Substantial growth in business for professional accountancy firms is forcing the sector to review its approach to recruitment.
Public practice accountancy firms (the big four and their smaller counterparts) have been struggling on the recruitment front for a while as a result of trainee cutbacks in recent, less buoyant years. Now - with increasing competition from commerce and industry, along with heightened regulation implications – professional practice firms really need to up their recruitment game if they are to start attracting the right calibre of employee.
The situation regarding recruitment of accountants in commerce and industry is not so negative. Commerce and industry recruiters have led the way, responding swiftly to the apparent famine of good candidates. They are proactive, commercial and driven in their approach. Career paths for employees are mapped out, training and development is rife, and employers think about the advice they provide in context with both the current and future needs of staff. The result is accountants who are much more focused, dynamic and commercial than ever before. Consequently, many accountancy recruits are attracted to positions in commerce and industry over and above those in public practice.
Also worrying is that accountants who do already work in public practice find it hard to move out of it, struggling to demonstrate they can transfer their skills into a commercial environment. This has led to a lot of movement within the profession itself – 50% of which is possibly unnecessary and arguably unhealthy too.
So how are public practice accountancy firms responding? It seems to vary across the market but few are ramping things up to the levels of commerce and industry. Firms need to attract good hires, keep and develop current employees whilst also making their environment better than the competition’s. Public practice accountancy firms need to modernise if they’re going to flourish.
Recruitment is a never ending process and needs to continue even when you have a full complement of staff. Talking to and understanding your existing employees is as crucial as hiring new ones. No one should be surprised when someone hands in their notice. Rather than sitting quietly hoping someone won’t leave because they’ll be hard to replace, ask them the difficult questions. Take the answer on the chin and see if you can turn things around. Far better to know what’s about to happen than be caught unawares at the worst time. Start the recruitment process and keep it moving. Act on candidate CVs immediately. Maintain their interest. Look at your firm from the outside. Values and culture are important. Talk to your employees. Canvass their opinion. Discuss the competition. Develop an approach to recruitment and retention that is more inclusive. Map career paths, look at options and guide people through the process from day one to the day they eventually leave. Accept that the majority of people will leave and you need to have maximised their potential before they go.
Professional practice accountancy is a remarkable sector with exciting opportunities that can last a lifetime. It is changing though and needs to make more of an effort to update and enhance its image. As long as individual firms are competing effectively in the recruitment market, movement will only ever be for the better.
For further information, contact Don Aitken (pictured) at Sewell Moorhouse - an independent and specialised accounting, financial and administrative recruitment consultancy based in Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster.
ACCOUNTANCY PROFESSION LOOKS TO CLEAN UP ITS RECRUITMENT ACT