Welcome to 20 Days 20 Ways: Building a Better Firm!
Over the past few years, the accounting profession has found itself struggling to attract and retain top talent, and this series of short articles, which will run from now into the middle of November, will share strategies on recruiting, retention and growth from the members of Accounting Today’s 2017 Best Firms to Work For list of the 100 small, midsized and large firms with the best workplaces in the country.
The fact that it will take 20 days to share all of these highlights one key fact: There is no single silver bullet that will win the war for talent. In fact, one consistent finding from a decade’s worth of Best Firm to Work For lists is that there is a large core of policies, benefits, programs and even attitudes that firms must embrace -- without exception -- if they hope to become a workplace of choice.
This anonymous quote from an employee at PKF Texas, one of this year’s Best Midsized Firms to Work For, sums it up nicely: “The firm offers a flexible work environment, treats people as adults, trains me, feeds me, pays me well, introduces me to interesting people and challenging projects, and enjoys the best reputation of any firm in the city. What’s not to like?”
And that laundry list of expectations leaves out a few other common requirements, like providing employees up-to-date technology, looking after their physical well-being, and including them in setting the strategic direction of the firm.
For more ways to build a better firm, see:
In the next 19 days, this series will share practical ideas for making a firm more effective in all these areas and more. Whether as a checklist for firms to make sure they’re up to speed, or as a guide for factors they may need to introduce, it will prove an invaluable guide to becoming one of the Best Accounting Firms to Work For.
For more ways to create a top workplace, see
