Are You An Employable Employer?

The other day I received a survey question via email and the premise was a simple one.  The question read “What one change do you recommend that firms undertake to make their CPA firm culture more engaging and attractive to the next generation leader?

Since we have a fairly narrow focus at this company consulting almost exclusively on myriad succession issues, I sort of viewed the inquiry as incomplete – meaning there probably is no one thing that can make a company more enticing to work for and remain with, but rather I think it would be more like a series.

Oh sure, some perks, benefits and work initiatives will be more important to some than others in terms of ranking, but can anyone really recommend one  universal thing that will help line the halls outside your HR office with hopeful applicants? 

As I near the proverbial back nine of my working life (and here’s hoping there’s still some good holes to play!) and my eldest daughter is just beginning her post-college journey in the corporate world, I often wonder what type of company I would enjoy working for and thriving under and what would be important to me today?

So I turned the clock back 25 years (too bad I still didn’t have hair!) and remembered what it was like. Unfortunately.

My first company had a designated smoking room with stained acoustic tiles, no females in executive posts of any meaning, staffed more vice presidents who were way past their AARP expiration date than salespeople (despite being an advertising-driven revenue model), possessed no voice mail capabilities as all phone messages were collected by an elderly receptionist whose teacup by 3 p.m. was liberally spiked with Old Bushmills and boasted an office décor of bright orange carpet and yellow desktops.

Not exactly a recruiting model for a Millennial.

Can you imagine if this is how Google began? Do you think they would have been getting nearly 2 million applicants annually?

I know this sounds unthinkable today, but looking back it wasn’t all that long ago that the above-cited climate was more the norm than the exception.

So I went to the source and asked my daughter who incidentally just began her first real job and asked her what she wanted to see in the workplace.

Since her career is still in its infancy, I didn’t expect her to discuss business development or corporate strategies but the her first response, was “to see people my age who seem happy to be there.”

Her second thought was working on an IT system that has kept pace with the 21^st century and her last and perhaps most poignant was “to keep me busy and involved.”

In all, not terribly complex demands, but I’m still amazed basics such as these still elude many firms as well as thousands of other companies outside the accounting space.

By the way, she gets $10 a day for lunch and free parking.

That doesn’t hurt as well.