Next stop: the boardroom

Peta Tomlinson charts the evolution of the accountant from mere number-cruncher to key player in vital business decisions

Accountancy is an age-old profession. As long as there has been commerce, there has been someone needed to keep the books.

What a difference a generation makes. Today's accountants are no longer mere bean counters: they have become major business players, able to influence key decisions and strategies, and increasingly looked upon to preserve their company's corporate image.

The journey from back room to boardroom has brought with it a wealth of opportunity, and a new generation of finance professionals hungry to see just how far their careers can take them. As a result, accountants are becoming more specialised, more mobile, more driven. And international experience rates highly on their radar.

Recruitment firms agree the days of 'number-crunchers' are gone. 'Companies are looking for accountants who have strong commercial and operational skills, who can add more value to their business than merely the back office functions. This has led to a major shift, where accountants are expected to be involved in financial strategy,' says Andrew Brushfield, director of Robert Half Hong Kong Ltd.

Equally, accountants are up for the challenge, he adds. 'Candidates like jobs that enable them to be close to the business. They want to share the vision, to feel they belong, to be part of where the company is going. This means accountants globally are more willing to move and be mobile for the right job. They feel that, from a career perspective, a combination of commercial exposure and technical accounting skills is pretty formidable when it comes to moving up to CEO or similar senior positions.'

Tim Hird of Robert Half in Singapore agrees that traditional back office functions have evolved into the strategic hotbed of the boardroom. 'More CEOs on the Fortune 1000 firms are coming from back office functions such as finance and technology,' he points out.

Gemmell Ovenden Walsh (GOW), a niche recruitment firm that fills positions in the banking sector, routinely tries to recruit accountants from public practice. Duncan Semmens, GOW's associate director in Singapore, says money remains a key motivator. 'At AVP [assistant vice president] level, a candidate can expect a bonus of 20%-40%. In the case of a VP position, it could be from 30% to 70%,' says Semmens. 'Banks also offer a diverse range of roles and responsibilities that do not exist in the traditional audit function. Other considerations for accountants moving out of practice are ongoing professional development, training, culture and work-life balance.'

Accountants' new-found appetite for mobility is reflected in a recent ACCA survey, which showed nearly 80% of respondents agree that, in future, it will become more important for finance professionals to be able to work in different international environments. In addition, 70% agreed that international experience was increasingly important to one's CV. How, then, do employers maintain loyalty?

Robert Half International speaks to 50,000 hiring managers every week through its international network of offices, and says that 'never before in our 60-year history has it been so challenging to hire and retain talent'.

Tim Hird says highly skilled finance and technology professionals can expect three job offers in the current market. 'We now spend much of our time educating corporations on the need to radicalise HR policies, looking at three distinct areas: reward and incentive schemes; training and development; and career progression.'

Staff retention

Deloitte in Hong Kong is one firm that has come up with creative initiatives to retain staff. 'I don't think salary is the main motivator any more,' says Roy Tsang, audit partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and co-chairman of the Professional Development Sub-committee, ACCA Hong Kong. 'Today's accountants are looking for career advancement, fulfilment and job satisfaction. With so many choices on offer, they can go out and find a more interesting job, which is why we have developed a very good HR policy to retain our people.'

Deloitte's strategy begins with targeting the right candidates before they join the firm. The innovative Deloitte Club for selected undergraduates assigns students a mentor to help them understand what a career with Deloitte would be like. Once on board, the annual staff performance review can be used to promote outstanding candidates and fast-track their career. Under the firm's 'godfather' initiative, a senior team member is assigned to a new employee to assist in the development of their career, and show how difficult issues can be resolved easily.

'We've also done a lot to connect staff members through social activities such as dinners, birthday parties and cooking or other special interest classes,' says Tsang. 'We firmly believe in building personal relationships because working everywhere is largely the same - it is the people who make the difference.'

In the world outside the Big Four, mid-tier firms need to think differently, according to Kaka Singh, chairman of RSM Chio Lim & Associates and a member of ACCA Singapore's executive committee. 'New people may join us to gain experience for the Big Four - we know that, and we can't stop them,' says Singh. 'But we hope that, some day, they will come back to us, remembering that we treated them well when they started.'

In smaller firms accountants have more opportunities to be managers or partners. They work in smaller teams and can enjoy closer relationships.

'We have many programmes to reward and retain people so that we don't lose them,' says Singh. 'We offer profit sharing, training [international postings in some cases], close mentoring and time off for study. We've been in business for 25 years, and believe that our relationship with staff is the key reason why we have grown so fast.'

Morison Chan, President of ACCA Hong Kong and CFO of Minmetals Resources Ltd, makes a special effort to develop staff to their full potential. He says the term 'three-dimensional accountant' is an apt description. 'We need accountants who, in addition to technical skills, have the necessary soft skills - an in-depth understanding of the corporation, an understanding of industry and good business acumen.'

Chan says that obtaining high calibre staff is very important, and his company strives to meet its employees' needs and wants. 'In industry, accountants can develop themselves as they help the business grow. They can become involved in challenging projects such as M&A deals, and have the opportunity to reach a high position such as CFO.'

Brushfield believes firms like these are on the right track. Study leave, career support and policies encouraging work-life balance are highly regarded among today's accountants, he says.

Whether they choose to work in industry, banking or public practice, Brushfield says that a new contender on candidates' criteria is a prospective employer's sense of corporate social responsibility. 'More and more, particularly in Asia, candidates are asking questions such as how much pollution a company is putting out,' he says. 'Especially in this tight market, employers need to be aware of what they are doing.'

Peta Tomlinson is a freelance journalist who writes for the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.