The Parallel Paths of Career and Firm Success: Jennifer Wilson Explains How Young CPAs and Their Employers Can Build a Future Together
There has never been a better time to be a young, up-and-coming CPA. An estimated 78 million Baby Boomers are expected to retire in the next 12 to 15 years, with 100,000 CPAs projected to be among them. That will leave the next generation of CPA leaders with boundless opportunities for career advancement in fields ranging from public accounting and business and industry to government, education, and not-for-profits. In public accounting, the managers, senior managers, and principals I meet are passionate about their careers, but many don't know what it takes to reach the partner level. That's because many young CPAs don't understand the career paths available to them. And while firm leaders value their up-and-comers' ability and ambition, most do not provide a clearly defined path to partner. It doesn't have to be that way Young CPAs can ask themselves and their leaders a series of challenging questions that clarify their career objectives, help them discover their gifts and shortcomings, and define the specific support they need to realize career success. CPA firms can differentiate themselves from their competitors by proactively providing clear answers to the most pressing questions posed by their most promising young CPAs. THE PATH TO PARTNER The brightest young CPAs are valuable because they rise above their peers in initiative, intention, and investment, The most talented young CPAs are driven to seek the next level in their careers, and they won't hesitate to pursue their goals with another employer if their firm isn't ready to answer questions about their career path. The AICPRs most recent study of the profession's rising stars, The 2011 PCPS Top Talent Study (available at iinyurl.oom/ 049t4w5), found that when the best and brightest young CPAs are considering whether to stay with their current employer, their top two priorities are compensation and career growth opportunities. Firms that fail to provide those opportunities risk seeing their most valuable people leave to seek meaningful career growth and financial opportunities elsewhere. Accounting firms and young CPA leaders must recognize that their paths to firm and individual success run along parallel lines and that both sides benefit when they align their objectives and long-range planning. The best way to do this is for firms and young leaders to engage in path-to-partner discussions. Both sides need to be prepared for these meetings. Young CPAs must understand where they want to go in their careers (see the sidebar "Self-Discovery Questions') and what their individual strengths and areas for improvement are (see the sidebar "Management Support Questions"). Firm leaders, whether in a partner group or management committee, should document answers to the most important questions that young CPAs will ask. The firm should date the documented answers and revise them at least once a year, because the answers will change as market and firm conditions shift. PARTNERSHIP AND PROMOTION QUESTIONS To help retain their young stars, firms need to have answers at the ready for the following partnership and promotion questions: 1. What do you see as my future with the firm? 2. What do you expect the timing of my admission to partner to be? 3. What specific deliverables or results do I need to produce to be a candidate for partner and by when? (Note: For guidance in answering this question, see "Do You Have What It Takes to Become a Partner?" CPA Insider, July 30, 2012, at tinyurl.com/ cf3cqwd.) 4. How do I stack up compared to others I might perceive to also be in the queue? For instance, do you see me leapfrogging or bypassing others whom you may have "parked" at a level beside or above me? (Firms should not expect their people to know this. If firms have people who seem to be in line to make partner ahead of the top young talent, the top talent may wrongly assume they have a long wait ahead of them. …