We know that hiring and retaining staff is a huge struggle for many businesses right now, not just in the accounting industry. In short, what employees want is work-life balance, flexibility and a healthy company-culture. Our most recent podcast guest, Jill Christensen is impassioned about helping companies build the right culture for attracting and retaining employees.
Jill is a former Fortune 500 Corporate Communications business executive with a Six Sigma Green Belt, Jill understands how organizations operate, and what they need to do differently to engage employees. Her book, If Not You, Who?, is a global best-seller, and her popular weekly blog was named a Top 100 Corporate Blog alongside of Apple and Microsoft.
When we recorded a couple of months ago, we dove into the nitty gritty of what is making employees quit and what is keeping you from hiring the right staff. I’ll give you a hint, money isn’t the big driver, a lack of flexibility is. Many employees want to work remotely, still want collaboration and they want to trust the leadership team. When the needs of your employees are met, your customers are better served and you do in fact make more money.
We focus a lot of our content for PGA and course work for APA around the premise of work-life balance. We want you to enjoy working in your accounting firm. A big part of that is modeling healthy work habits for your staff to create a culture that encourages productivity. Helping business owners create that right culture and work satisfaction is something we discuss in detail in this episode of Accountants’ Flight Plan Podcast. To quote Jill, “Work smarter, not harder”.
You can watch the podcast here or listen on the player below.
Notable moments from the podcast:
1:40- Introduction
4:40- Defining an engaged employee vs. a disengaged employee
11:50- How to engage remote workers
19:40- What Jill is noticing about Accounting Firms
23:50- How to prevent employee burnout
28:50- What do employees want
30:00- What the data says about employee satisfaction and revenue growth
32:00- Nothing to do with the money
35:00-Book recommendations
39:30- Jill’s life lesson
You can reach Jill at: jill@jillchristensenintl.com
PS – Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 other ways we can help:
- SellerFAQ: Answers to the questions sellers are asking. From practice value, to timing, we’ve got you covered.
- Strategic Guide to Selling your CPA Practice Video: The how-to of selling a CPA firm.
- Accounting Practice Academy: If you’re looking for benchmarks, our 8-week workshop has a community of established firm owners that will help you get perspective, reduce your owner hours, and raise your bottom line. email ibrennan@poegroupadvisors.com with “APA” and we will fill you in on the details.
- If you want to chat about your exit strategy, email bball@poegroupadvisors.com with “strategy call” or request a call here.
