Thanks to the economic bust, the staffing crisis for CPA firms seems to have evaporated.
So here’s the question: Does creating a “Great Place to Work” still mean anything these days?
Steve Erickson
www.SteveEricksonLLC.com
Maintaining “a great place to work” has never been more important than it is at this time. Great professionals give outstanding service to their clients because they are fully engaged in what they are doing. They want to be where they are and serving the clients they want to serve. Professionals that are unhappy and doing what they have to do to keep a paycheck coming in are not fully engaged in the profession and do not always give great client service.
Much has been written about the “Service-Profit Chain” and how important it is to have satisfied, engaged employees to maintain outstanding client service. I think that the firms that understand this are much more competitive and effective than those firms that have a bad culture.
Sure, employees might stay while times are hard, and just as soon as the economy turns around they will be gone. But the firm that doesn’t have a great reputation will have difficulty attracting and retaining staff. In my opinion maintaining a great place to work is not only smart but also very strategic.
Steve Erickson is a nationally recognized consultant to accounting firms, specializing in partner and people issues.
