"Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast" - Peter Drucker

CPA Firms and corporate accounting and finance departments score consistently low in our surveys about culture in the past three years with most firms scoring a 60-65% score at best. These leadership academy alums were eager to get to work and cited these reasons as to 'why' they volunteered to share their time and talent with us:

• “Stealing good ideas for remote and virtual working.”
• “Reducing the stigma around remote working.”
• “Catching up and setting policy around remote work.”
• “Making sure that firms and companies get this.”
• “Addressing the concerns of partners and finding ideas for scheduling and how to execute.”

The report below is worth a read and is chock full of the keys to building a winning strategy for CPAs and by CPAs.

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Here are the traits they say define a great corporate culture:

1. Vision:Adirectionthatissharedbyallmembersoftheteam,onethatisdefinedby clear values, a common understanding, and consistency of words and actions.
2. A focus on the future: All team members are intentional about identifying future trends and looking for opportunities to take advantage of them. The more future- focused we are, the more we can help our clients become future-focused as well.
3. Transparency: Communication is clear, open, and honest at all levels.

4. Collaboration and teamwork: Everyone’s ideas are valued, and everyone is

   expected to contribute. Inclusion and diversity of thought are the ultimate goals.

5. Career development: Each team member follows a clearly defined careerpath. Those career paths identify the skills needed for growth and a structured curriculum of continuous learning that will teach those skills at every level.
6. Adaptability and flexibility: The organization’s strategies — and even itsbusiness model — are fluid and easily adaptable to a rapidly changing businessenvironment.
7. A focus on results: The ultimate goal is exceptional work that pleases the clients. Where you do that work or how much time you spend doing it doesn’t matter.
8. Wellness: Taking care of our organization and our clients starts with taking care of ourselves. We can’t do good work unless our minds and bodies are well.

Organizations that are intentional about building strong cultures that feature the traits above will enjoy a number of advantages over their competitors, according to theLeadership Academy participants. Those benefits include:

• Greater profitability and, as a result, greater sustainability.
• Excellent customer and client service.
• Increased ability to recruit and retain top talent.
• Increased employee engagement.
• Increased innovation.
• The ability to build intellectual property and capital.

Bill Sheridan recapped the work and the report as follows, "Indeed, there’s nothing touchy-feeling about corporate culture at all. There are real bottom-line consequences at play here, and the organizations that get it right will have a decided advantage over those that don’t."

Here is a bonus - listen to Expensify CEO and Founder, David Barrett on our #Future-Proof podcast with Bill Sheridan as he talks about, Why Investing in Your Culture is an Investment in Your Bottom-Line.

What do you think, is culture worth the investment?