Accounting & Auditing

By Chris Baudler

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. Today, most firms are lucky to get one or two applicants for every hour their recruiters spend standing in college gymnasiums; when jobs are posted online, the response rates are often even more abysmal.

The Journal of Accountancy finds that recruiting top talent is the No. 1 or No. 2 concern for firms in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.  

Current Best Practices

According to the AICPA, current best practices for recruiting include promoting the following benefits:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible work schedules
• Personalized career paths
• Involvement in the community
• Reimbursement for CPE credits
• Employee referrals
• Signing bonuses

Unfortunately, these differentiators have become par for the course. They no longer help firms stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market. Many firms are once again relying almost exclusively on offering higher salaries and adding to their firm’s already extensive and extravagant perks and benefits package.

The Journal of Accountancy and CareerBliss recently found that average salaries for accountants will rise by 2.8 percent in 2017, and will continue upward for the foreseeable future. Firms have also reached unprecedented levels of perks and benefits. Ping pong tables, Wiis, nap rooms, and car leasing programs have become common across the nation as firms continue to “one-up” the competition.

Despite these efforts, most firms continue to struggle when recruiting experienced and collegiate-level talent.

Diamonds in the Rough

A handful of firms are bucking the trends and still growing at considerable rates – and without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries and gimmicky perks. These firms reached their level of recruiting success by developing and implementing unique and meaningful employer brands. Each firm’s branding created an almost endless supply of high-quality experienced and collegiate-level applicants, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses and hundreds of hours in manpower.

An employer brand is a comprehensive, marketing-infused human resources strategy that communicates a clear and attractive message to job candidates about a firm’s culture, why it’s a desirable place to work, and how the firm's job opportunities stand out from its competitors.

According to Harvard Business Review, employer branding is "an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation... defined by the key benefits, or value propositions, offered by the company as an employer."¹

Over the last couple decades, employer branding has become revered by the technology, insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries due to its immediate and lasting effects on recruitment of experienced hires and interns. Only recently has the strategy been adopted in the accounting industry, but the effects are being felt. One firm was able to increase job applications by 2,000 percent, improve offer acceptances by 70 percent, and reduce time-to-fill and cost-to-fill by 50 percent. Many firms are also able to cut ties to expensive recruiting services such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Accountingfly, and external staffing agencies.

Employer branding is not a cure-all for ailing firms with less-than-ideal workplace cultures. Rather, it is beneficial for those firms that have already invested the time and money to satisfy candidates’ and employees’ basic (and even advanced) employment needs.

How to Develop an Employer Brand

The following steps will help your firm to attract higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with less money.

• Interview and survey current employees and recent hires to better understand what influenced them to join your firm. This will help you better understand what is attractive (and not so attractive) about your firm. Also, review materials from competitor firms to learn how they market their job opportunities.
• Create firm-specific statements that resonate with job candidates and employees. Develop three to five branding statements that are based on cultural values and experiences unique to your firm, that differentiate your firm from competitors, and that are meaningful to the candidates you are hoping to attract.
• Integrate brand statements into all candidate-facing communications to create consistent messaging. The best firms realize top talent may not even make it to the career page if job postings or brochures do not provide messaging that is unique, meaningful, and consistent.
• Champion current staff members to write complimentary, “real-life” messaging. This is critical for the successful implementation of an employer brand. Your staff’s perspectives will resonate with job candidates in a way no recruiter, HR employee, or partner can. Your staff knows what it is like to work for your firm, and they can tell stories that will bring your employer brand to life. Advocate for your employees to write white papers, case studies, and day-in-the-life articles to share with their network and the community.
• Create an interview process that is memorable and highlights how important top talent is to your firm. Candidates want more than the same old one-on-one or panel-based interviews. They want an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do for clients, and how they will contribute to your firm’s success. Create an experience that wows interviewees, and watch how quickly openings get filled.

Conclusion

As many firms continue struggling to attract top talent, some are standing out from the competition by developing strong employer brands. These brands communicate how their job opportunities are unique, meaningful, and worthy of a candidate’s consideration. This approach has immediate and lasting effects on recruitment – all without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries or perks.

¹ Richard Mosley, "CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding," HBR (2015).

