{"id":83553,"date":"2021-05-02t11:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-05-02t15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=83553"},"modified":"2022-12-22t00:43:27","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22t05:43:27","slug":"assessing-your-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2021\/05\/02\/assessing-your-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"assessing your firm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"diagram\"for a true baseline, bring in a consultant.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

by anthony zecca
\nleading from the edge<\/a>
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

now that we have completed an assessment of your leadership team and your<\/strong> leadership, the third leg is assessing the overall performance of the firm. this assessment, coupled with the assessment of the leadership team and your<\/strong> leadership, provides a strong foundation upon which to build the roadmap (strategies) for moving the firm from where it is today to a standout, high-performing firm. the underlying objective for this assessment of the firm is to have a factual basis for establishing a myth-free and accurate baseline of the firm by analyzing a number of key characteristics.<\/p>\n

more on edge leadership: <\/b>assessing your firm<\/a> | the 4 traits of great cpa leaders<\/a> | why leaders must ensure clarity<\/a> | incremental vs. exceptional success<\/a> | do you lead or just manage?<\/a> | managing vs. leading<\/a> | is your leadership team at the edge?<\/a> | 6 leadership challenges through covid and beyond<\/a> | edge leaders share 7 strengths<\/a> | leadership must drive culture<\/a> | leading from the edge<\/a>
\n\"goprocpa.com\"exclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

what are the major areas of focus for the firm assessment? in center-led firms, the assessment of how well the firm is doing is generally focused around financial metrics. how much profit did we make? what was our growth? what was the change in average partner compensation? what profit percentage to revenue did we achieve?
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\nthese are all good metrics for firms to evaluate and understand the results. however, in edge-led firms, the edge leader expands beyond the financial assessment to include more impactful measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cthe achievements of an organization are the result of the combined effort of each individual.\u201d \u2013 vince lombardi<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

as stated before, edge leaders see financial performance as a result and not a cause. below are the seven key filters (characteristics) that should be used in the assessment of the firm\u2019s performance.
\neach filter is explained below with various questions that should form the basis of the assessment. based on your firm, the questions might be different.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. culture \u2013 vision, mission and core values<\/strong> \u2013 is the firm\u2019s performance successfully reflecting the vision, mission and core values of the firm as well as the long-term objectives defined by leadership and shared by everyone in the firm?<\/li>\n
  2. strategic <\/strong>\u2013 are the strategies that are the backbone of the firm\u2019s strategic plan delivering on the intended results, and are all layers of the firm supporting and driving the execution of each strategy?<\/li>\n
  3. talent<\/strong> \u2013 how talented and skilled are the individuals in the firm? does every team member work as a team member to advance the success of the team and the firm? does the entire team reflect the values and culture of the firm? does every member of the team, client-facing or internal, understand and focus on the client and delivering value every single day to their team, to the firm and to the client? how effective are the recruiting and retention processes?<\/li>\n
  4. client service delivery<\/strong> \u2013 is client service delivery optimized, value-based and focused on the needs of the client (current and future), resulting in strong client retention, high net promoter score (nps) and strong cross-selling of services? does the firm receive referrals from clients at a level it should?<\/li>\n
  5. business development\/marketing<\/strong> \u2013 how effective are the business development and marketing models in terms of generating new client opportunities, and how good are the firm\u2019s sales process and win percentage? is the firm\u2019s brand recognition where it needs to be? is the firm seen as supportive of its broader community responsibilities? are all partners involved at an appropriate level?<\/li>\n
  6. financial<\/strong> \u2013 are the firm\u2019s financial results across all key metrics at or above projections and within the range of the top-performing firms? what were the drivers of success or shortcomings?<\/li>\n
  7. organization<\/strong> \u2013 how effectively are the systems, processes, and policies operating? are the firm\u2019s financial, practice management, it, operational and hr reporting comprehensive, timely, accurate and reflective of what all layers of the firm need to make effective decisions?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    although the above seven filters are what i recommend, there are a few things to consider. first, the point values assigned to each (see scoring model below) should reflect the relative importance of each filter to the overall performance of the firm. in the above example, culture is the most critical followed by strategy execution, talent, etc. the specific filters and the target point value should be established by the leadership team at the beginning of the year. secondly, although i did not compute a weighted average score in the graphic below, a weighted average score might be more beneficial again depending on the firm\u2019s specific facts and circumstances.<\/p>\n

    the leadership team needs to drive this assessment with objectivity and with a process that is unbiased and myth-free. to create this objectivity, i highly recommend that the firm retain an experienced consultant to perform the assessment and report findings to the leadership team. it is difficult to perform this assessment internally, because there are too many myths, perceptions and assumptions that would creep in, making the assessment more subjective than it should be, and therefore creating a false baseline. with a false baseline, the future roadmap will be flawed, and the long-term strategic objectives never fully realized.<\/p>\n

    i suggest that a scoring model similar to the one below be utilized to provide an assessment score that you can then evaluate against a maximum target score to see how the firm is operating against its target. the model i recommend is based on a target score of 85, broken down as follows:<\/p>\n