A report of the themes and quotes shared by our Directors and Principals in listening events with our Managing Partner.
LISTENING TO OUR DIRECTORS & PRINCIPALS REPORT
Apr-June ‘21
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CONTENTS
PRIDE IN BDO
04
CULTURAL EVOLUTION
06
COLLABORATING FOR SUCCESS
08
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD PEOPLE MANAGERS
10
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
12
WELLBEING AND STRAIN
14
WORKLOAD AND RESOURCE
16
WORKING PATTERNS AND AGILE WORKING
20
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
22
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES AT SCALE CONNECTING INTO GLOBAL EXPERTS AND SUPPORT SPECIFIC REQUESTS MADE OF OUR PARTNERS OUR THANKS TO OUR DIRECTOR AND PRINCIPAL ATTENDEES
24
26
28
30
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AN INTRODUCTION
Between April and June ’21 – as BDO was operating predominantly as a fully- remote but fully-connected workforce and the UK began to ease out of its latest C-19 lockdown – our Managing Partner, Paul Eagland, wanted to hear about the experiences of our Directors and Principals. 80 Directors and Principals, organised by Stream or PMD cohorts, spent 90 minutes each sharing their views with Paul on post- COVID recovery, agile working, career development, wellbeing and our culture. This report summarises the themes of the listening events, as well as actions and ideas to be explored as a result. The Directors and Principals listening events are part of an ongoing series of Managing Partner listening events. Recent topics have included Gender Balance, with some of our female managers and above, and BDO’s Social Impact with our partners. Paul’s next listening event is with some of our trainees.
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PRIDE IN BDO
Whether they had been at BDO for five months or 35 years, our Directors and Principals felt positive – and strongly so – about BDO’s culture. Many of the groups cited that our culture helped us through C-19 Attendees tended to open the events by highlighting how well the firm has weathered the storm of the pandemic – including recognition of our Leadership Team’s handling of the crisis When asked if they felt listened to when they raised matters through their day jobs, the collective response was ‘yes’. Our culture is definitely different and refreshing and we should be proud of that. We’ve shown how well we have adapted, which means we know we can adapt again. “
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CULTURAL EVOLUTION
We discussed the implications on our culture of being a growing firm.
Some Directors have been at BDO for 20 years and have seen teams grow from four people to 200 people. Culture plays a big role in why they’ve stayed – and they appreciate that business and team growth naturally evolves that culture over time They want to ensure we guard against becoming ‘a faceless, corporate monolith’ as we grow The groups were keen that we give people confidence that we aren’t trying to become a Big Four, that we’re proud of who we are and that we don’t worry about who we aren’t They highlighted that the firm plays a role in this: knowing what we want to protect about our operating model and culture as we grow, and what we accept needs to change as we grow “ We need to recognise that there aren’t easy fixes to big commercial, cultural challenges.
For example, one Director highlighted: we pride ourselves on our entrepreneurial legacy and mindset, but the risk management and policies that come with being a bigger firm could counter that They discussed that they personally played a role in ensuring people don’t become a number on a timesheet of a larger firm. For example, by listening to the individuals and giving team members confidence to speak out They debated whether cultural evolution was such a big topic because of our recent growth, a year of remote working or looking ahead of agile working. They agreed it’s probably all of these
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The groups recognised that it’s challenging to know when to apply bespoke solutions that meet individual needs whilst also needing to operate consistently as a growing firm They value ongoing clarity about where local teams can flex central policies to ensure they can respond at the right moment to appreciate or respect people’s personal circumstances. How/when we were opening up our offices post- lockdown and why people couldn’t work overseas during lockdown were cited as common conversations that were challenging in teams.
NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS
Consider your team’s culture and your role in listening to them and encouraging them to speak up.
NEXT STEP FOR BDO The U Board to reflect on the points raised.
