NPAG Accounting Talent Strategy Report: Recommendation #5 – Enhance the Employee Experience
The National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG) has released its Accounting Talent Strategy Report, sharing the results of months of research and feedback on how to improve the accounting talent pipeline. This series of six articles presents a brief overview of the recommendations outlined in the report.
In today’s business climate, accounting students and professionals at all experience levels are able to be more selective in their career and employment choices. To continue to attract and retain talented employees in the accounting profession, NPAG recommends that employers work to enhance the employee experience, taking into consideration several cultural and business model changes.
Increase Starting Salaries
In both of NPAG’s studies, increasing starting salaries was the most agreed-upon solution for improving the accounting pipeline. In its report, NPAG recommends that employers examine their starting salaries and cooperate to raise them to at or above market rates compared to competing professions. NPAG also recommends that employers consider increased pay transparency at higher levels in their firms and organizations so talent can understand the potential as they advance in their careers.
Transform the Employment Experience
NPAG stresses that employers need to comprehensively transform the employment experience to both attract new team members and retain existing ones.
In its report, NPAG recommends the following six strategic areas for employers to focus on as outlined by the Harvard Business Review:
- Incentivizing loyalty
- Providing growth opportunities
- Elevating organizational purpose
- Prioritizing culture and relationships
- Investing in the well-being of employees and their families
- Embracing flexibility
Reduce Overload
Respondents to the student and professional NPAG surveys regarded greater flexibility in work hours and location and more manageable workloads as among the most highly effective strategies in encouraging young people to decide on an accounting career.
The report goes into detail on six ways employers can provide their employees with an improved work-life balance:
- Increasing the flexibility provided
- Reducing client/customer loads and trimming client bases
- Investing in nontraditional talent strategies
- Improving scheduling and capacity functions
- Investing in increased technology
- Increasing fees/prices
Enhance Career Progression
NPAG also suggests that employers highlight the opportunities for career advancement within their organizations. In its report, NPAG cites research from the Illinois CPA Society’s study, Righting Retention: A Look Into the Accounting Profession's Greatest Management Challenge, to illustrate how more work can be done in this area. In the research, over 67% of employees said they view "career advancement paths and opportunities" as one of the most attractive benefits in an employer. In contrast, 48% of employers said they do not communicate defined advancement paths for employees or do not know if they do. NPAG recommends employers find ways to call attention to the career pathways available in the organization for each employee and the advancement opportunities available in the organization overall.
Define and Live Your Culture
NPAG’s next recommendation is for employers to define their organizational culture, including tangible and aspirational elements. When the culture has been identified and documented, the organization should make certain its values are incorporated into its strategies, processes and procedures. NPAG notes that one issue making an impact on culture in the profession is the uncertainty due to operating model changes. NPAG recommends that employers be as transparent as possible with employees about organizational plans related to ownership structure to help mitigate any uncertainty.
Build a DEIB Culture
The final recommendation NPAG provides in this area is for employers to commit to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) at the organizational level. NPAG suggests that employers take the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge and study the collaboration's database of nearly 2,000 actionable insights detailed by other employers.
More Information
For a summary of key ideas related to this topic, download NPAG’s Accounting Employer Checklist. To read the full Accounting Talent Strategy Report, visit https://www.accountingpipeline.org.