Chris Baudler is a partner and lead consultant in The Robby Group’s People Strategy practice. He can be reached at chris@therobbygroup.com.
​

Ethics

By Chris Baudler

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. Today, most firms are lucky to get one or two applicants for every hour their recruiters spend standing in college gymnasiums; when jobs are posted online, the response rates are often even more abysmal.

The Journal of Accountancy finds that recruiting top talent is the No. 1 or No. 2 concern for firms in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.  

Current Best Practices

According to the AICPA, current best practices for recruiting include promoting the following benefits:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible work schedules
• Personalized career paths
• Involvement in the community
• Reimbursement for CPE credits
• Employee referrals
• Signing bonuses

Unfortunately, these differentiators have become par for the course. They no longer help firms stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market. Many firms are once again relying almost exclusively on offering higher salaries and adding to their firm’s already extensive and extravagant perks and benefits package.

The Journal of Accountancy and CareerBliss recently found that average salaries for accountants will rise by 2.8 percent in 2017, and will continue upward for the foreseeable future. Firms have also reached unprecedented levels of perks and benefits. Ping pong tables, Wiis, nap rooms, and car leasing programs have become common across the nation as firms continue to “one-up” the competition.

Despite these efforts, most firms continue to struggle when recruiting experienced and collegiate-level talent.

Diamonds in the Rough

A handful of firms are bucking the trends and still growing at considerable rates – and without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries and gimmicky perks. These firms reached their level of recruiting success by developing and implementing unique and meaningful employer brands. Each firm’s branding created an almost endless supply of high-quality experienced and collegiate-level applicants, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses and hundreds of hours in manpower.

An employer brand is a comprehensive, marketing-infused human resources strategy that communicates a clear and attractive message to job candidates about a firm’s culture, why it’s a desirable place to work, and how the firm's job opportunities stand out from its competitors.

According to Harvard Business Review, employer branding is "an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation... defined by the key benefits, or value propositions, offered by the company as an employer."¹

Over the last couple decades, employer branding has become revered by the technology, insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries due to its immediate and lasting effects on recruitment of experienced hires and interns. Only recently has the strategy been adopted in the accounting industry, but the effects are being felt. One firm was able to increase job applications by 2,000 percent, improve offer acceptances by 70 percent, and reduce time-to-fill and cost-to-fill by 50 percent. Many firms are also able to cut ties to expensive recruiting services such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Accountingfly, and external staffing agencies.

Employer branding is not a cure-all for ailing firms with less-than-ideal workplace cultures. Rather, it is beneficial for those firms that have already invested the time and money to satisfy candidates’ and employees’ basic (and even advanced) employment needs.

How to Develop an Employer Brand

The following steps will help your firm to attract higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with less money.

• Interview and survey current employees and recent hires to better understand what influenced them to join your firm. This will help you better understand what is attractive (and not so attractive) about your firm. Also, review materials from competitor firms to learn how they market their job opportunities.
• Create firm-specific statements that resonate with job candidates and employees. Develop three to five branding statements that are based on cultural values and experiences unique to your firm, that differentiate your firm from competitors, and that are meaningful to the candidates you are hoping to attract.
• Integrate brand statements into all candidate-facing communications to create consistent messaging. The best firms realize top talent may not even make it to the career page if job postings or brochures do not provide messaging that is unique, meaningful, and consistent.
• Champion current staff members to write complimentary, “real-life” messaging. This is critical for the successful implementation of an employer brand. Your staff’s perspectives will resonate with job candidates in a way no recruiter, HR employee, or partner can. Your staff knows what it is like to work for your firm, and they can tell stories that will bring your employer brand to life. Advocate for your employees to write white papers, case studies, and day-in-the-life articles to share with their network and the community.
• Create an interview process that is memorable and highlights how important top talent is to your firm. Candidates want more than the same old one-on-one or panel-based interviews. They want an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do for clients, and how they will contribute to your firm’s success. Create an experience that wows interviewees, and watch how quickly openings get filled.

Conclusion

As many firms continue struggling to attract top talent, some are standing out from the competition by developing strong employer brands. These brands communicate how their job opportunities are unique, meaningful, and worthy of a candidate’s consideration. This approach has immediate and lasting effects on recruitment – all without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries or perks.

¹ Richard Mosley, "CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding," HBR (2015).