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COLLABORATING FOR SUCCESS
One Principal highlighted that we need to be alert to the continued encouragement of communities and collaborative relationships – particularly the creation of smaller communities that help people feel they belong and help them with their learning We all agreed this would require a lot of proactive effort to get it right – but people had faith that we could do it. NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS Reconnect with some of the people who attended the Listening Events with you to keep building relationships Consider your role in tapping into existing, or encouraging new, networking communities If you are interested in rekindling the Directors’ Network as a networking forum, please contact Sasha Molodstov who was one of the original architects. NEXT STEP FOR BDO Openly encourage and support cross-stream collaboration, networking and relationship-building Factor this desire for networking into the format for the next in-person Director and Principal Conference (tentatively scheduled for December ’21).
There is a hunger among the group to work cross-stream on client opportunities. They have a thirst to get to know the right people in BDO, both UK and globally They believe our culture is set up for them to achieve that; it was highlighted that our collaborative culture is a differentiator, as people genuinely want to give their time to each other to help others succeed They discussed the importance of peer-to-peer connectivity; they mentioned reinvigorating the Directors’ Network that was set up in c. 2015/16 And acknowledged they each had a responsibility to build up their own network, and that – whilst the business growth plans will give transparency on what each part of our business is focused on - ‘the firm’ couldn’t build personal relationships for them They shared many examples of how their part of the business is already working with others to help demystify what they do They also shared stories where remote working has helped them work with people in the firm they wouldn’t have done before, for example from different regions And they recognised that they’ll need
to pivot how they build relationships again in the coming months as we emerge from lockdown
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For me, BDO’s culture is all about relationships. That’s what keeps me here. And our clients want relationships too. Growing our firm shouldn’t change that – as long as we encourage the right behaviours to build and share relationships. “ We need to remember that the more we network, the more opportunities there will be. And we’ll then need to prioritise those opportunities once again. “
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IMPORTANCE OF GOOD PEOPLE MANAGERS
Some of the attendees felt that their partners will only get involved if something happens on the commercials or billings and wouldn’t have noticed all the people management that was happening behind the scenes As a Director and Principal group, they said they feel the pressure of focusing on commercials, productivity, utilisation and recovery whilst simultaneously delivery on people, culture, quality, risk and client service It was discussed that this is a tough skillset to have – and needs to be encouraged and recognised as just as vital as the major client wins One group wondered if everyone is clear on the difference between a People Manager and a Line Manager.
The key question was: how can we better support our People Managers, giving them the skills and relevance to help their team succeed? Every group raised the amount of time they do, or need to, spend on being a good People Manager But that they didn’t feel their partners recognised how much time it can take to do this well – particularly given C-19 wellbeing matters - and the overall value it brings Their perception is that recognition and progression is down to billings – but that the real risk to the future of a team is poor people management. Is there a dislocation between the imperative to be a good People Manager and a recognition or progression model that is based on chargeability or productivity? “ The value that’s put on our people versus the value that’s put on the people who look after those people is different.
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NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS
Continue to dedicate time to your People Management responsibilities Engage with the People Manager Support programme that will be launching later in 2021. NEXT STEP FOR BDO Utilise upcoming People Manager News to reiterate the support available for this group Finalise the People Manager Support programme to launch later in 2021 Evaluate a follow-up idea from Ben Heaton, in which Senior Managers and above could be given two performance ratings: one on business performance and the other on people management Remind People Managers of the role description in an upcoming issue of People Manager News, specifically addressing the ‘what’s the difference between a Line Manager and a People Manager’ question.
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WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
Our Transfer Pricing colleagues shared an initiative where they are looking at 1) Financial Objectives (e.g. number of chargeable hours) and 2) Quality Objectives (e.g. number of pre- allocated hours attached to BD, training, knowledge-sharing, people development) We also wondered how we can get comfortable that some of the important attributes can’t be easily measured. Measuring the micro, such as the number of meetings you set up for someone else, can take your focus away from the macro, for example building trust and collaboration. Don’t think that Directors or Principals are just about a financial game: we don’t want to do a good deed just to get recognition or a pay rise. “ Look after your good people and the good profits will follow. “
They recognised that Performance Development – and particularly Objective Setting and Performance Reviews – need to be anchored around what the firm, client, team and individual value the most This means that we need to make it very clear to people what we value the most in advance One of our Directors had left BDO for a period and then returned. During her time away, our AMP framework was introduced, which she saw as having had a marked difference on the quality of career conversations and production of good SMART objectives One group highlighted that our Values must help us here: can these behaviours have equal recognition to financial and quality contributions? The groups discussed at length how to balance qualitative and quantitative contributions – and how that might change in our new way to work.
