The range of career paths available to a young accountant these days can be bewildering, and leaders at the Best Firms to Work For are recognizing this by taking a personal role in guiding their staff on an individual basis.
The buddy/mentor/coach programs at California's Windes, for instance, "enable employees to establish relationships with more experienced professionals who will assist them in achieving career objectives and reaching their fullest career potential."
These programs can take a wide range of forms and offer advice and coaching on everything from the general direction of an employee's career, to the specific shape of their path within their firm, to the skills they should be developing for the very next assignment.
So, in Arizona, firm leaders at Metz & Associates "meet with employees at regular cadences to ensure that they're clear on their professional pathway." In Texas, meanwhile, CD Bradshaw & Associates holds its monthly "Lunch Bunch" mentoring luncheon for staff with a partner, and also offers one-to-one weekly coaching with the employee's direct supervisor.
Kentucky-based Rudler's mentorship includes all employees, and covers pretty much the whole waterfront:
- Technical/leadership/soft skills;
- Matching employees to positions and service offerings with the firm;
- Individual growth;
- The steps necessary to move to the next level;
- Client responsibility;
- Managing staff; and,
- Developing referral networks.
Whatever areas the coaching or mentoring is designed to help employees with, it's critical that it be personalized, both in terms of each coach's and mentor's engagement with their respective mentee, and how it's tailored to the individual employee.
As Kansas-based Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk & Lloyd explained: "We have a program designed to help our team members reach their 'B' (goals), whether it's personal or professional. This is a relationship outside their work manager. Mentors and mentees have specialized training, on the clock."
Helping staff build successful careers is so important for recruiting and retaining top talent that we're going to dive deeper into other major aspects of it in tomorrow's entry, but the value of face-to-face, person-to-person investment in a young employee can never be overstated.
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