Ultra CGA

“Peak performance is difficult to achieve when partners or employees do not have absolute confidence
in the leadership and direction of the firm.” Steve Erickson
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Partners, Get on the Same Page!
Improve partner relationships and watch your firm’s performance and
profits soar
By Steve Erickson
Ihear a very common concern from
employees in many of the firms I visit.
“The partners are not all on the same
page. In fact many of the partners
openly disagree or criticize other partners.”
If you were an employee in one of these
firms, how would you feel? Maybe a little
fearful or concerned about the future and
how partner differences might negatively
impact your career?
Your staff will leave if they think their
future is in question at your firm, and they
will not give your clients the level of service
you expect. The old saying “Happy people
work better than unhappy people” applies
to employees as well as partners.
I have surveyed more than a thousand
partners and I have discovered a direct correlation
between the level of trust among
partners and firm profitability. If the level of
trust and respect is high, profitability is also
high – and just the opposite is true when
trust and respect are low. While this might
seem to be common sense, achieving trust
can be hard to accomplish. I have come to
the conclusion that many partner relationships
face conditional barriers to trust
Steve Erickson is a nationally recognized
consultant to accounting
firms, specializing in resolving the
partner and people issues that limit
the success of professional service
firms. He speaks frequently at national
and international conferences
and has been listed as one of the ten
most recommended consultants in
the United States by INSIDE Public
Accounting. He writes extensively
for professional publications and is
frequently quoted in national news
and professional periodicals.
depending on profitability and income.
If partners are making money, they will
trust and respect each other. Absent that,
they will withhold judgment and question
motives. Peak performance is difficult to
achieve when partners or employees do
not have absolute confidence in the leadership
and direction of the firm.
You can take deliberate steps to remove
these conditional barriers to success. Doing
business as usual and paying lip service
to the issues will not facilitate change. A
leadership and culture intervention is the
place to start.
Hold a Partner Summit
I call this a summit as it is about firm
strategy at the very highest level, and it
emphasizes the urgency and importance
of these matters. This is not about the “soft”
stuff; it is about the “smart” and important
stuff that really makes you money.
Adopt a Partner “Code of
Conduct”
Typical subjects include behaviour, time
and billing requirements, scheduling and
resource management, and adherence to
systems and processes. The approved Code
of Conduct must be supported by leadership.
If the partners don’t follow the rules, is
it realistic to think employees will? Partners
must “walk the talk.”
Adopt or Re-emphasize your
Firm’s Core Values
Many core value statements are overly
complex and not followed in daily practice.
Pick three or four non-negotiable core
values and live them every day, no excep-
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