Chris Baudler is a partner and lead consultant in The Robby Group’s People Strategy practice. He can be reached at chris@therobbygroup.com.
​

Leadership

By Chris Baudler

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. Today, most firms are lucky to get one or two applicants for every hour their recruiters spend standing in college gymnasiums; when jobs are posted online, the response rates are often even more abysmal.

The Journal of Accountancy finds that recruiting top talent is the No. 1 or No. 2 concern for firms in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.  

Current Best Practices

According to the AICPA, current best practices for recruiting include promoting the following benefits:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible work schedules
• Personalized career paths
• Involvement in the community
• Reimbursement for CPE credits
• Employee referrals
• Signing bonuses

Unfortunately, these differentiators have become par for the course. They no longer help firms stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market. Many firms are once again relying almost exclusively on offering higher salaries and adding to their firm’s already extensive and extravagant perks and benefits package.

The Journal of Accountancy and CareerBliss recently found that average salaries for accountants will rise by 2.8 percent in 2017, and will continue upward for the foreseeable future. Firms have also reached unprecedented levels of perks and benefits. Ping pong tables, Wiis, nap rooms, and car leasing programs have become common across the nation as firms continue to “one-up” the competition.

Despite these efforts, most firms continue to struggle when recruiting experienced and collegiate-level talent.

Diamonds in the Rough

A handful of firms are bucking the trends and still growing at considerable rates – and without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries and gimmicky perks. These firms reached their level of recruiting success by developing and implementing unique and meaningful employer brands. Each firm’s branding created an almost endless supply of high-quality experienced and collegiate-level applicants, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses and hundreds of hours in manpower.

An employer brand is a comprehensive, marketing-infused human resources strategy that communicates a clear and attractive message to job candidates about a firm’s culture, why it’s a desirable place to work, and how the firm's job opportunities stand out from its competitors.

According to Harvard Business Review, employer branding is "an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation... defined by the key benefits, or value propositions, offered by the company as an employer."¹

Over the last couple decades, employer branding has become revered by the technology, insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries due to its immediate and lasting effects on recruitment of experienced hires and interns. Only recently has the strategy been adopted in the accounting industry, but the effects are being felt. One firm was able to increase job applications by 2,000 percent, improve offer acceptances by 70 percent, and reduce time-to-fill and cost-to-fill by 50 percent. Many firms are also able to cut ties to expensive recruiting services such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Accountingfly, and external staffing agencies.

Employer branding is not a cure-all for ailing firms with less-than-ideal workplace cultures. Rather, it is beneficial for those firms that have already invested the time and money to satisfy candidates’ and employees’ basic (and even advanced) employment needs.

How to Develop an Employer Brand

The following steps will help your firm to attract higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with less money.

• Interview and survey current employees and recent hires to better understand what influenced them to join your firm. This will help you better understand what is attractive (and not so attractive) about your firm. Also, review materials from competitor firms to learn how they market their job opportunities.
• Create firm-specific statements that resonate with job candidates and employees. Develop three to five branding statements that are based on cultural values and experiences unique to your firm, that differentiate your firm from competitors, and that are meaningful to the candidates you are hoping to attract.
• Integrate brand statements into all candidate-facing communications to create consistent messaging. The best firms realize top talent may not even make it to the career page if job postings or brochures do not provide messaging that is unique, meaningful, and consistent.
• Champion current staff members to write complimentary, “real-life” messaging. This is critical for the successful implementation of an employer brand. Your staff’s perspectives will resonate with job candidates in a way no recruiter, HR employee, or partner can. Your staff knows what it is like to work for your firm, and they can tell stories that will bring your employer brand to life. Advocate for your employees to write white papers, case studies, and day-in-the-life articles to share with their network and the community.
• Create an interview process that is memorable and highlights how important top talent is to your firm. Candidates want more than the same old one-on-one or panel-based interviews. They want an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do for clients, and how they will contribute to your firm’s success. Create an experience that wows interviewees, and watch how quickly openings get filled.

Conclusion

As many firms continue struggling to attract top talent, some are standing out from the competition by developing strong employer brands. These brands communicate how their job opportunities are unique, meaningful, and worthy of a candidate’s consideration. This approach has immediate and lasting effects on recruitment – all without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries or perks.

¹ Richard Mosley, "CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding," HBR (2015).

Chris Baudler is a partner and lead consultant in The Robby Group’s People Strategy practice. He can be reached at chris@therobbygroup.com.
​

Practice Management

By Chris Baudler

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. Today, most firms are lucky to get one or two applicants for every hour their recruiters spend standing in college gymnasiums; when jobs are posted online, the response rates are often even more abysmal.