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NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS Individual conversations: say an authentic thank you to your teams for the equal as well as the quant contributions Engage positively in the upcoming Performance Management period and encourage your teams to do the same. NEXT STEP FOR BDO Debate how our objective-setting can be anchored in some clear but broad concepts that factor in a number of priorities (e.g. quality, behaviours, business performance, people management). This will form part of a Performance Management Engagement project that our HR team is running Consider introducing a ‘Success Conversation’ for Autumn 2022 objective setting, in which we consider not just annual contributions or career development but what success overall means for that individual, including wellbeing, workload, lifestyle and citizenship Maintain a balance between thanking everyone for their role and rewarding high performers for their exceptional work Note: in the early sessions, we asked the Directors for their thoughts on how BDO should approach a C-19 bonus; their thoughts were taken into account by Paul and the Leadership Team for their decision-making.
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WELLBEING AND STRAIN
They acknowledged a rising number of more serious Wellbeing issues coming out of the pandemic amongst their teams They also recognised that this puts added pressure on People Managers, needing to be attune to this and knowing when the individual needs more professional wellbeing help How can we be better equipped as People Managers to deal with mental health now and in the future – both in skills, in time and in value? How do we ensure people don’t just speak up when they’re at breaking point? The Directors in particular voiced concern about managing multiple aspects of the team – from client delivery to people development to commercial management They raised that, when workload is high, people can become blinkered to deliver to deadline rather than be able to make the time for the people or cultural aspects of their role. NEXT STEP FOR BDO Maintain wellbeing as a cultural priority, including workload management and mental health Continue to train Mental Health First Aiders to be a support to People Managers Share Nadine Thomas’ personal story on Insite of how she faced up to a wellbeing event to change her behaviours, mindfully balance her habits and put them into practice.
They recognised there is a dilemma between having positive Wellbeing messages and campaigns with the reality of people’s workload or intensity with which they are working They agreed that BDO has definitely dialled up the message on the importance of Wellbeing in the last year which has been very welcome One group had an active debate about how to balance our focus on wellbeing against a drive for profitability; the majority vote was that wellbeing needs to continue being a business priority In particular, people feel they can be more open talking to partners about where people are struggling; this openness is a significant and welcome shift Each group raised wellbeing, workloads or resource within the first 20 minutes of the conversation starting. NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS To continue being open about your own wellbeing; there are people and resources available to help you To link in with one of our 60 trained Mental Health First Aiders to support you or a team member in their moment of need Talk to your partner and/or HR Manager about wellbeing concerns you see around you.
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We all signed up to work in our service industry. That’s because we want to be helpful and keep our clients happy. What good and bad working habits have we created as a result that we need to reconsider? “ ourselves that hard work shouldn’t automatically mean long hours; it’s time for us all to adjust again. “ As an auditor, I feel constantly under review by a regulator or internal check-and-balance. Whilst that’s got to be right for quality reasons, it is ever more pressure on me. “ I definitely think we can be a successful growth company that’s grounded in wellbeing and work-life balance. “ We each need to learn how to decompress again for ourselves. Remind
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WORKLOAD AND RESOURCE
The firm’s success and growth does come with both opportunities and challenges. All groups recognised there is a positive but very real challenge: we have a great brand with great people doing great work – but that gives us a number of resource dilemmas.
