Insights:
- Brand drives recruitment; keeping LinkedIn updated and sharing employee stories can turn staff into brand advocates.
- Fostering discussion through employee surveys, regular catchups, and development opportunities is vital for retaining talent.
- Internships, returning staff and sponsorships offer innovative alternatives to traditional job advertising.
Finding the right talent remains a challenge for the accounting and advisory industries, with high demand and a limited supply.
CPA Australia and CAANZ have estimated that more than 10,000 new accountants per year are required until 2026 to meet domestic demand.1
The shift to remote work, shorter weeks and the great resignation in 2021 following Covid-19, have all contributed to a competitive marketplace for good talent, highlighting the need for different approaches to attract the right people.
Resourcing experts including HUB24 Group Head of Talent Acquisition, Lorraine Carr, Grant Thornton Partner, John McInerney, and TOA Global Founder and CEO, Nick Sinclair, participated in a session at the recent Class Ignite conference to discuss how accounting practices might deal with this challenge.
Brand is important when recruiting
Carr understands the importance of brand in recruiting, having worked for two years with Class to help promote the business to the right candidates.
While her own positive recruitment experience with Class motivated her to join the company, she noted it was difficult to find out any information about employees during her research on the company.
To change this, Carr conducted a LinkedIn audit, ensuring Class’ LinkedIn pages were up to date with company names and photos. She said LinkedIn was an important source of information for candidates and can often be their first impression of a brand.
“People buy people,” she said. Carr also set about sharing people stories, conducting ‘stay’ interviews or interviews with existing Class team members about what they liked about the business and sharing them internally.
“By selling stay interviews to people, your employees can advocate for you. It also shows you are hiring for the cultural values piece rather than just technical.” said Carr.
Following this work, Class received a 20% uplift in referrals and applications doubled for new roles. Further, the quality of applicants was higher.
The importance of investing in people and planning
Annual performance reviews are essential for employee retention, regardless of business size. Providing people with a reason why they should be part of the team and paying them the best money your business can afford, will also help it attract the best talent.
“If you want good talent, you need a reason for them to join,” said Sinclair.
The experts agreed annual engagement surveys are a great way to show your business what you are doing that is working and what could be done better, and feedback from this process can also be fed into the remuneration model.
For more granular information, Grant Thornton uses six-week coffee check ins to catch up on work and non-work-related issues. Meanwhile job review discussions at key milestones are where the business can focus on what employees are proud of, what could be done differently and how to leverage for future success.
Establishing a talent and people strategy facilitates planning to ensure employees are available when they are needed.
“A lot of the time in our space, we are looking for people after the time we need them,” said Sinclair, who suggested the ‘pray and spray’ technique often used in job searches is unlikely to deliver the right resources or when you need them.
“If you don’t have a strategy, you won’t be attracting who you need in two-or three-years’ time.” said Sinclair.
Emerging trends in resourcing
In May this year, Grant Thornton made a nine-day fortnight permanent to support employee wellbeing. This entitled employees to a half or full day’s leave if they met their productivity targets and deliverables.
While over 80% of employees report improved wellbeing, managing the process comes with challenges, particularly balancing equality between high and lower performers.
“High performers need to take time to recharge but the challenge is to get them to take a break,” said McInerney.
Another area of focus for Grant Thornton has been learning and development, where the business established an online platform for on demand learning.
While the shift to remote work has made it more challenging for some businesses to resource adequately, according to Sinclair “if you are an attractive business, you will always attract good people.”
But he said it is important to offer career progress and to “cater for all sized career dreams”, not just those of the owner.
Alternative sources of talent
Internships and people returning to work after some time away, can be alternative avenues for recruitment and deliver great benefits to a business.
Class launched its intern program three years ago, employing university students for two days a week. Carr says many have moved into graduate positions because they feel invested in and can see the potential in staying at Class.
With 74% of employees leaving within 18 months due to limited career progression, offering interns flexibility, development opportunities, and a clear career path is crucial.
In 2022 after the business experienced the great resignation, Class embarked on a 12-week mentoring program, partnering with Engineering Australia to identify ‘STEM returners’ or those who had worked in STEM roles but had been out of the workforce on leave for the past few years.
“This was a great retention strategy with a 100% success rate,” said Carr.
Another resourcing opportunity for Class was extended to the more than 1,250 Irish Charted Accountants who were part of the 20,000 working holiday visa programs. While they arrive with a six-month working visa, this can be extended with an employer sponsor program.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this document is provided by Class Pty Ltd ABN 70 116 8023 058 (Class), which is a subsidiary of HUB24 Limited (HUB24) and is current as at the date of publication. It is factual information only and is not intended to be financial product advice, legal advice or tax advice, and should not be relied upon as such. This information is general in nature and may omit detail that could be significant to your particular circumstances. Accordingly, before acting on any of this information, the viewer should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to their or their clients’ objectives, financial situation and needs. This information is provided in good faith and derived from sources believed to be accurate and current at the date of publication. The information given in this document is in summary form and does not purport to be complete. While reasonable care has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publishing, superannuation and tax legislation and circumstances can change from time to time. Accordingly, neither Class, nor HUB24 nor any of their related bodies corporate make any representations or warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of the information in this document and none of these entities is liable for any loss arising from reliance on this information, including reliance on information that is no longer current. We recommend that you seek appropriate professional advice before making any financial decisions.