The Journal of Accountancy finds that recruiting top talent is the No. 1 or No. 2 concern for firms in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.  

Current Best Practices

According to the AICPA, current best practices for recruiting include promoting the following benefits:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible work schedules
• Personalized career paths
• Involvement in the community
• Reimbursement for CPE credits
• Employee referrals
• Signing bonuses

Unfortunately, these differentiators have become par for the course. They no longer help firms stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market. Many firms are once again relying almost exclusively on offering higher salaries and adding to their firm’s already extensive and extravagant perks and benefits package.

The Journal of Accountancy and CareerBliss recently found that average salaries for accountants will rise by 2.8 percent in 2017, and will continue upward for the foreseeable future. Firms have also reached unprecedented levels of perks and benefits. Ping pong tables, Wiis, nap rooms, and car leasing programs have become common across the nation as firms continue to “one-up” the competition.

Despite these efforts, most firms continue to struggle when recruiting experienced and collegiate-level talent.

Diamonds in the Rough

A handful of firms are bucking the trends and still growing at considerable rates – and without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries and gimmicky perks. These firms reached their level of recruiting success by developing and implementing unique and meaningful employer brands. Each firm’s branding created an almost endless supply of high-quality experienced and collegiate-level applicants, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses and hundreds of hours in manpower.

An employer brand is a comprehensive, marketing-infused human resources strategy that communicates a clear and attractive message to job candidates about a firm’s culture, why it’s a desirable place to work, and how the firm's job opportunities stand out from its competitors.

According to Harvard Business Review, employer branding is "an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation... defined by the key benefits, or value propositions, offered by the company as an employer."¹

Over the last couple decades, employer branding has become revered by the technology, insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries due to its immediate and lasting effects on recruitment of experienced hires and interns. Only recently has the strategy been adopted in the accounting industry, but the effects are being felt. One firm was able to increase job applications by 2,000 percent, improve offer acceptances by 70 percent, and reduce time-to-fill and cost-to-fill by 50 percent. Many firms are also able to cut ties to expensive recruiting services such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Accountingfly, and external staffing agencies.

Employer branding is not a cure-all for ailing firms with less-than-ideal workplace cultures. Rather, it is beneficial for those firms that have already invested the time and money to satisfy candidates’ and employees’ basic (and even advanced) employment needs.

How to Develop an Employer Brand

The following steps will help your firm to attract higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with less money.

• Interview and survey current employees and recent hires to better understand what influenced them to join your firm. This will help you better understand what is attractive (and not so attractive) about your firm. Also, review materials from competitor firms to learn how they market their job opportunities.
• Create firm-specific statements that resonate with job candidates and employees. Develop three to five branding statements that are based on cultural values and experiences unique to your firm, that differentiate your firm from competitors, and that are meaningful to the candidates you are hoping to attract.
• Integrate brand statements into all candidate-facing communications to create consistent messaging. The best firms realize top talent may not even make it to the career page if job postings or brochures do not provide messaging that is unique, meaningful, and consistent.
• Champion current staff members to write complimentary, “real-life” messaging. This is critical for the successful implementation of an employer brand. Your staff’s perspectives will resonate with job candidates in a way no recruiter, HR employee, or partner can. Your staff knows what it is like to work for your firm, and they can tell stories that will bring your employer brand to life. Advocate for your employees to write white papers, case studies, and day-in-the-life articles to share with their network and the community.
• Create an interview process that is memorable and highlights how important top talent is to your firm. Candidates want more than the same old one-on-one or panel-based interviews. They want an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do for clients, and how they will contribute to your firm’s success. Create an experience that wows interviewees, and watch how quickly openings get filled.

Conclusion

As many firms continue struggling to attract top talent, some are standing out from the competition by developing strong employer brands. These brands communicate how their job opportunities are unique, meaningful, and worthy of a candidate’s consideration. This approach has immediate and lasting effects on recruitment – all without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries or perks.

¹ Richard Mosley, "CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding," HBR (2015).

Chris Baudler is a partner and lead consultant in The Robby Group’s People Strategy practice. He can be reached at chris@therobbygroup.com.
​

Technology

By Chris Baudler

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. Today, most firms are lucky to get one or two applicants for every hour their recruiters spend standing in college gymnasiums; when jobs are posted online, the response rates are often even more abysmal.

