Diversity, Family Issues and the Big 6

Can CPA firms continue to manage their staffs according to long-standing traditions? The leaders of the largest international firms don't think so. Clients expect the personnel on professional service teams to reflect the demographics of their own workforces or their clientele. As career paths go, up-or-out is out. And creating flexible programs that help retain talented people is a business issue, not a women's issue. These are some of the observations made by the leaders of the six largest international CPA firms--the Big 6. In wide-ranging interviews, they addressed questions that are pertinent to all CPAs: How can businesses respond to changing employee and client expectations on diversity and lifestyle issues? How can they overcome barriers to women's advancement? Are family-friendly policies good for business? Their thoughts on these issues are collected in tills article. EMBRACING DIVERSITY The Big 6 leaders believe that supporting women and diversity initiatives can enhance the quality of professional contributions and minimize costs. James J. Schiro, Price Waterhouse LLP: "When you make a genuine commitment to diversity, you bring a greater range of ideas, approaches, experiences and abilities that can be applied to client problems. After all, 6 people with different perspectives have a better shot at solving a complex problem than 60 people who all think alike." Philip A. Laskaway, Ernst & Young LLP: "Management and communication styles traditionally attributed to women are important ingredients for a team's success in meeting the needs of our clients." Of equal importance, the executives all believe clients expect them to take action on diversity issues. Jon Madonna, KPMG Peat Marwick LLP: "Our clients want women on their teams. We learned this the hard way a number of years ago. Our all-male client service team met with its client's leaders, including the chairman of the client company. The meeting did not go well. In fact, the next day, the chairman called me to discuss the composition of our client service team. The problem wasn't whether our team could do the job but, rather, their perception that we didn't know who their ultimate customers were--almost all women. Apparently we had missed the mark with our team. So we acted fast, changed the team to meet their expectations and kept the business of a valued and significant client." J. Michael Cook, Deloitte & Touche LLP: "Our clients and their boards are increasingly concerned about gender and diversity issues. Many expect their service providers to be thought leaders on these issues." In addition to creative and client service contributions, the chief executives think that retaining women will maximize their firms' value received for resources invested in personnel. Lawrence A. Weinbach, Andersen Worldwide: "In order to ensure that our most talented people are admitted to the partnership, we have to keep our best women and our best men. The issue for our partnership is not numbers but, rather, quality of new admissions. Many of our top performers are women." Nicholas G. Moore, Coopers & Lybrand LLP: "Our profession has always had high turnover and we have lived with that. We simply hired a lot of talent at the entry level, let turnover take its toll and we still had more than enough talent to satisfy partner needs. As we move to a new staffing model, one in which we hire fewer people in accordance with reduced needs, we obviously need to do a much better job hiring and retaining the best people. If we assume that turnover will always exist, then our challenge is to manage who stays and who leaves." Cook: "It is a business imperative to address the retention and advancement of women. If we are unable to retain our high-talent women, we are wasting the experience and talent of half the population. We invest significant time and money in recruiting and training, and when high-talent professionals leave, the firm suffers a reduction in productivity and client-service continuity. …

Field of study: Business