Soft skills impact business performance for accountants. It’s a fact.
Since the world was turned upside down by Covid, there is just no way that hiring managers can pretend that the ability to do the job is all that matters in recruitment. In 2022 and 2023 just around the corner, HOW you do the job is also critical, it always has been really!
So, when you sit down to meet accountants in interviews be they face to face, on the phone or online, how can you explore the soft skills that each candidate may or may not possess and how do you know which ones matter to your firm?
Here’s our ideas gleaned from more than a decade of experience in the niche field of public practice recruitment.
Lets’ start with a list of soft skills that we think are particularly valuable in an accountant:
- Communication
- Respectfulness
- Active listening
- Conflict resolution
- Decision making
- Questioning
- Prioritising
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Analytical thinking
- Adaptability
- Emotional intelligence
- Empathy
There will be more of course and no human being can possess all of these skills, many of which completely contradict one another! But building a team of people that cover most bases of soft skills is likely to mean that firms will always have someone available who is skilled to manage a specific situation that involves not just the nuts and bolts of delivering sound accounting outcomes, but solving problems in how people interact with one another.
How do you create an interview process that will enable candidates to showcase their soft skillset?
This is one area of recruitment that involves using your own soft skills! You’ll want to design questions that cover more than just professional qualifications and experience of producing accurate financial data.
Consider the use of case studies and ask your candidates to write up a strategy or plan as to how they might address a specific situation.
Here’s a few examples pitched at the right level for specific vacancies.
For a Semi Senior role:
Deadline season is approaching and the office is busy. You have a significant workload to get through and you’re concerned that there might not be enough time to get it done. You’ve noticed that one of your colleagues isn’t contributing to the team’s workload and you feel that if they worked a little bit harder, your team would be in a better position to complete all work in time. What do you do?
For a Tax Manager role:
A valued personal tax client is surprised by their tax liabilities at the end of the year and has not set aside enough money to pay their bill. They are of the opinion that they didn’t receive accurate information from your team and are placing the blame for this problem on your shoulders. How do you approach this situation?
For a Partnership role:
Your firm has seen an alarming reduction in profit in the last quarter and together the Partners have decided on changes to the workforce to streamline operations and increase efficiency. As part of your role you need to let some members of staff know that their jobs are at risk. How will you approach these conversations and what do you think will be the most important things to consider?
Of course there are hundreds of different case studies you can present applicants with and they will need to be tailored to your firm’s specific needs. If you’re at a loss as to where to begin in creating questions that will work for you and your firm, this is yet another reason why we’d suggest that you work with an experienced niche recruiter like us!
Once you’ve been able to consider your candidates approaches to these case studies you can then probe them further verbally at interview and take the time to understand their motivations for acting in a specific way. The thing to remember with soft skill focused questions is that often there is no right or wrong answer, it’s more about identifying the way the candidate approaches a problem and the skillset that they showcase in their approach.
‘The thing to always remember about soft skills is that they are anything but soft! Recruit a Partner who isn’t able to delegate, resolve conflict or provide innovative ideas at your peril! At Public Practice Recruitment Ltd we’re experienced at seeing beyond the CV of our candidates and we take the time to try and understand more than just their qualifications and experience in our registration calls, so usually we can give you a pretty good idea about soft skills before you even decide to interview, saving your valuable time.’
Garry Howling MD
In an ever-evolving world, lifting the lid on your staff to understand how they work at their optimum and how they interact with others, is never a waste of time.
But if your time is in short supply, you can always trust us to do that for you.
To work with the best niche accountancy recruiters in the UK, contact us today.