The Journal of Accountancy finds that recruiting top talent is the No. 1 or No. 2 concern for firms in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.  

Current Best Practices

According to the AICPA, current best practices for recruiting include promoting the following benefits:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible work schedules
• Personalized career paths
• Involvement in the community
• Reimbursement for CPE credits
• Employee referrals
• Signing bonuses

Unfortunately, these differentiators have become par for the course. They no longer help firms stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market. Many firms are once again relying almost exclusively on offering higher salaries and adding to their firm’s already extensive and extravagant perks and benefits package.

The Journal of Accountancy and CareerBliss recently found that average salaries for accountants will rise by 2.8 percent in 2017, and will continue upward for the foreseeable future. Firms have also reached unprecedented levels of perks and benefits. Ping pong tables, Wiis, nap rooms, and car leasing programs have become common across the nation as firms continue to “one-up” the competition.

Despite these efforts, most firms continue to struggle when recruiting experienced and collegiate-level talent.

Diamonds in the Rough

A handful of firms are bucking the trends and still growing at considerable rates – and without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries and gimmicky perks. These firms reached their level of recruiting success by developing and implementing unique and meaningful employer brands. Each firm’s branding created an almost endless supply of high-quality experienced and collegiate-level applicants, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses and hundreds of hours in manpower.

An employer brand is a comprehensive, marketing-infused human resources strategy that communicates a clear and attractive message to job candidates about a firm’s culture, why it’s a desirable place to work, and how the firm's job opportunities stand out from its competitors.

According to Harvard Business Review, employer branding is "an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation... defined by the key benefits, or value propositions, offered by the company as an employer."¹

Over the last couple decades, employer branding has become revered by the technology, insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries due to its immediate and lasting effects on recruitment of experienced hires and interns. Only recently has the strategy been adopted in the accounting industry, but the effects are being felt. One firm was able to increase job applications by 2,000 percent, improve offer acceptances by 70 percent, and reduce time-to-fill and cost-to-fill by 50 percent. Many firms are also able to cut ties to expensive recruiting services such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Accountingfly, and external staffing agencies.

Employer branding is not a cure-all for ailing firms with less-than-ideal workplace cultures. Rather, it is beneficial for those firms that have already invested the time and money to satisfy candidates’ and employees’ basic (and even advanced) employment needs.

How to Develop an Employer Brand

The following steps will help your firm to attract higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with less money.

• Interview and survey current employees and recent hires to better understand what influenced them to join your firm. This will help you better understand what is attractive (and not so attractive) about your firm. Also, review materials from competitor firms to learn how they market their job opportunities.
• Create firm-specific statements that resonate with job candidates and employees. Develop three to five branding statements that are based on cultural values and experiences unique to your firm, that differentiate your firm from competitors, and that are meaningful to the candidates you are hoping to attract.
• Integrate brand statements into all candidate-facing communications to create consistent messaging. The best firms realize top talent may not even make it to the career page if job postings or brochures do not provide messaging that is unique, meaningful, and consistent.
• Champion current staff members to write complimentary, “real-life” messaging. This is critical for the successful implementation of an employer brand. Your staff’s perspectives will resonate with job candidates in a way no recruiter, HR employee, or partner can. Your staff knows what it is like to work for your firm, and they can tell stories that will bring your employer brand to life. Advocate for your employees to write white papers, case studies, and day-in-the-life articles to share with their network and the community.
• Create an interview process that is memorable and highlights how important top talent is to your firm. Candidates want more than the same old one-on-one or panel-based interviews. They want an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do for clients, and how they will contribute to your firm’s success. Create an experience that wows interviewees, and watch how quickly openings get filled.

Conclusion

As many firms continue struggling to attract top talent, some are standing out from the competition by developing strong employer brands. These brands communicate how their job opportunities are unique, meaningful, and worthy of a candidate’s consideration. This approach has immediate and lasting effects on recruitment – all without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries or perks.

¹ Richard Mosley, "CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding," HBR (2015).

Chris Baudler is a partner and lead consultant in The Robby Group’s People Strategy practice. He can be reached at chris@therobbygroup.com.
​

Tax

By Chris Baudler

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. Today, most firms are lucky to get one or two applicants for every hour their recruiters spend standing in college gymnasiums; when jobs are posted online, the response rates are often even more abysmal.

