Читать книгу ESP: Accounting and Economics. Teacher’s book - Александра Егурнова - Страница 9

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The Best Job Candidates

The accounting profession is changing, and that means the ways firms recruit and retain top-tier talent need to change, too. Recent graduates have much different expectations of work and career than a generation ago, and technology is changing the way that firms reach and develop relationships with potential new hires.

However, firms aren’t just concerned with filling entry-level positions. There is a continuous need to hire and keep experienced CPAs at all levels. Finding a one-size-fits-all strategy for recruitment when the talent pool has diverse motivations and firms have varied needs is nearly impossible.

But firms can address this steady demand for high-quality, talented CPAs in a tight labor market by being insightful, authentic, and proactive, according to Sarah Dobek. The founder and president of Inovautus Consulting, a marketing firm that helps CPAs grow their business, Dobek discussed staffing strategies at the AICPA ENGAGE 2018 conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Speaking in an interview prior to the conference, Dobek offered tips to firms looking to improve their recruitment and retention efforts.

Attracting the right candidates: The first step is getting the right candidates to apply for the opening, and reaching them requires understanding their job search motivations.

«In order to attract the right candidates, you have to speak to them about what they care about,» said Dobek.

Millennial candidates in line for early career positions are looking for flexibility in work time and location, a personalized career path, efficient use of technology within the firm, immediate learning opportunities, and brand authenticity, according to Dobek.

It is important that candidates see those qualities in a firm’s online presence, in their brand reputation, and in interactions with the firm, she said. That means making an effort to reach candidates as soon as possible in ways different from what firms may have traditionally done.

«Culture is still really important,» said Dobek. «You can’t just give them a marketing message. They want you to be true and honest. They want to hear from their peers as well through testimonials, case studies, and videos.»

However, firms don’t hire just people between the ages of 22 and 30, and candidates of different experience levels have different motivations.

To better understand what drives job seekers, Dobek recommends that firms talk with candidates about their motivations and needs throughout the recruitment process, and hold exit interviews with departing employees to gain insight into their motives.

Craft the right job description: A good job description can persuade the right candidate to apply for the job, and crafting that standout description will be easier once you understand your target audience, according to Dobek.

«When you write in the right context, it can attract the right person,» she said. «When you start focusing on the type of individual that you need, you’re going to start using language that that person would identify with.»

An effective job description also tells the story of your firm along with the features and benefits of the position.

«The job description is not just a bullet point list description of your job responsibilities,» she said. «An attractive job description is going to be much more than that; it’s really going to be a sales pitch of why you should come work for us.»

Don’t be afraid to be innovative in how you deliver the job description either, Dobek said. Younger candidates in particular are more open to different media, and you can reach them in new ways. Look to video, audio, and other multimedia opportunities to create and deliver your job description.

Actively recruit: Don’t wait until you need to fill a position to start recruiting and then expect HR to do all of the work, Dobek cautioned. Building an effective network that you can tap before it is hiring time means starting early, taking a proactive approach, and including a wide range of the firm’s stakeholders.

«It is not just the HR department’s job to recruit for your firm,» Dobek said. «Every partner has a role, every higher-level staff person should be involved in recruiting because every person has a network.»

Take advantage of digital platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and firm websites to build a brand network that draws an audience. Firm executives should be using their digital platforms, and their audiences, to promote the firm as an employment destination, according to Dobek.

«You have to be actively posting about your firm and your culture,» she said. «You need to be attracting people to your brand, to your firm, before you need to fill those positions.»

Even if you aren’t immediately hiring, Dobek sees value in using digital tools to expand a firm’s network and sees it as an investment in the firm’s future.

Task 1. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text. The correct answer is in bold.

1. A one-size-fits-all strategy for recruitment is…

A. quite widespread

B. diverse among firms

C. highly likely

D. almost impossible

2. What should companies do to be able to hire talented CPAs?

A. Be proactive and determined

B. Be insightful and authentic.

C. Offer a good salary.

D. Provide better working conditions.

3. How many tips did Sarah Dobek mention in the interview?

A. one

B. two

C. three

D. four

4. What are the job search motivations of millennial candidates?

A. flexibility, efficient use of IT within the firm, brand authenticity;

B. flexibility, personalized career path, remote learning opportunities;

C. personalized career path, efficient AI in the firm, brand authenticity;

D. immediate learning opportunities, culture, flexibility.

5. What will not make a job description attractive, according to the text?

A. Writing in the right context.

B. Telling the story of the firm.

C. A bullet point list description.

D. Innovative ways of its delivery.

6. What does Dobek see as an investment in the firm’s future?

A. Expanding a firm’s network.

B. Involving HR department in recruiting.

C. Taking advantage of digital platforms.

D. Promoting firm’s executives.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text to the words below. Correct answers are in bold in the same line with the word.

