This Might Be the Reason Why EY Employees Did Not Get a Mid-Year Salary Adjustment
Let’s wildly speculate as to why EY was the only Big 4 firm not to give their employees some sort of mid-year raise. You might recall that EY leadership told their people the reason why they didn’t give out salary adjustments is because the firm is already the market leader in salaries among the Big […]
Half-Assed, Half-Baked, Better-Late-Than-Never Predictions For Accounting In 2022
Hello. Yes, long time no speak. Since there’s been a global pandemic going on, I’ve been taking it extra easy. No need to exert myself when no one else is. Oh, you have been exerting yourselves? I get that being stuck home hasn’t been great for a lot of people, and lots of accountants don’t […]
7 (Mostly Terrible) Predictions for the Accounting Profession in 2019
Hi. Me again. It’s been awhile since we’ve met here. I can’t make any promises, but I hope to pop in now and again in 2019. Plus, Adrienne asked me nicely and she never asks for anything nicely, so here we are. Speaking of that request, it went more or less like this: AG: Would […]
What Will Be the Greatest Issue to Impact the Accounting Profession in 2019?
Around this time of year, we all inevitably start thinking about the year behind and the year ahead. Maybe we swear to do better come January, maybe we say fuck it and don’t change a thing. Whatever your approach to the stroke of midnight, it’s tempting to think about what issues might affect the profession in […]
Future Associate Wants to Know What to Expect From His Firm (That We Can’t Say, Definitively, Is CliftonLarsonAllen) That Is Merging
Ed. note: Are you in the throes of holiday cheer but deep in the belly of career jeer? Email us at [email protected], we’ll lend you an ear.
Hey GC,
I’ll try to keep this short and to the point.
I’ll be starting my career soon with a firm that will be merging with another. Should I be wary of anything that could change on my end?
Thanks!
The first question to cross my mind was “what firms are merging?” Caleb suggested that our contributor could be from CliftonLarsonAllen, covered on Going Concern last month. Poor Gunderson. But yes, mergers (MERGERS!) can be fun/daunting/HR headaches/swag gold mines. Below are a few things to expect.
Client Coddling: Priority #1 in any merger is for the partners to assure their clients’ confidence in the new, stronger firm. Employee cross-over from one firm to the other’s engagements can be expected on the lower levels, but expect partners to remain active on their respective clients.
Crash Courses in Firm Lingo: Here come the HR tutorials. Acronyms – the lifeblood to any public accounting firm – will have to be efficiently combined. More so, understanding what “the other guys” do is very important from a sales perspective. Understanding the merger’s strengths will not only be beneficial in making current employees confident and comfortable with the merger, but they will be prepared to answer the inevitable client question of, “why did you merge with THEM?”
IT/HR headaches: “Who do I call for computer questions?” “Who is my HR contact?” “Are we UPS or FedEx now?” “How do we submit T&E?” There are bound to be efficiencies in the day-to-day operations of the newly merged. But, inefficiencies in the short term will hopefully lead to long-term improvements.
SWAG: Let’s end this dance on a good note. HR should be ordering up all kinds of stylish pens, travel sized 10 keys, and XXL hoodless sweatshirts. Most of the goodies will be slated to hit cover the desks of clients to keep them in the loop of Gunderson’s departure from the picture. However, look out for your office’s HR professional at the holiday party (i.e. – get them wasted) and see if they’ll hook you up with some of the leftovers.