The HR team from Anders is substantial. They have members who are very specialized and have gotten really good at what they do. On the Summit side, we are a smaller, nimble team, so we are a bit more like general practitioners. Jen Sides and Sara Beck, Anders Chief People Officer and HR Manager respectively, and I have spent dozens and dozens of hours together, working through every single Taking Our ‘People Processes’ To The Next Level Human Resources JOSH JEANS
In our new post- merger configuration, we want to give all our accountants a choice as to which path to pursue within the company. But more than that, we want to help them determine how they are growing in their current seat and how they are going to continue to grow into it. We need to focus on working to make our consultants better consultants and our VCFOs better VCFOs. Once we know the full details of each person’s role and responsibility in the coming months, we’ll have the lens to look at how we coach them, how we develop them, and how we continue to have those one-on- one conversations.”
hard and soft skills. All our new hires get a technical trainer to help learn our systems, peer support, and a project manager. In addition to that, Zach Montroy and I do one-on-one, non-technical coaching for our senior accountants and Zach does the same for our Virtual CFOs. We work on how to build and troubleshoot relationships with clients—skills that are not often addressed in traditional coaching programs in our industry. We also have a people specialist who helps do career-pathing and personal and professional development; they’re there to care for our staff. That’s something that we do on our team that’s unique in the accounting space, and its success reflects in the exceptional scores of our VCFO department in our amplifier survey. OAS has embraced our coaching model, and I think we’ll see it spread further throughout the firm as we move forward. The fact that Summit’s values are being preserved—and spread—through this merger allows us to reassure prospective hires and current employees that we’re still unique in the accounting space. There are some small nuances that have changed, but our day-to-day approach, working style and culture are still Summit.
“people process” to bring the two together. We consider: Do we create a new process or choose one of our existing processes? And, if so, can we just make the switch or do we need a middle step to help people adjust? We take a best practices approach and leave pride aside. Summit’s hiring and recruiting process is fully remote, which will enhance Anders current recruiting model. Currently, Anders recruitment model is built off of two things: a thick undergraduate pipeline for junior hires, and a strong presence in the greater St. Louis area for experienced hires. Their practices work well for in-person hires, but we’re going to use Summit’s well-oiled machine to help in the area of remote hiring. When it comes to coaching and career development, Anders has a great formal system of tracking and feedback, so I’m currently getting up to speed on that technology. Summit also brings to the table a very successful coaching model that incorporates
One of the great benefits of the merger has been the growth of the firm. Of course, we’ve had some challenges as it relates to HR, such as integrating fully remote team members into a hybrid culture, geographic expansion across multiple states, onboarding/ offboarding of fully remote team members, and recruit- ment strategy alignment. Overall, it has been a great experience working with Summit’s HR team. Having weekly meetings has been helpful with staying connected and informed of ongoing in- tegration efforts. As we look ahead, I look forward to fully aligning the culture, values, missions and visions of Summit and Anders to ensure we are continually building a culture where happy people deliver outstanding results for our clients and communities.”
-ZACH MONTROY (SUMMIT)
-JEN SIDES (ANDERS)
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