Would You Want To Work in Your Company?

A number of years ago, I interviewed for an editorial position with a business publication that covered the burgeoning field of financial technology.

My current employer at the time was housed in a nice location in midtown Manhattan, a convenient venue offset by depressing office décor including yellow desktops and an orange carpet. It was also one of the last remaining companies to have a dedicated in-house smoking room, replete with yellow-stained acoustic tiles and the constant odor of stale tobacco.

So I began looking elsewhere. 

During the interview, the woman who would ultimately be my direct report, chain smoked no less than six cigarettes, the smoke wafting in my eyes as we spoke, blurring my vision of the office layout. It was just as well. The work stations made my current employer look like the “after” makeover from HGTV and I quickly decided that I was not about to trade one depressing décor for something worse.

The good news was that less than two months later, my CEO embarked on a sweeping remodeling effort. The new desks were more of a traditional brown and a blue carpet replaced the former orange eyesore.

I dredge up this vignette because rarely a day goes by when one of our clients doesn’t bemoan that “if they just had one or two more young CPAs, their practice would vault to the next level.

Even though executive recruiting is not one of the engagements we offer, I ask them point blank – why would millennials want to work for you – do you offer something that other accounting firms do not to attract them?

And if you don’t maybe you should research some that do and see what will lure and ultimately retain what we refer to here as “the Holy Grail” of employees.

Hint: Millennials and for that matter even younger Boomers, aren’t doing cartwheels over being tethered to stuffy cubicles with push-pin walls and a glimpse of the outside only if they stand up. An atmosphere like that doesn’t exactly lend itself to high productivity.

Besides, mobile technology now allows the freedom to work anywhere, something that in 1988 I was not privy to while inhaling the errant fumes from the smoking room.

What about work-life balance, or career management – do you have flex time options, paid maternity or even paternity leave, child care resources, a wellness program  or employee assistance services?

If you checked the “no” box on any of the above, it should not be much of a mystery why you’re falling short in the recruiting and retention department.

Only CPAs old enough to still possess Perry Como records might be comfortable in an office decorated in early VFW.

Meanwhile the ones you really want will most likely be at your local Starbucks working away over a chai latte.