The HR Connection

I don’t know…are they? Interesting topic from Rita Keller at the Forum for Women in Accounting conference last month. It makes you stop and think of the managers in your organization. Are your managers really managing?

Today, we are seeing four generations working side by side. We know from countless studies that the Millennial generation will not let a job get in the way of their life. They will simply go elsewhere. This is a stark contrast to the Boomer generation, which had their nose to the grindstone, and did as they were told.

As I return from the joint conference – The Forum for Women in Accounting and the Forum for Recruiting and Retention - I have takeaways aplenty.

Some of the biggest names in the industry were there presenting – Allan Koltin, Gary Boomer, Gale Crosley, Rita Keller, Gary Shamis – and what a huge honor and thrill it was to be able to attend this wonderful conference. I would love to share some of the nuggets of information with you.

As an HR professional in the accounting world, what would I wish for? Interesting question. Throughout my “travels” I have discovered that there really aren’t any HR groups in the accounting world, or at least none that I have seen. Am I looking in the wrong places?

In these tumultuous economic times, are partner retreats really necessary? You betcha. Especially now, more than ever, members of firms need to come together to re-evaluate and realign their goals and objectives, as this will carry them forward and emerge unscathed.

A retreat can be four days or one day. The outcome is the same – come together as a team and discuss all the things you really never have the opportunity to talk about because everyday work gets in the way.

Establish a clear purpose for the retreat.

Office etiquette. What can you say about office etiquette, or lack thereof. Well…..plenty. It’s quite interesting that this subject always seems to be a topic of conversation. Why not visit it again………

You walk into a co-worker’s office, and see he/she is speaking to someone…
If you see the person you need to speak to is in with someone else, please don’t stand there and wait until they are done. Please don’t walk in and start talking. Be courteous. Stand at the door and ask the person to come by or call you when they are done.