We also need to calm and inspire the people who aren’t leaving rather than just focus on those who are. Those who stay will start to reflect on their next step whilst also managing workload concerns caused by attrition Attendees also flagged that ‘capacity’ isn’t about just taking on new work. It’s also about having the capacity to service existing work, as we’re having to put in more effort to deliver on what we’ve currently got for either COVID or Quality reasons One attendee said that one of our biggest challenges is knowing what we can do with the capacity we have, and that under-charging is part of the culture in the industry not just BDO They shared examples where capacity issues were very real, for example, one team who recently used Flexi Force to buy in more time from another part of the firm that was higher than their own team costs.
SUPPLY SIDE: OUR PEOPLE, RESOURCE AND RECRUITMENT We acknowledged there are capacity issues across the whole profession, not just at BDO We continue to hunt out quality talent to boost our teams; we have 600 vacancies at the moment with c. 50 job offers made each week Flexi Force is a challenge because the spare capacity has now lessened We highlighted that the job market is very active at the moment, and that this will increase as the world opens up further. We need to be ready for this So we need to keep considering how we make ourselves attractive – which links to the firmwide priority of our People Proposition Some raised that there’s a perception of a significant pay gap between BDO and other competitors; our competitor benchmarking needs to be accurate and transparent
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DEMAND SIDE: HOW DO WE TEMPER THE DEMAND SIDE?
Despite the above, we still want to take on new business because of our personal long-term ambitions and perceived partner behaviour All agreed that more effort is needed to address that demand side, given there are obvious challenges on the supply side There were then many stories shared of steps that teams are actively taking to Frost are looking at how to release more time to help people deliver quality work – Leeds: identifying 10% of the portfolio for time input against recovery rate, giving us c. £1m of time back that we want to walk away from. This (‘Project Heartsink’) is a powerful message to assistant managers upwards; they are being firm on this particularly to support the managers address the resource challenge: – LAG: Simon Brooker and Julian
– NRES: the ‘Soul Stoppers’ programme to identify which jobs people don’t like working on and then apply the 4Rs – Southampton: produced an Independent Business Review pack on our 20 watch-list jobs and are then tracking the delivery of these; turned down a £1m job on 100% recovery for the team’s Wellbeing, which they publicised internally – Financial Services: policy in place that senior agreement is needed to take on a job of more than £50k This helped the group reach the conclusion that one size wouldn’t fit all when it came to workload and resource management. Instead, decision-makers need to keep being encouraged to reflect fully on any opportunity for the firm, as well as the specific teams or offices Paul confirmed that this is also the LT’s position: we are telling partners to be strategic; not to worry if we end up being short of work for a small period; please do the 4Rs; and concentrate on the quality resource.
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WORKLOAD AND RESOURCE
There is also a sense in audit that – even though less than £20m of our work is PIEs – the PIEs hijack the agenda because of the consequential impact on resource on mid-market clients They raised that the firm needs to do all it can to guard against this ultimately having a consequence on quality. SPOTLIGHT ON SUPPORTING EXPERTS We discussed how to ensure all our capabilities were in sync: ensuring we have sufficient so-called ‘back office’ capability of technical experts, as well as operational infrastructure, so we can deliver to the client needs The group highlighted that this is getting more professionalised, and specifically called out Anthony Appleton for his work here since he joined. NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS To continue discussing workload challenges and solutions with your partner group To be alert to, and have confidence in, Paul’s principle: wellbeing of our people and quality of our work are both imperative. If that means turning down new work opportunities, we must do that To ensure your teams are aware of internal job or development opportunities, for example internal secondments or new roles, so they don’t think that their next move has to be outside of BDO.
