PROFESSIONAL SERVICES firms need to consider how they are going to attract and retain employees with fewer people entering the workforce and Generation Y being harder to attract, attendees at a recent Institute of Chartered Accountants event heard
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES firms need to consider how they are going to attract and retain employees with fewer people entering the workforce and Generation Y being harder to attract, attendees at a recent Institute of Chartered Accountants event heard.
“Professional service organisations are finding it especially difficult to fill their positions. There are no longer geographic boundaries to recruitment drives, and five per cent of Australian workers work overseas,” said Jillian Barrie, director of Sales Advantage Marketing at a Melbourne Chartered Accountants business forum.
Of the 43,000 members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, 14 per cent work overseas.
“A lot has been said about the differences between the generations because it has never been so marked,” she said. “To create an effective workplace these differences need to be taken into consideration as well as to continue to attract new staff.”
“For example, Generation Y demand flexibility and social awareness whereas baby boomers are focused on status symbols and hard work.”
The skills shortage in accounting is well documented, with ageing professionals, including accountants, moving overseas for higher salaries and the opportunities that come with increased regulation worldwide.
“Employer branding is the whole employment experience – starting with recruitment and talking to future employees, to being an employee and working in the company,” Barrie said.
“Employer branding also encompasses building individual and organisational capabilities to meet the needs of the rapidly changing business environments.”
According to Barrie, employer branding is not a marketing responsibility or a HR responsibility, but a whole of company responsibility.
A recent Institute of Chartered Accountants survey of 960 Australian accounting students revealed that up to one in three accounting students would prefer to move overseas in the next three to five years in order to progress their future careers.
A further 75 per cent indicated career opportunities and diversification were the reason why they studied accounting.
“Today, young people have high expectations and while the Gen Y factor is influencing some businesses to re-evaluate their workplace practices and adapt to new policies including, travel opportunities, further education, more flexibility, mentoring programs and greater career progression, Australia still needs to become more competitive in order to prevent talented accountants moving overseas,” said Lisette Cochineas, general manager for NSW and ACT, Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The survey also found only 4 per cent of Generation Y accountants said salary was a primary motive for their career choice and as such, Cochineas said, it was essential that businesses set themselves apart from other potential employers in order to recruit and retain talented accounting staff.