Future (paragraph 1) – potential

Energetic (paragraph 3) – proactive

Before (paragraph 4) – prior

Colleagues (paragraph 9) – peers

Understanding (paragraph 11) – insight

Original (paragraph 16) – innovative

System of connections (paragraph 17) – network

Means (paragraph 21) – tools

Task 3. Match two words from different rows (A and B) to form collocations. They are mentioned in the text. Then use them in the sentences below. Make up your own sentences with the rest of the collocations.

Correct answers are given below.

A. brand; career; case; exit; job; new; proactive; staffing; steady; talent; target; top-tier.

B. approach; audience; authenticity; demand; description; hire; interview; path; pool; strategy; study; talent.

1. A real … … is upholding a certain level of integrity which includes total honesty and transparency of a company. (brand authenticity)

2. Cold drinks are in … … in the summer. (steady demand)

3. Contents of the … … record cannot be revealed to the resigning employee. (exit interview)

4. Many … ... graduate from very respected, highly ranked educational institutions. (top-tier talents)

Collocations: brand authenticity; career path; case study; exit interview; job description; new hire; proactive approach; staffing strategy; steady demand; talent pool; target audience; top-tier talent.

Text 2

A Job for a Woman?

During Mary Winston’s tenure as a CFO at three large U.S. companies, she rarely dwelled on often being the only woman or person of color in executive meetings.

Instead, Winston, a CPA, concentrated on excelling at her job, whether it was in high-level roles at Pfizer or when she served as CFO for Scholastic, Giant Eagle, and Family Dollar.

«I could not be sitting in a room worrying about the fact that I was different from other people in the room,» she said. «That’s not why I was in the room. I was in the room to fulfill a job.»

In those roles, Winston was part of a small but growing percentage of minorities to hold CFO positions. Gender and racial diversity among CFOs continues to lag, studies show.

Women account for 12.6% of CFO positions in leading businesses, according to analysis of C-suite volatility in more than 673 large companies, most of which are based in the United States, by executive search firm Crist | Kolder Associates. That’s nearly double the percentage from a decade ago.

«Women in general in corporate America have made some strides and continue to,» Winston said. «It’s obviously too slow.»

Winston is doing her part to combat that. Through service on boards and through her executive consulting firm WinsCo, she is focused on pushing for more diverse leaders on boards and in C-suites.

Seven percent of CFOs are people of color, the report found, with 46 individuals identified as ethnically or racially diverse, according to the report. In 2006, Crist | Kolder listed 16 ethnically or racially diverse CFOs.

#MeToo sparks discussions

The lack of women in leadership positions is receiving more scrutiny following sexual harassment and assault scandals that felled several major business and entertainment figures in 2017.

Eileen Treanor, the CFO at Lever, a Silicon Valley recruiting software company, said female CFOs began reaching out over the last year to talk to each other about how to open up the pipeline of women in the financial industry to ensure top talent can rise.

She credits the #MeToo movement, through which many women have used social media to share their experiences of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, for highlighting the issue.

«It’s started a conversation that should have been started a few years ago,» Treanor said.

In her career, Treanor said she can recall multiple occasions when she’s been talked over by male counterparts, or had an idea she came up with ignored or dismissed while the same idea was embraced when voiced by a male colleague.

«It’s scary how quickly women have become accustomed» to disparate treatment, Treanor said.

Skipped over early on

The gulf between male and female representation in CFO roles underscores the challenges women face in corporate workplaces, said Melissa Hooley, CPA, CGMA, the partner-in-charge of employee benefit plan services at Colorado accounting and consulting firm Anton Collins Mitchell.

«Just getting women into the pipeline isn’t enough,» said Hooley, chair of the AICPA Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee.

Women face setbacks early on in their careers, such as being passed over for promotions, that can be hard to rebound from, according to a 2017 report by McKinsey and Lean In, an organization founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to promote women’s standing in corporate America.

