Author: David R. Peters, CPA, CFP, CLU, CPCU
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of the South Carolina CPA Report
Lately, I cannot go a day without hearing about how our industry is in a talent fight. With fewer accountants in the world at the moment, talented CPAs are constantly getting phone calls from recruiters asking if they are looking to make a move. As an employer myself, I understand how this can be intimidating for firms. The thought of losing a qualified person and the time it will take to find and train a new hire is daunting.
Even if your current workplace is not exactly a utopia, the lost productivity, impact on team camaraderie, and the idea of introducing a new person to your clients and customers can feel worrisome. We tend to prefer the situation we know to the situation we don’t. However, is there really anything we can do to stop our employees from answering those pesky recruiter calls?
While I don’t think we can really stop any talented employee from being pursued, I do think we can change our mindset and how we handle these situations in a more positive way.
We need to realize that money is only part of a job.
In 2010, Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton published a research article studying the effects of money on happiness. Among other things, they found that emotional well-being does indeed rise with income – but only up to about $75,000 per year. Additionally, the researchers found that “low income exacerbates the emotional pain associated with such misfortunes as divorce, ill health, and being alone.” Interestingly enough, they also found that daily emotions do not rise with income. In other words, while one’s outlook on life and ability to bounce back from misfortune do become better as salary increases, money doesn’t really make one happier more often on a day-to-day basis. We still have good days and bad, no matter our salary level.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t pay people fairly or that money does not matter to employees. It absolutely does. However, there are limits to what additional compensation can do. If they are not happy with the work they are doing, or they are simply more excited about the other opportunity, it may be best to let them go. Offering to match the offer (or do better) won’t necessarily make the job better or more appealing. Instead, they may stick around for the additional compensation for a short time before starting to entertain the recruiter calls again. We need to ask ourselves what is really causing their discontent rather than just throwing money at the situation and hoping it will subside.
We need to realize that motivated employees like a challenge.
Whenever we think of our superstars (those people who really help the company be successful), we think of our most motivated colleagues – the folks who show up for more than just a paycheck. For them, work is a calling and a place where they can make a difference in an industry or in the company’s bottom line. Our superstars are also the ones that are most likely to be contacted by recruiters. The world is not just looking for any employee. They are looking for the ones that are going to make a difference to the organization.
Employee engagement has been a buzzword in nearly every human resources department for the last few years. Countless articles have been written about how to improve employee engagement and often focus on fun activities, recognition, and routine check-ins with the team by managers. While I think all of these things can be important, I can’t help but wonder if they miss the mark for our superstars. For our most motivated employees, it may be that they just need for the company to get out of their way – and not do anything that would impede what they like about their job.
A mentor of mine used to routinely say, “Smart people like a challenge, so give it to them.” Essentially, he said don’t get in the way of someone wanting to do more. Don’t bog them down with reasons why they can’t do something or why they need to keep doing what they are doing. That’s the company getting in their way – corporate bureaucracy at its finest. Instead, give them challenging projects and new things that allow them to do more and expand their minds. Tell them you appreciate them, but give them a new mountain to climb. I don’t think the reason why smart people leave a job is really ever because the company did not provide enough fun games during the day. I do think smart people leave because each day looks the same, and they are understimulated.
Your superstars are different – and we need to treat them differently. As managers and leaders, we tend to focus and spend the most time on the problem employees. We forget about our superstars and take them for granted. Shouldn’t the opposite be true? Shouldn’t we spend more time cultivating the talents of our superstars? This would certainly make those recruiting calls less attractive!
We need to focus more on a positive culture.
When a recruiter reaches out to an employee to discuss an opportunity, and the employee has worked up the nerve to tell us about it, the truth is that we are probably too late to do anything about it. Their mind is probably made up about what they are going to do – try to work things out with you or go after the new opportunity. It is often only then that we begin to think about the problem – that some of our employees may not be happy. Our culture may not be what we want it to be. These issues are always there. Why does it take someone leaving for us to take notice?
Culture is another buzzword that is often batted around in leadership books. Like employee engagement, good corporate culture often gets confused with misplaced perceptions of fun. At one point in my career, I worked for a company that used to pride itself on having a fun culture where employees could express themselves. While I did appreciate the freedom, it wasn’t the idea that I might participate in Office Olympics or wacky trivia that got me up to go to work each morning. It was the energy that I felt when I walked in the door and the positivity of my teammates that kept me coming back. We built each other up. We rooted for each other. When one person did something well, we all cheered. It was that lifting up that kept me coming back.
Creating this atmosphere is tough because it requires one to really know their employees. In short, what do they view as a good work environment? Once you figure this out, you should emulate it. If you want the work environment to be one where compliments are given routinely when a team member does a good job, you need to give out compliments when this happens. If you want the team to be one that values completing projects as quickly as possible, you need to celebrate these moments. Tone at the top matters. It can make or break culture. Good culture is hard to replace. If you want employees to not even want to talk to recruiters, create a positive atmosphere that is hard to replace. It all begins with you!
So, is there anything we can do about recruiters calling our employees?
Yes and no. We can’t stop the phone calls but can change our approach. We can focus on creating a culture of positivity that also strives to challenge our superstars. We can stop trying to outbid our competitors and start focusing on the issues that are making our employees unhappy. If we do that, the recruiters may still call – but our employees will not answer.
Required Disclosure: This is not specific investment advice. Financial and Investment Advisory services offered through CFO Capital Management. Brokerage and Custodial Services offered through TD Ameritrade Institutional, member FINRA and SIPC. CFO-CM and TDA are not affiliated. Tax services are provided by Peters Tax Preparation & Consulting, PC and are not provided by CFO Capital Management.