SPOTLIGHT ON AUDIT The resource discussion was particularly hot for the Audit Director group For example, one Director highlighted that her sector has 50 people at manager level or below and none of them have more than one-year qualified experience They wanted to hear from Paul how partners are incentivised when it comes to taking on new work, and who can ultimately make the decision to stop taking on any new work until we can deliver what we have on our plates now Paul highlighted c. £30m worth of audit work that he personally knows of that we have turned down for Wellbeing or ESG reasons – a principle that he actively supports and openly promotes with leaders and partners There was a sense that there’s a difference in partners saying they want to do the right thing – for example a 4Rs programme – with the reality that they are still driven to hunting out new work The Directors also feel a drive to grow their own portfolio to bank their future success, which means driving business development and relationships that they doubt the firm can currently deliver on One attendee recommended that we need dedicated routes to upskilling our manager population to take on these complex jobs. They said that they currently look to the same good ten FS audit managers to deliver the hardest jobs, which isn’t sustainable
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In a world where we want to do everything, what gives? “ Huddle. We run through what work has come in, what time people have within their working pattern and what skills each individual has or is developing, and how we can therefore share the workload between everyone. “ In Service Charge Accounting, we gather our 16 people together in a Daily It feels like our current resourcing strategy is to move resource day-by- day and week-by-week based on whichever client shouts the loudest. “
NEXT STEP FOR BDO To ask our partners what further support they need in managing the workflow – current and new - across their teams, including supporting functions, with a ‘one firm’ mentality To continue our focus on our People Proposition, which is now a firmwide priority Within this, recognise the importance of retention and meaningful 1:1 discussions and engagement with everyone about their career, workload, health and wellbeing We are embarking on a number of projects related to our People Proposition. These include a review of how we reward and recognise our people, robust competitor benchmarking, and hiring a strategic workforce planning expert to help us plan our long-term resourcing strategy The LT has identified Succession Planning as an area of focus. This should go beyond just succession planning for senior roles in the partnership but also to which individuals will form the next generation of Directors and Principals.
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WORKING PATTERNS AND AGILE WORKING
There was appreciation of BDO’s flexibility and ‘no pressure’ approach to the C-19 roadmap, as ‘people don’t want extra pressure placed on them.’ There is also eagerness to get into the details of how agile working will work – and a keenness to see the framework and guidance when it is ready.
In the meantime, the groups discussed that they can start to do their personal reflections and continue team conversations about this, as it will be a long process of behaviour change and experimentation All groups acknowledged the role that our culture and trust has played in team success during lockdown People have had diverse experiences: some have had a wonderful experience working from home; others have had the opposite People have become honest about the bad habits they’ve adopted The Directors and Principals discussed that their role as team leaders is to give team members permission and encouragement to address that. For example, asking them how they ‘book-end’ their days so they switch on and off from work whilst at home The groups said that we all need each other’s help and thoughts to keep dealing with this. It’s both personal and collective responsibility for how we each adapt and help others adapt again to work out what our ‘productive patterns’ are and, if they feel they need it, that they have the permission to build new routines
And that – as Directors and future partners of the business – they can role model the right behaviours by showing good behaviours, who they really are, and their vulnerability We also need to keep close to our clients to understand how they want to be worked with It currently feels that every interaction we have is scheduled due to Microsoft Teams meetings. There is recognition that this will start to shift in the next phase which will ease some of the intensity The Principals in particular called out that they had missed the ‘photocopier/watercooler’ moments – for relationship-building, business development and socialising There were concerns shared about people’s skills development in a remote world, with a specific example shared where individuals’ development has slowed because of a lack of face-to-face coaching or ‘learning by osmosis’ The group discussed how we can help seniors to understand the need for them to play their part in agile working to help develop the trainees.
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The trust that teams have built up is phenomenal. We must do all we can not to destroy that with the simplest of wrong word, decision, policy or behaviour. “ We were respectful of people’s time before C-19. We were respectful of people’s time during C-19. And we’ll be respectful of people’s time after C-19. “ In C-19, personal dynamics have changed and we’re recalibrating what’s important to us. My child’s school teacher now knows who I am; I’d never normally meet them in a ‘normal’ year as I’d be commuting every day. “ We have proved that we’re capable of making it work – but now we don’t know how to slow the treadmill. “
NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS
To actively and positively engage in the Agile Working framework and guidance when it is released To acknowledge that Day One of Agile Working is just the start; it will be a period of change as we each get used to what it means for individuals, teams, clients and culture To familiarise yourself with material available on Workday learning, for example there are courses to support you with team-management and self-management To sign up, and encourage your team to sign up, to the Succeeding Through Change programme of webinars that are running in July and August. NEXT STEP FOR BDO Allow time for people to digest the Agile Working framework – and to encourage partners, directors and principals to have plenty of conversations with individuals and teams as they work their way through it Consider creating an etiquette guide about how to work in the new world, for example using headphones on Teams calls when in the office (‘I don’t want to hear both sides of a meeting that I’m not even in’) and how to use each Agile Working space in the Hubs.
