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Interviewing stakes are highest when the candidate is a lateral partner. This makes the quality of the interview critical. Here are some key issues and questions organized by the prospective role of the lateral partner candidate. Client Service Partner Partners in this role make up the overwhelming majority of the partner group in all firms.…
Building talent from the bottom up is a persistent challenge for accounting and advisory firms. We get the question all the time: “How can we accelerate staff from hours-based compliance work, to being able to deliver real value to clients?” Paradoxically, many Millennials ask the same question in reverse: “How can I quickly develop the…
Several years ago, we ran a series of staff focus groups for a professional services firm that was struggling to engage its staff. It wasn’t a sweatshop by any means. The culture was best described as: (1) high on accountability — aka measurement, (2) driven by utilization — aka hours, and (3) heavily crediting tenure…
When interviewing experienced staff, the key is to understand their behaviors in the context of their experience. Here are three examples of good questions to help you do this. As you read them, you’ll notice that the questions are actually statements rather than true questions. They are open-ended — making the candidate think and synthesize…
Many accounting & advisory firms have programs that give bonuses to staff for sourcing candidates for open positions. In some cases, these programs are highly successful, in many they are not. What makes the difference? The answer is culture. The companies that do this well begin the process before staff join the firm. During recruiting…
Most Accounting & Advisory firms were founded by managing partners who were great rainmakers, developing a disproportionate part of the firm’s new business. Some of these legends are still in place. Most have been succeeded by future generations of managing partners who are heavily involved in firm management, particularly for firms that have reached a…
January is “mentoring” month, the perfect time to begin or renew a mentoring relationship for mentors and proteges alike. Here’s a tip on how to make mentoring work best: tie it to experiential learning. Mentors can do many things — helping their proteges secure experiential learning opportunities and get the most out of them…
Why do larger accounting & advisory firms grow faster organically than mid-size firms? Believe it or not, the main reason is how they develop their managers and their partner admission standards. Back in the 1980s when Big 8 firms first started hiring lateral talent, they applied a new standard: asking lateral senior managers to…
In many ways, entry level interviews present the greatest challenge. Here are a few reasons: The candidates have little or no work experience on which to base probing questions The interviewer needs to strongly sell the firm to candidates who have limited perspective on different firm cultures The generational difference between interviewer and candidate can…
“It’s the staff, stupid”, to use Clinton-like lingo to get to the point. Our clients universally sub-optimize on their greatest asset, their people. Let’s review the elements of a great staff program for the accounting & advisory industry: 1. A strong mission statement and employee value proposition linked to the statement. The specifics will differ…