The Journal of Accountancy finds that recruiting top talent is the No. 1 or No. 2 concern for firms in Pennsylvania and across the nation. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.  

Current Best Practices

According to the AICPA, current best practices for recruiting include promoting the following benefits:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible work schedules
• Personalized career paths
• Involvement in the community
• Reimbursement for CPE credits
• Employee referrals
• Signing bonuses

Unfortunately, these differentiators have become par for the course. They no longer help firms stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market. Many firms are once again relying almost exclusively on offering higher salaries and adding to their firm’s already extensive and extravagant perks and benefits package.

The Journal of Accountancy and CareerBliss recently found that average salaries for accountants will rise by 2.8 percent in 2017, and will continue upward for the foreseeable future. Firms have also reached unprecedented levels of perks and benefits. Ping pong tables, Wiis, nap rooms, and car leasing programs have become common across the nation as firms continue to “one-up” the competition.

Despite these efforts, most firms continue to struggle when recruiting experienced and collegiate-level talent.

Diamonds in the Rough

A handful of firms are bucking the trends and still growing at considerable rates – and without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries and gimmicky perks. These firms reached their level of recruiting success by developing and implementing unique and meaningful employer brands. Each firm’s branding created an almost endless supply of high-quality experienced and collegiate-level applicants, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses and hundreds of hours in manpower.

An employer brand is a comprehensive, marketing-infused human resources strategy that communicates a clear and attractive message to job candidates about a firm’s culture, why it’s a desirable place to work, and how the firm's job opportunities stand out from its competitors.

According to Harvard Business Review, employer branding is "an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation... defined by the key benefits, or value propositions, offered by the company as an employer."¹

Over the last couple decades, employer branding has become revered by the technology, insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries due to its immediate and lasting effects on recruitment of experienced hires and interns. Only recently has the strategy been adopted in the accounting industry, but the effects are being felt. One firm was able to increase job applications by 2,000 percent, improve offer acceptances by 70 percent, and reduce time-to-fill and cost-to-fill by 50 percent. Many firms are also able to cut ties to expensive recruiting services such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Accountingfly, and external staffing agencies.

Employer branding is not a cure-all for ailing firms with less-than-ideal workplace cultures. Rather, it is beneficial for those firms that have already invested the time and money to satisfy candidates’ and employees’ basic (and even advanced) employment needs.

How to Develop an Employer Brand

The following steps will help your firm to attract higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with less money.

• Interview and survey current employees and recent hires to better understand what influenced them to join your firm. This will help you better understand what is attractive (and not so attractive) about your firm. Also, review materials from competitor firms to learn how they market their job opportunities.
• Create firm-specific statements that resonate with job candidates and employees. Develop three to five branding statements that are based on cultural values and experiences unique to your firm, that differentiate your firm from competitors, and that are meaningful to the candidates you are hoping to attract.
• Integrate brand statements into all candidate-facing communications to create consistent messaging. The best firms realize top talent may not even make it to the career page if job postings or brochures do not provide messaging that is unique, meaningful, and consistent.
• Champion current staff members to write complimentary, “real-life” messaging. This is critical for the successful implementation of an employer brand. Your staff’s perspectives will resonate with job candidates in a way no recruiter, HR employee, or partner can. Your staff knows what it is like to work for your firm, and they can tell stories that will bring your employer brand to life. Advocate for your employees to write white papers, case studies, and day-in-the-life articles to share with their network and the community.
• Create an interview process that is memorable and highlights how important top talent is to your firm. Candidates want more than the same old one-on-one or panel-based interviews. They want an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do for clients, and how they will contribute to your firm’s success. Create an experience that wows interviewees, and watch how quickly openings get filled.

Conclusion

As many firms continue struggling to attract top talent, some are standing out from the competition by developing strong employer brands. These brands communicate how their job opportunities are unique, meaningful, and worthy of a candidate’s consideration. This approach has immediate and lasting effects on recruitment – all without compromising on the quality of new hires or offering outlandish salaries or perks.

¹ Richard Mosley, "CEOs Need to Pay Attention to Employer Branding," HBR (2015).

Chris Baudler is a partner and lead consultant in The Robby Group’s People Strategy practice. He can be reached at chris@therobbygroup.com.
​