Creating a Culture of Engagement

On any given workday, just 33% of employees are engaged in their work—a decline from 2020’s engagement rate of 36%, according to 2023 survey data from Gallup. At the other end of the scale, 17% of the United States’ workforce is actively disengaged.

“In 2023, employees in the U.S. continued to feel more detached from their employers, with less clear expectations, lower levels of satisfaction with their organization, and less connection to its mission or purpose, than they did four years ago,” a 2024 Gallup Workplace article points out. “They are also less likely to feel someone at work cares about them as a person.”

These are ominous indicators for the accounting profession, an industry where attracting and hiring skilled labor is getting harder to come by and even more difficult to retain. Add in the fact that younger generations of workers are after more than just big paychecks (think work-life balance, career advancement, purpose, diversity, etc.), the responsibility for increasing employee engagement becomes a tall order for organizational leaders. In response, many accounting and finance leaders are focusing more of their efforts on building corporate cultures that retain, nurture, and engage employees.

CULTURE’S IMPACT ON RETENTION

At Lance CPA Group, building a culture of “care and relationships” was always a top priority of its founding partner, Joshua Lance, CPA, CGMA, who passed away in 2023 following a battle with cancer. Today, this priority continues to carry on at the firm.

Samantha Aycock, the firm’s co-owner and director of strategy and growth, says although the team is 100% remote, the staff still makes time to connect through weekly group check-in calls and, when needed, sets up quarterly in-person workdays. Most recently, the firm’s team members met at a local library for four hours and then grabbed lunch afterwards.

“There was a lot of teamwork and collaboration happening in the library that day,” Aycock recalls, who also got problem-solving help from an employee during that in-person session. “We laughed so much at that meeting that my face hurt after work.” She sees those bonds as one of the firm’s biggest strengths, and says engagement and retention really comes down to cultivating strong relationships—right down to the one-on-one time that she schedules with both direct and indirect reports.

Aycock also stresses that employee retention impacts client retention, as many of the firm’s clients prefer and enjoy working with the same CPAs and support staff on a regular basis: “When firms are plagued by ‘revolving door’ syndrome, it’s nearly impossible to form those tight client bonds.”

WHAT EMPLOYEES WANT

With more than 11,000 baby boomers hitting traditional retirement age every day between now and 2027, organizations across all business sectors are looking for new ways to find, recruit, and retain skilled labor—not only to replace retiring associates, but to also support their own growth and expansion.

Kristin McGill, CAE, vice president of member experience and engagement at the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS), says not a day goes by that accounting firms aren’t thinking about retaining their best and brightest: “They know that employee turnover is happening and that keeps preventing burnout top of mind for the profession.”

Citing ICPAS’ research findings from the Insight Special Feature, “Righting Retention,” McGill says too many hours, burnout, and a lack of work-life balance are among the top reasons why accounting and finance professionals voluntarily quit their jobs. This reality opens the door for accounting firms to react and make change if they value their talent, especially if they don’t want to lose talent to competing firms that may be known for putting their employees first and having initiatives in place to improve job satisfaction.

It seems career advancement opportunities are another area where firms could be doing better, particularly since two-thirds of accounting professionals are demanding them. “It’s not just about becoming a partner,” McGill explains. “Individuals want to know what internal opportunities relevant to them exist and how they can attain them.”

Likewise, mentorship is another advancement area that associates are interested in, but many employers haven’t quite mastered it yet. “Employees are very interested in mentoring opportunities, yet roughly only half of the employers surveyed either don’t or don’t know if they communicate clearly defined advancement paths for employees, and less than half don’t or don’t know if they offer mentoring opportunities—this clearly indicates a communication issue,” McGill says.

Similarly, ICPAS found that one-third of the accounting and finance professionals they surveyed have never been asked what they value about working for a particular company, and nearly an equal percentage of employers never ask what their employees want.

“We hear a lot about ‘exit interviews,’ but by then it’s too late,” McGill says, who suggests using regular pulse or engagement surveys to open the lines of communication between leaders, managers, and other staff. These simple steps can be especially impactful with younger associates who are dividing their time between work, family, passion projects, volunteerism, and community outreach.

Better understanding employees’ goals—and then finding ways to support them—can help position CPA firms as employers of choice for both millennial and Gen Z job candidates. “It’s becoming imperative for employers to learn what resonates with their employees and then tailor some internal opportunities to meet them where they’re at,” McGill suggests.

Sirmara Campbell, chief human resources officer at LaSalle Network, is well aware of the high cost of employee turnover, particularly when those that depart are high-value workers who then must be replaced. Unlike the roughly 50% of CPA firms that don’t know someone is leaving until the exit interview, LaSalle Network has implemented what Campbell calls “stay interviews” to keep a pulse on existing employee sentiment and concerns: “I use these interviews to help reengage our workforce, especially for the employees that we really want to retain.”

During these interviews, Campbell says she sits down with all staff members that are anywhere from three to five years into their careers with the organization to ensure they’re still learning, happy with their positions, and feeling supported by their managers.

INVESTING IN EMPLOYEE WELLNESS

In addition to regularly checking in with employees, Campbell also points to the importance of mental health, as she understands just how demanding the accounting and finance field can be (especially during the many busy seasons). She encourages employers to view mental health as the whole of an employee’s overall health. Regular meditation sessions, midday workouts, and one-on-one walks with managers and employees are just some of the healthy practices that Campbell’s firm encourages.

“In this field, there’s always going to be that period of ‘hustle time,’ and there’s not much we can do about that,” Campbell says. “However, if you can find a few minutes for your employees to take a break—and you know that they need it—tell them to go for it.”

Aycock says that infusing fun into the workplace also supports employees’ mental health and overall wellness, as it helps them feel appreciated, recognized, and part of a results-oriented team. For example, after one particularly busy tax season wrapped up, Aycock’s firm put together a scavenger hunt that included 10 different tasks, like “take a picture of yourself wearing the company swag in your local downtown cafe” and “take a picture holding a family heirloom.” The individual with the most creative ideas won a $100 gift card to use at a local restaurant.

Additionally, Aycock’s firm places a big emphasis on self-care and offers a “perk-up program” that gives associates a monthly $50 stipend to spend on facials, massages, and other types of self-care. She says these and other initiatives go a long way in making employees feel valued, respected, and heard.

To other CPA firms looking to improve employee retention and engagement, Aycock says the best first move is to simply get started: “The sooner you start investing in your associates—even if it’s just small steps—the more it’ll help you in the long run. You never know when you’re going to lose an incredibly valuable employee because you weren’t investing in them—it’s just not worth the risk.”

Related Content:

• Culture: Your Firm’s Most Valuable Retention Tool: Empowering employees to be culture champions not only increases engagement and retention but can also foster a thriving work environment.
• Firm of Dreams: If You Build It, They Will Stay: Could your people be your firm’s greatest retention asset? Five experts share why putting people first is the key to building the firm of your dreams.