Every firm is different. They come in different sizes, have different niches, processes, and cultures. But one common theme affecting nearly every accounting firm right now is staffing and burnout. The past two years have put enormous pressure on our team members. And while demand for our expertise is soaring, it’s a struggle to hire and hold onto enough talent to serve them.
For that reason, many firm leaders are putting business development plans on the back burner and focusing on their staff this year. If you’re doing the same, here are three ways to better serve your team in 2022.
Conduct stay interviews
Don’t wait until people quit to find out why they’re unhappy. Instead, conduct stay interviews to learn what you can do to make them happy.
At Boomer Consulting, supervisors hold quarterly meetings with staff members to discuss their goals, what went well in the past quarter and identify any opportunities and challenges coming up. This quarter, our Talent Team provided supervisors with stay interview questions to ask at the meetings.
Here are the questions we asked our team members. Feel free to use or adapt them to fit your firm.
Why do you choose to stay?
As we kick off 2022, what do you want to focus on as a stretch goal or project?
Do you feel like you’re using your strengths in your current role?
How would you like to use your strengths in the future?
How do you plan to continue your professional growth to help you achieve your short- and long-term goals?
What can we do to support you in your career?
What motivates you?
After you hold stay interviews, supervisors should meet as a team to review answers, look for common themes, and plan to do something with that information. You probably won’t be able to address every issue immediately, but go back to your staff and let them know how you plan to address the top three.
Evaluate your growth strategies
When we think about growth in a CPA firm, we usually think about bringing in new clients. But adding new clients can put additional strain on an already stressed-out workforce.
You don’t have to put all your marketing and business development strategies on hold. Instead, look for ways to maximize what you already have.
Your firm likely has many clients who are only utilizing one service. Can you package and price your services in a way that will grow your revenue without bringing on more clients? For example, you might add accounting and advisory services to a business tax client, sell wealth management services to an individual tax client, or sell strategic planning to an assurance client.
While you’re thinking about growing revenues from your existing clients, it’s helpful to identify your ideal clients. The ideal client profile will vary from firm to firm, but it generally includes clients who see you as a resource. What can you do to develop or bring in more ideal clients? When your client base is made up of ideal clients, that’s an environment in which your staff can thrive.
Optimize processes and technology
Inefficient processes and technology eat up your team members’ time and bring frustration to their jobs. For example, if you have too many applications that don’t talk to one another, people waste time on redundant data entry. If different offices use different solutions, it’s impossible to share resources or projects across the firm.
Start thinking about how you can better leverage your existing technology or upgrade to something that will work better for your team. Each touchpoint you eliminate will benefit your team, reduce their workload, and improve the employee experience.
There is no finish line for this initiative. Serving your people is an ongoing journey that will change as your team and their needs change. This busy season may be a challenge, but if you focus on serving your team, you’ll ultimately create a positive change in the long run.
Is your firm ready to stop wasting time on inconsistent and bloated processes?
Boomer Process Consulting can help you create a lasting process improvement strategy that frees up the capacity to deliver higher-value services to your clients. Schedule a discovery call today to start seeing real results.
As the Solutions Manager for Boomer Consulting, Inc., Deanna works to help clients and prospective clients identify their dangers, opportunities and strengths. Once these are identified, she works to develop a personalized game plan for their firm to focus on the area, or areas, they need to improve on most. These areas are critical to a firm’s success and future-readiness; Leadership, Talent, Technology, Process and Growth.