Making a difference

Richard Brewin • November 7, 2019

For many in our profession, a fundamental driving force is the desire to make a difference. We want to help our clients improve their businesses and achieve their goals. We want to create job opportunities for people in our firms. We want to help in our community. We want to do good further afield. We want to make a positive difference to our own lives and those of our family.

“I want to make a difference” is a statement I hear a lot…and yet we are known as unemotional numbers people. Why is that?

Whilst many accounts wish to make a difference, it is often not a focused goal. It’s something that we want to happen rather than something that we are focused on making happen. We need a more strategic approach.

Look around your firm. How visible is your desire to make a difference?

Look at your KPI’s. How clearly do they reflect your desire to make a difference.

Look at your team. How engaged are they in making a difference?

How do you know how much of a difference you make?

Like everything else in our businesses, if we are to achieve our goal of making a difference then we must have clear strategies for making it happen; our brand should reflect our goal; our actions and KPI’s should make it measurable and accountable.

If we see our firms as tools for making a difference then we should to look at the areas where we want to have an impact and ties these to specific aspects of our own operations to achieve a double whammy – improved business performance and targeted positive impacts. Use KPI’s to create focus and accountability and you’re away.

For example, one firm I know well in the North West are passionate supporters of the B1G1 initiative. ( www.b1g1.com if you’ve not come across it before). In their board room, one complete wall is taken up with a perspex display showing the initiatives that they support. A similar display is on their website.

Their donations are driven by referral opportunities, the value of benefits and advice delivered to clients, the levels of team and client engagement and so on. All are made accountable through their KPI’s. Every time they do good for others, they do good for themselves.

Making a difference is such a great reason for being an accountant in practice. Don’t let it just be a wish though, make it a core business strategy.

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