One of the most vexing challenges for CPA firms large and small is how to effectively welcome women into the ranks of partnership. Graduation statistics and workforce demographics confirm that future new hires will most likely be composed of a majority of females. Not only does this impact the number of candidates for partnership, but it also has important implications for the gender of the firm¾

Most firms pay lip service to welcoming females as managers and partners, yet structural impediments often exist that undermine this objective when it comes to partnership.

One of our clients was dismayed when a valued female partner abruptly left for another firm. We conducted an exit interview and learned that the new firm was closer to the partner's home. With school-age children, a reduced commute was most attractive. Yet no one believed that this factor alone would cause a long-term employee and partner to leave - particularly without even attempting to negotiate alternate employment terms.

The exit interview revealed that as an incoming partner at the new firm, she was able to negotiate favorable compensation terms that better fit the commitment she was willing (and able) to make to the firm at that point in her career. This factor started to paint a more understandable picture of how an otherwise happy partner decided to leave.

Our subsequent retention analysis showed the need for 17 key policy changes if there was to be a genuine commitment to a more flexible and inclusive workplace, including updating antiquated rules, such as prohibiting the removal of any client file from the office, and blanket limitations on remote access to the firm's network. The partners almost immediately made these suggested changes.

Our experience, however, has identified subtle messages to prospective female partners that run much deeper than employment policies. When a promising female partner candidate was asked if she planned to spend the rest of her career at the firm, she responded: "Not if I ever intend to have a family."

This hinted that the issue ran much deeper than office location or employee handbook policies. Our consulting work has identified that the real culprit is often the compensation system. If billable or chargeable hours are king, and no accommodation is made for periods when females (or any employee) cannot raise a family (or care for aging parents) while billing the same number of hours, then the problem will not be resolved.

The fact is that many attributes make an excellent firm partner. If the goal is to build a firm that is sustainable in the long term, billing hours may not always be as important as controlling work, acquiring work, client relations, mentoring junior staff, developing new processes and other valuable activities. Most accounting firm senior-level compensation systems remain heavily (if not exclusively) weighted on chargeable hours, and the underlying culture really supports nothing else.

TONE AT THE TOP

• 1
• |
• 2
• |
• next