be timely. catch people doing exemplary work and acknowledge their efforts. but don’t just knee-jerk – showing up for work on time does not count in most cases.
- appropriate in volume and scale. randomness is not your ally. recognition should match effort and results or it loses meaning.
- authentic, not automatic. you have to mean it when you give staff recognition. the human touch is so important to effective recognition.
- tied to the employee’s perception of value. monetary rewards can skew this notion of value, linking it to cash when it should be linked to appreciation of extra effort and smarts. money is appropriate much of the time, but it’s not the only – or even the most effective – motivator. treat employees as valued team members, not as numbers. most of the time it’s the best way to really recognize a valued player.”
common ways cpa firms recognize their staff
- face-to-face praise always has been and always will be the best way to recognize people.
- provide public recognition at staff meetings and other firm events.
- hand out gift certificates or other awards.
- send thoughtful notes to individuals, with copies to managing partner, personnel file, etc.
- “you’ve been working really hard. take the rest of the day off.”
- give promotions.
- award merit-based raises and bonuses.
- communicate above-average promotion potential in counseling and mentoring sessions.
- give recognition on the staffer’s anniversary of service.
- mention the person’s accomplishments in your internal newsletter.
let’s face it. cpas are trained to identify problems, to find things that are wrong. unfortunately, many firms’ cultures take on this characteristic.
their attitude is “you get feedback only if you do something wrong” or “if you don’t hear anything from me, that means you’re doing well.”
don’t let this happen on your watch!