Attracting Staff in a Candidate Driven Market.

CPA salaries are expected to increase in the years ahead. According to the AICPA’s 2018 Compensation Survey, CPAs expected their pay to rise by 5% over a period of 12 months. Earlier this year, salaries had grown by 4%. One reason for rising salaries is the high demand for accountants, auditors and tax professionals. So what can accounting firms do to keep up with the changing trends in such a candidate-driven market? We have listed some suggestions below.

Pay the market rate.

To deal with the fluctuating demand of CPA candidates, we recommend keeping up to date with the market salary bands in your industry. This can include regularly sitting down with the rest of your team to discuss your recruitment strategy, consistently looking at succession planning opportunities, and making sure you are informed on the differing compensation trends in a variety of geographic locations.

Like many of our clients, you may be shocked to hear that larger firms are aggressively attracting staff with inflated salaries. As a result, the smaller mid-tier practices must keep up with the competition. In an effort to avoid being caught on the back-foot, we advise keeping up to date with salary trends. Read recently released salary guides to research where you stand on compensation. We also advise truly listening to exit interview feedback and mining your strategic recruitment partners for information on what the market is dictating. An informed recruiter will be able to offer you accurate salary bands for differing levels of experience, also taking into account the geographic differentiators. Once you have the most up to date statistic, implement these in your next performance and salary reviews.

Flexibility.

Remain flexible in an ever agile labor market. Larger firms will be able to gain a competitive advantage by offering a salary increase in the final steps of the negotiation stage. Offering flexibility in the package that you offer, communicates a desire for the best talent and not just the most affordable. In the recently released Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019, they found that respondents valued experiences and community involvement more than salary alone. In a candidate-driven market, staff are now looking for work with purpose as well as the flexibility to work remotely if needed. This appreciation for a more purposeful working life is hugely important to the millennial workers that make up the newly designated CPA staff. Offering a work from home arrangement, flexible personal days, involvement in a company led corporate social responsibility program will enhance your employer brand as well as engagement. This will also create more employee referrals.

Brand.

A recent Glassdoor survey found that 75% of applicants now consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job. But how do you create an engaging employer brand and why is it important? An authentic, well-defined employer brand is essential in attracting informed staff. Using all feedback, collected from exit interviews, online reviews and client feedback allows your brand to stand out.

This is hugely beneficial in attracting staff. Make sure you have a cohesive tone when creating marketing materials. Decide what type of staff you want to attract and where you want to position yourself in the market. Knowing your place in the public accounting landscape translates to a clear and concise message. Be engaged on social media by having up to date Linkedin pages for your company and staff members and have an inviting website that appears modern and relevant. Get involved with community events, organize staff days out, encourage your staff to contribute ideas on how the workplace can be improved. Empowering your staff is cost-free but hugely valuable.

Implementing some, if not all of the above suggestions, will go a long way in attracting more qualified candidates for your open roles and allow you to remain ahead of the curve when it comes to talent attraction.