Flexibility is Key in Retaining High Performing Employees

KWC faces the same challenge as many firms in the accounting industry today: recruiting and then retaining quality employees. Younger employees have changing expectations with regards to workplace flexibility including the ability to maintain a work/life balance and sometimes even the ability to work remotely. Several years ago the principals of KWC realized that the best way to keep high caliber employees was to provide a more flexible workplace, which has helped the firm retain employees who have begun new families or who have spouses either relocated by the military or relocated by family commitments. Fostering this flexible workplace culture has become an integral part of the firm’s continued success.

Adapt to Meet Changing Needs

Our overall flexible culture is something that developed organically over time. We recognized the increasing number of employees, including many of our female staff members, who added great energy and value to our firm and clients but were having to choose between personal commitments and professional goals. At that point, we determined that in order to retain our talent we needed a long-term plan to meet their work/life needs. We began investing in technologies that allowed for a mobile work environment, thus enabling these valued members of our team to work remotely. Due to our cloud-based technology, all employees have access to the same software whether they are sitting in our physical office outside of Washington, DC, their home office in Bismarck, North Dakota, or a US military base in Georgia or the United Kingdom. 

It is important to note that these flexible arrangements should be geared towards employees with proven track records and who are able to work independently. When successful, this arrangement serves as a talent retention tool, allowing these employees to choose when and where work is performed in order to meet other obligations in their personal lives. We’ve found production actually goes up with our mobile employees. Working from home allows these team members to remain focused on their work and accomplish more without the distractions and interruptions that can occur in the office. These arrangements also allow employees to conveniently meet personal commitments, ultimately leading to a happier, more productive work experience.

As with all things, KWC’s movement to a more flexible workplace has not been without challenges. It can be much more difficult to develop rapport and a team-building mentality when part of your team is not physically present. We have made a concerted effort to ensure that our remote workers don’t fall victim to “out of sight, out of mind.” We encourage these employees to come on-site for office meetings and events and have paid for the lodging of some remote employees in order to work out of our physical office for several weeks at a time during tax season and to maintain staff relationships. When not logistically possible to have a physical presence, we include these employees using available technologies, for example, some remote staff attend office meetings using GoToMeeting. In addition, during tax season we played ‘KWC Tax Season Bingo’ and all remote employees received their Bingo cards electronically so everyone was able to participate.

The Reward Outweighs the Investment

The accounting industry is a talent acquisition business. When you find talented and promising employees you have to be able to retain them in order for your business to grow and thrive. Trying to recruit experienced accountants is difficult, expensive and risky. Our firm has determined that the investment in a flexible work environment is both necessary and rewarding to retain quality staff. If you are a firm owner who is committed to achieving a truly flexible work environment, know that it will always be a work in progress. The most important things to remember are:

1. Achieve partner buy-in. To be successful, the firm’s leadership must embrace all aspects of flexible work arrangements to ensure participating employees feel they are unequivocally supported.
2. Use existing staff as role models and share success stories. This will exhibit that you can have a rewarding career in public accounting without having to sacrifice personal goals.
3. Allow each person to tailor their work schedule and arrangements to meet their individual needs. Having a rigid set of rules is inherently inflexible!
4. Invest in your technology. It is pivotal in keeping your team productive and connected.

If you are just embarking on your journey to create a flexible work environment, patience is vital. The hardest part of the process will be to blaze the initial path and see how it pans out – and done right, these efforts will pay off in the long run. At KWC, we believe that fostering a flexible workplace is a key component in being an industry leader and that this investment in our employees will help our firm’s immediate success and we will continue to attract high quality talent in the future.

Kositzka, Wicks and Company is located in Alexandria, VA and has 71 employees and 10 partners. Steve Travis is the Managing Shareholder, Connie Hammell is a Manager, Donna K. Malarkey, MBA, AAAPM is the Firm Administrator and Craig Browning is the Director of Marketing.

This article originally appeared on the AICPA's site in the Private Companies Practice Section.