How CPA Firms are Being Smarter About Improving Productivity

By Jon Hubbard 

Director of Business Development 

Boomer Consulting, Inc.

In firms today, productivity and talent alignment aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re competitive advantages. Firms are under pressure to do more with fewer people, adapt to hybrid and remote work environments and build teams that can innovate while staying efficient.

That’s why more firm leaders turn to tools like the Kolbe Indexes and Leadership Analytics™. These solutions help firms align the expectations of partners, managers and staff, reduce stress and unlock the full potential of their teams. Here’s how.

Leadership Analytics^TM 

Leadership Analytics^TM provides customized, ready-to-implement solutions for leaders and managers by compiling results from the Kolbe A, B and C Indexes. By assessing the factors that determine a team's success, Leadership Analytics^TM helps you identify the cause of team productivity and efficiency problems and the corrective strategies to solve them. Here is some information about each index: 

Kolbe A™ Index 

A 36-question instrument designed to measure the conative faculty of the mind - the instinctive strengths that drive the way a person takes action. Index results are used in a variety of applications, including selection, retention, succession and team building. The result, called the modus operandi (MO), is the innate method of operation that enables an individual to be productive. 

Kolbe B™ Index 

A 24-question instrument that measures how a person views the functional demands of their own position. The result identifies which strengths are a natural fit for the job and how the job holder perceives the requirements for success in the role. 

Kolbe C™ Index 

A 24-question instrument that measures someone else's functional expectations of a specific position. This can be a supervisor, evaluator or peer. The results reveal how an evaluator perceives a particular job should be performed to achieve success. These are the ways the job holder is expected to take action, regardless of skills, intelligence or personality. 

As you can imagine, comparing and analyzing the results from these three indices can be an extremely helpful process that will benefit staff, leaders and the firm. The result is a comprehensive set of reports that firm leaders can use to facilitate discussions on how to maximize the productivity and efficiency of each individual in the firm. At the same time, individuals learn their strengths and the strengths of those they work closely with. 

How firms use Leadership Analytics 

Forward-thinking firms weave Leadership Analytics into their culture and see measurable benefits. Here are a few of the most impactful applications. 

Hiring the right people in a tight labor market 

Hiring is one of the biggest challenges in firms today. When multiple partners or managers have different expectations for a role, it’s easy to misalign on what success looks like. By having leaders complete the Kolbe C Index for an open position, firms can clarify those expectations up front and define a “Range of Success.” Talent leaders can then compare candidate profiles against this range, creating a data-driven hiring process that improves the odds of choosing the right fit, which is critical when every hire counts. 

Building better teams 

Project teams can’t thrive on titles alone. While it’s natural to assign people based on their roles, firms that consider Kolbe A results when forming teams often see stronger collaboration and higher quality outcomes.

A balanced team includes innovators, researchers and process-driven contributors, ensuring diverse strengths come together. This is crucial in hybrid and remote teams where thoughtful team composition can make or break a project.

Reducing strain and tension 

Strain occurs when someone’s Kolbe A results don’t align with how they perceive their job (Kolbe B). Tension arises when a supervisor’s expectations (Kolbe C) differ from how the employee naturally operates (Kolbe A). Left unaddressed, both lead to stress, disengagement and turnover. By surfacing these gaps, firms can make adjustments that reduce conflict, improve employee well-being and create a more supportive culture, which is key to retention in a competitive talent market.

Many successful firms are embedding Kolbe Wisdom™ and Leadership Analytics™ into their hiring, team-building and leadership development strategies. These tools give firms a competitive advantage by: 

• Improving collaboration and communication across the firm 

• Increasing employee engagement and retention 

• Reducing costly hiring mistakes 

• Supporting leadership development and succession planning 

• Aligning firm strategy with the natural strengths of its people 

If you feel like you’re trying to deliver more value with fewer resources, leveraging data-driven insights about how people work best is essential. The next time your firm is hiring, building a project team or preparing the next generation of leaders, consider how the Kolbe Indexes and Leadership Analytics can help you go faster and further.