Culture Matters: Building the Wise Firm

Long before I chose to major in accounting, I was made aware of a very concerning stigma. Women in the corporate world don’t make it to the top and IF you do, you have to be a special kind of women to break the ominous glass ceiling. The kind with no family obligations, limited personal life and widely disliked. And, if you can’t relate to that, then be prepared to earn half the salary of your male coworkers and have little chance at promotion.

I’ve always been inspired by people who have successful careers, are at the top of their game and then throw caution to the wind by selling everything they have, cutting ties to their old life and pursuing a long-standing dream in their new-found freedom. Doesn’t simply reading those stories fill you with a sense of amazement and inspire you, even if for a brief moment? Seeing their faces when they tell their stories, with an infectious grin from ear to ear, that's the passion and all-in attitude we need in the workplace today. 

Occasionally my church encourages a special dress for Sunday worship service. This could be anything from “wear pink for breast cancer awareness” to “Spirit Sunday” where we dress up in our favorite team’s regalia. Well, imagine one’s dismay when she missed the memo and walks in and instantly feels out of place. It’s that feeling of wearing red when everyone else is wearing black; donning jeans when everyone else is in a suit; having curly hair when everyone else’s hair is straight; being a black female when everyone else is a white male. It’s that feeling of being different. Welcome to my world as a professional in public accounting. 

A few days ago, I had a crazy-wonderful, unexpected client service experience. Feeling inspired by our executive partner’s blog last week, The Desire to Serve: Are You Delivering an Unrivaled Experience?, I felt compelled to share it with you.

A few months ago, our HORNE team launched a feedback movement designed to help us capitalize on our greatest opportunity, GROWTH.  As we all work together to build the Wise Firm, the most critical component to each of our building blocks is the growth of our team members. That means being fully engaged in our personal growth and development while helping our fellow team members grow and develop. This is the only way we will all reach our full potential.  Feedback helps us accelerate this growth. And accelerating the growth of our team members is vital to our firm’s success. 

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..."

A co-worker recently shared an online shopping experience with me. She purchased a high-end, metal water bottle online and it arrived scratched. She emailed the company about the scratch and returning the water bottle. Within minutes, she received an apology with notification that a replacement would be shipped out that same day. She emailed the company again and asked how to return the scratched water bottle. They just told her to keep it and asked that she recycle it if she didn’t want to keep it. 

I’ll never forget my first job after college. I had co-workers that felt like family, and a true sense of belonging. Though happy, I began to question the growth opportunities in my position.

I was young in the workforce and eager for more. So, I began the job search again and landed a position with a national company. I got the chance to learn more, do more and grow more. Yet, at the end of the day, I still wasn’t happy. I was simply just a blip on an 80,000+ employee radar and lacked a sense of belonging.

As a talent recruiter for the firm, that is a question I get a lot.  And, quite honestly, I think there are a lot of reasons I could tell you. We each connect our personal purpose to the Horne accounting firm in different ways. For me, it’s the Wise Firm we’re building. But, instead of sharing only my opinion, I’d like to share what other team members are saying.

You see, we actually asked our team members, “What makes HORNE a place where people want to work?”  The top three answers were 1.) Fearless Unrivaled Flexibility 2.) Belonging at HORNE and 3.) a “beBetter” mindset.