Stick to what you’re good at

When you run your own firm then you expect to wear multiple hats. In a typical week you can be boss, cleaner, trainer, confidante, IT fixer, coffee maker, maintenance wiz. When you first start then you don’t have much choice since you don’t have the money to pay others to do it.

How come it still happens in a mature firm though? Maybe you’re not the coffee maker and maintenance wiz any more but there’s a fair chance that you’re still finding yourself involved in areas that, quite frankly, you’re simply not qualified to be doing.

The most common, and arguably the most damaging of these, is human resources, HR. In virtually every small accounting firm that I go into, responsibility for recruitment, training, development and progression seems to fall on the partner and, to be perfectly honest, few of us have any real idea how to do it effectively. We try to develop outstanding teams based on our own experiences rather than using professionals skilled in the field…and then we wonder why our recruitment and staff performance is so hit and miss!

I have seen first-hand, firms dramatically boost their profits and cultures by those in charge finally making the smart decision to bring in the right HR advisor.

I would define the ‘right’ advisor as one who:

And I would be looking for someone who:

Tick all the above and you have someone who will drive engagement, profitability and satisfaction through the business.

And you free up your own time for even greater profits!

No brainer!