This article originally appeared in the November 2018 edition of INSIDE Public Accounting. To subscribe to INSIDE Public Accounting Monthly click here.
Stephanie Hand likens the role of an HR director to that of an orchestra conductor.
Human resources, at its best, holds the organization together – on tempo and in harmony. The HR function must operate in sync with firm leadership while advocating for employees and managing the workforce to produce a growing, improving and profitable firm.
Some may say that’s overly ambitious for HR, but the landscape is changing. The HR director can no longer be the “office cop” that says yes to rules, structure and organization but no to new ideas. The new HR director should be an innovator, change agent, brand ambassador, psychologist, recruiter, talent developer and business strategist. In short, the HR leader should think like a CEO.
“If we’re doing it right, we’re working hand in hand with the top leaders and moving the company forward,” says Hand, the human resources partner at Omaha, Neb.-based Lutz. “I think to some degree we should all act like CEOs, just in terms of taking ownership and looking at the big picture.”
And if HR is doing its job, every employee will feel invested in the future of the firm.
Like the accounting profession itself, the role of the HR professional within it is evolving similarly. Accounting clients want help solving business problems, not just accurate numbers and check-the-box compliance reviews. Likewise, HR’s traditional tasks, while still necessary, are now in the background while moving the firm forward is the central goal.
To get a front-row look at the reinvention of HR, IPA spoke with Hand and two other HR leaders: Sarah South, chief administrative officer at Salt Lake City-based Tanner and Julie Becht, chief human resources officer at Buffalo, N.Y.-based Freed Maxick.
Today’s HR leaders must think strategically and propose solutions that help all departments and the people within them. South notes that 10 years ago, HR professionals were not considered particularly innovative, perhaps due to a reluctance to implement programs they viewed as a threat to their own jobs. Today’s HR departments use technology to streamline the mundane tasks and keep employee data secure while focusing on improving results for the organization. “Now our goals are much like the CFO’s and partners in the firm,” South says.
To be sure, data is taking on a larger role in driving decisions for HR professionals, who manage employee engagement surveys, upward evaluations, stay interviews and leadership coaching. They measure turnover, “regrettable turnover,” proposal acceptance rates, percentage of compliance versus advisory work, conversions of interns to full-time employees, and far more.
It’s difficult to perfect data collection so that it tells a meaningful story. At Tanner, for example, the firm is continually working on the best ways to determine whether cultural initiatives are working. Have increased 401(k) benefits and an open PTO policy improved culture? They’re still working on how to measure that. The story is similar at Lutz, which has grown through two mergers since early last year and is having “big conversations” about the best ways to use data. “I would love to do more with performance and growing potential leaders,” Hand says.
With staffing a perennial top concern for accounting firm leaders, HR professionals are accustomed to being under the microscope. These HR leaders agree that recruitment is their No. 1 worry and that the challenges have multiplied.
According to Becht:
- Recruiting is far more intensive and targeted now. Nurturing a prospect can take six months or more. Becht says, “Back in the day, you’d be offered a job, and you’d say, ‘Thank you, I’ll do whatever you need.’ Now it’s, ‘Thank you, this is what I need, how can you meet my needs?’” Employees today are much more willing to share information about life-changing events and how their needs outside of work need attention, she says. “HR has to be ready to provide that information.”
- Remote work and flexible hours are no longer a nice-to-have perk, but a baseline requirement to get even glancing consideration from a recruit. The old model of working 55-60 hours a week with mandatory Saturdays during business season is “out the window,” Becht says.
- HR is left to manage teams that are bound to the billable hour and accountable to clients demanding answers on the spot. Freed Maxick has a full-time scheduler to juggle the varying needs of a multi-generational work force.
- Competition is more intense than ever. Accounting firms are not only competing against each other, but against industry, which typically offers bigger starting salaries.
- Freed Maxick hires 50 to 70 people every year. Recruits expect a customized work experience, and a personalized path to success. A one-size-fits-all career trajectory no longer works.
- Recruits are seeking more frequent feedback on their performance. One result of the openness of employees is far more transparency in performance reviews. “It isn’t like the days of old, where two managers got together in a room and determined someone’s fate.” More veteran employees usually seek feedback less often.
- New hires also expect the firm to be involved in charitable work. “You can see the interest drain from a recruit’s eyes if you’re not doing anything to give back,” Becht says.
All three HR leaders say the role will continue to evolve, with an even tighter connection between people strategy and business strategy, Hand says. “You can’t just be in your own HR world.” South foresees departments composed of operational, tech-savvy data analysts in addition to recruiters and cultural champions.
Becht says, “HR is not going to be the department that puts out fires anymore. HR will be creating initiatives that enhance the lives of employees and make them better and more well-rounded professionals and not just good accountants.”