The study, which analyzed hiring and promotion practices of more than 200 large companies and surveyed 70,000 employees, found that women are getting passed over for key promotions early in their careers, and continue to be passed over for promotions at disproportionate rates compared with their male colleagues throughout their careers.

That results in fewer women in top jobs. Reversing the tide could help rectify the gender inequities, the report’s authors wrote.

«This gender disparity has a dramatic effect on the pipeline as a whole: If entry-level women were promoted at the same rate as their male peers, the number of women at the SVP and C-suite levels would more than double,» the report said.

Companies should closely examine why women aren’t getting more promotions and look at unintentional biases, Hooley said.

She said that women in the workplace tend to understate their abilities while men overstate theirs, one reason she suspects men are promoted at higher rates than women.

«Once people become more aware, I think that that’s where we’re going to make progress,» Hooley said.

Indeed, it is important to engage male leaders. Including men in conversations about diversity initiatives can help raise their awareness about the barriers faced by women and give them a voice in how an organization can implement advancement opportunities.

Support family policies

Companies that want to attract and retain talented women should strongly support associates as they go through life changes, such as becoming parents, Winston said.

Winston was in high-powered positions when both of her children were born and was initially worried if she’d face setbacks in her career by taking maternity leave.

Those fears were set aside when her boss pulled her aside toward the end of her pregnancy and told her she had nothing to worry about.

«Having someone say that to you shows there’s support in the organization,» she said.

Need for talent

One major challenge most companies are facing is finding talented leaders. And that problem is only going to get worse, Hooley said.

«There’s going to be an incredible shortage of talent in the next 10 to 15 years with Baby Boomers retiring,» she said.

Even if you aren’t immediately hiring, Dobek sees value in using digital tools to expand a firm’s network and sees it as an investment in the firm’s future.

Task 1. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text. The correct answer is in bold.

1. What did Mary Winston look like?

A. Only a woman

B. Not white

C. Excellent professional

D. Very different from other people

2. How many women are in CFO positions in the U.S.?

A. Less than a fifth of the total number

B. More than a fifth of the total number

C. One third of the total number

D. One quarter of the total number

3. What often happened to an idea Eileen Treanor came up with?

A. It was welcome.

B. It was embraced.

C. It was talked over.

D. It was ignored.

4. What is the result of the unfair advancement opportunities?

A. fewer women in top jobs;

B. women understate their abilities;

C. men overstate their abilities;

D. unawareness of barriers faced by women.

5. If a company supports its associates, it wants to…

A. retrain them.

B. keep them.

C. attack them.

D. empower them.

6. Which companies will be at a disadvantage, according to the text?

A. Finding talented leaders.

B. Competing for talented leaders.

C. Not seriously considering women leaders.

D. Not hiring talented diverse leaders.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text to the words below. Correct answers are in bold in the same line with the word.

Administration (paragraph 1) – tenure

Variety (paragraph 4) – diversity

Top managers (paragraph 5) – C-suite

Brought down (paragraph 9) – felled

Key person (paragraph 10) – top talent

Underlining (paragraph 11) – highlighting

Remember (paragraph 13) – recall

Gap (paragraph 15) – gulf

Task 3. Decipher the following abbreviations and provide their proper translation into Russian:

CFO; U.S.; CPA; CGMA; AICPA; COO; SVP

Correct answers.

CFO stands for Chief Financial Officer. It is the officer of a company that has primary responsibility for managing the company’s finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financial reporting. (финансовый директор)

U.S. stands for the United States. It is a country. (Соединенные Штаты Америки)

CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant. It is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. (сертифицированный бухгалтер)

CGMA stands for Chartered Global Management Accountant. It is a professional management accounting designation issued beginning in January 2012. (сертифицированный международный специалист в области управленческого учета)

AICPA stands for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. It is the national professional organization of CPAs in the United States. (Американское общество дипломированных бухгалтеров)

COO stands for Chief Operating Officer, also called a Chief Operations Officer. It is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, comprising part of the «C-suite». (главный операционный директор, аналог исполнительного директора в России)

SVP stands for Senior Vice President. This person holds an executive role in organizations, usually reporting to the CEO or the President of the company. They supervise a department (e.g. Engineering, Marketing) or a specific region where the company operates. (первый вице-президент)