In today’s market, where hiring a CPA, Tax Manager or other experienced position has become more challenging – the interview has become something that both the interviewee, and the practice owner need to ace!
The aspect of hiring that this article addresses is presuming you have a great candidate in front of you, how can you distinguish yourself from the other practice owners your prime candidate is also meeting with? Many think salary will do it, but in talking with hundreds of applicants, that is not what we are hearing from the majority! And in those cases, where salary and benefits is the primary motive, the prospects of it being a longterm relationship are not too bright, as chances are they will move for a few thousand dollars more.
First thing we recommend is to ask yourself what are the selling points of the position and of your practice? Why should someone want your position? If the only or main thing you can think of is that you will pay them, then it won’t be surprising that you attract the type of person who is just looking for dollars. But in most cases, you will have a lot more to offer – in terms of – office morale/team spirit, great clients to interact with, continuing education to allow for career growth, upward mobility, etc. These are the factors, that when surveyed, applicants have told us are more important to them, in choosing their next position, than salary. Hopefully, all these selling points were well explained in your ad to attract the right type of person in the first place.
Also, take a look at your office from the point of view of an applicant walking into it, and getting a first impression of you and your operation. Is it kept clean? Does it look inviting? Are there papers all over your office and desk making it appear like an unorganized business?
In addition, we recommend being willing to share your vision and your goals, even as early as the interview. Don’t think of it as premature, or needing to get to know the applicant better first, because it is information that a good applicant will need to make a decision. Given two or more choices, where often salary is similar - which position are they more likely to take - the one that painted a bright picture of the future of the practice and the goals for expansion or the one that did not? You only get one shot at the interview!
Presuming you ace the interview and the applicant accepts the position, there is still a probation period, not only for the applicant, but also for the owner. The first few weeks in particular will be the most risky in terms of retention, as applicants will often have other offers from interviews they did around the same time as yours. So, I would recommend making sure that when you did the above assessment of your selling points, if you identified any staff morale or other issues, that we make it a priority to get those resolved or implement a plan to resolve.
Examples of such issues are a practice where the following occurs:
- The owner is completely inaccessible for questions
- A team member is rude to others, and has never been handled on this
- The owner is disorganized and doesn’t return emails or calls etc. Let’s not tempt the applicant to take that other Offer he gets a week or two after accepting yours.
There are always situations, where no matter what you did, that applicant would not have worked out, but the point here is to make sure we are giving it every chance and not sabotaging our success by not having our ship in order. We can lament the days when there were lots of applicants, happy to be offered a job - but that is living in the past.
Of course, the above, does not constitute all of the hiring process. There is also the due diligence part, to ensure that the applicant lives up to your expectations, key questions to ask in the interview etc. However, the purpose of this article is to focus on the situation where you have a great applicant and to highlight some areas you can control, to ensure it’s your practice they choose.
Ciara MacMahon
Author Bio: Having worked with accounting practices since 1998, and prior to that working as an attorney in a set-up, very similar to a CPA practice, Ciara MacMahon, CEO of Phase Two Management Consulting, has successfully boosted revenues of accounting practices by 3 – 4X, while allowing the owner to take more time out of the practice. Accounting practice owners are faced with endless deadlines and the challenges of managing workflow, finding the right staff, staff training as well as securing the acquisition of quality new clients! They are also often tasked with the not too pleasant responsibility of imparting bad news regarding taxes due, that the unprepared client is unhappy enough about, to oftentimes ‘shoot the messenger’!
As no two practices are the same and each owner has his own vision for what he/she wants, the first step is a Planning Session to work out the owner’s goals and a strategy to obtain them, in the fastest time period, and for the highest return. To schedule your one on one complimentary practice analysis and consultation, email Ciara MacMahon at consultantciara@gmail.com today. www.PhaseTwoManagement.com