The skills gap in accountancy is a major cause of concern for recruiters and clients in 2022 and it’s something that definitely warrants a change of approach when it comes to sourcing talent to work in UK practices.
And one change that some of the most forward thinking firms have already firmly embedded into their recruitment practices is placing a greater emphasis on noticing potential talent as well as ready made talent.
What do we mean by that?
The most obvious recruitment strategy is to advertise a post, list the very best skills and attributes that you would like the perfect candidate to already possess, receive masses of brilliant CVs, shortlist and interview the best of the brilliant bunch and appoint the perfect person.
But sadly, in many situations, particularly if you’re looking to recruit auditors, there is a huge shortage in perfectly qualified candidates and when you do find those people you’ll need to offer them such huge packages of rewards that for many firms it’s just not a viable strategy anymore.
And this is where a strategy whereby you place a greater focus on potential, can help your firm to play the long game and build a team of talented accountants with skills that are perfectly aligned to the needs of your business. It might just take a little longer than you’d anticipated.
Here’s a few examples of when potential might present itself and how you might go about making use of it.
Scenario 1:
You’re recruiting for an Audit Senior and despite working with a brilliant recruiter like us, you’re only able to meet one or two suitably qualified and experience accountants who might fit the bill.
In this instance don’t hedge your bets on these two. There’s every chance that personality wise they might not be the right mix for your firm so consider asking your recruiter to help you consider candidates who might not offer that ready made talent but could offer you some potential worth nurturing into that post.
Perhaps look instead to recruit two Semi Seniors with an interest in audit and allocate training and resources to really up-skilling those candidates to be ready to take on the senior role. It may cost a little bit more but you’ll reap the rewards in time and build a little bit of room to manoeuvre within your workforce.
Scenario 2:
A firm is anticipating the retirement of key personnel in the coming decade. Sensibly they sit down to discuss succession planning.
A decade ago it would be fair to assume that you would be able to advertise the role of the outgoing member of staff a few months before they leave and you’d stand a good chance of finding it.
Not so today!
Instead your succession plan needs to start much sooner and involve developing the potential of your junior members of staff (or recruiting such staff with potential) and coming up with a very clear plan of making those accountants ready for bigger jobs with a greater level of responsibility and skill in the future.
And of course not forgetting to ensure you retain them once you’ve invested in their potential!
And what tools are out there to help you identify the potential of candidates worth investing your time and money into nurturing?
Social media is a big one and will support you to speak directly to a younger audience and showcase how forward thinking and modern your firm is aiming to be. Tempt in a big pool of fish with your recruitment campaigns online and then whittle down the interest to those with true potential.
How to whittle them down? Use tools such as psychometric testing to help you find potential leaders and those who have the drive, ambition and skillset to really become the future talent that your firm needs.
In short a reactive firm in 2022 won’t be a thriving one. And in 2023 a reactive firm might not be a trading one!
To future proof the success of your businesses you need to get much more strategic with your recruitment and start to view candidates through the long lens of potential. And we’re always here to help with that.
Clients who work with us on a retained basis always find out about potential talent that might be the perfect match for them, whether it’s relevant to their current vacancies or not. And it’s that kind of proactive recruitment relationship that we’re certain brings about the best success for firms.
To find out more about how our retained recruitment service can help you scout out the best accountancy talent that the market has to offer, contact us today to arrange a no obligation chat with our MD, Garry Howling.