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INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Some of the attendees referred to the overwhelming amount of information, data, knowledge and communications that people work through each day.
For example, one individual receives three prompts a week to do their timecards: one from their Team Leader, one from their Stream and one from their regional SBU Another example shared was what it feels like to receive BDO Global messages, an LT message, a Head of Stream message, a Head of Region message, a Head of Department message and a Head of Team message, on top of functional BAU messages There was appreciation that effective levels of communication is vital to business success Some people responded well to having reminders – for example when one Lead Partner summarises what the key things that people need to focus on in their weekly call – whereas others think that multiple reminders are unnecessary They acknowledged there would be another shift in this as we move to hybrid and agile working. For example, if you’re in a Hub collaboration zone for a day, you may have hundreds of emails waiting for you from people working at their laptop at home.
Ideas or personal experiences shared included:
– Promote new ‘rules of engagement’: how to use the different methods of individual and team communications (e.g. use of Teams, phone calls and emails) in an Agile Working world – Teams calls are 30 minutes, phone calls are five minutes; encourage people to choose their method of contact carefully
– Consider ‘no Teams Fridays’ (or similar) in your own team
– Avoid the Email Avalanche: consider our personal email behaviours, given the number of hours spent clearing emails where we have been cc’d without good cause – Encourage local lead partners to provide short weekly blasts that are amplified by monthly local ones. Emails are like a computer game with no ending and no prize, so why are we all so addicted? “
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NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS
Reflect on your personal methods of sharing and receiving information or contacting your teams Check-in with your teams on what information-sharing and levels of communication they would like to receive from you Consider your personal email behaviours and impact on others If you have any thoughts on how to improve the fortnightly Director and Principal Bulletin (the method by which we divert central, non-time- sensitive but important information to you), please share these with Nicola Lally. NEXT STEP FOR BDO Centrally, do all we can to avoid initiative and information fatigue Support the Ops Board as it considers our knowledge, data and information channels Carefully balance team, local, stream and central communications Continue to consider the volume of information that people have in their personal lives, receiving 1.7GB of data every second of our lives. To get this right as a central team will require prioritisation at a strategy level and ruthless editing at a tactical level.
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OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AT SCALE
We need to ensure our IT and technical support continues to work effectively and doesn’t take up a disproportionate amount of time and becoming a barrier to our efficiency and source of frustration People’s personal experiences differed: Groups surfaced an apparent disconnect between what our IT team is achieving at a long-term strategic level with the day-to-day experience of IT. some thought we are far advanced compared to other firms they have worked for; others thought our IT is one of our biggest blockers to success as they witness large chunks of time being spent on IT problems. One person spent an average of five hours a week on IT problems – either their own or their teams’ problems. They concluded that they’d like to have greater clarity on how to get things done and how to reach the experts who can help them unblock an IT problem as quickly as possible They see value in promoting who in IT to go to for different matters, and promoting the brilliant range of IT skills we have within that department They discussed that there’s a balance between the automation of ‘self-help’ that is time- and cost-efficient for a large business, with the desire, perceived need or real need for personalised support
One Director had seen a benefit of identifying a tech-savvy person who could act as a link between their team and IT A Principal supported that having more local operational specialists could help to take the burden off fee-earners and leaders Another Director has written a list of IT people she can go to for different matters. SPECIFIC EXAMPLES INCLUDED: Numeric: A challenge in enlisting IT’s support to help with software vendor requirements for clients One team member who couldn’t finalise any work for two weeks as their laptop broke at a time when there weren’t spare laptops and it took time to build the new laptop One team member’s laptop shut down 22 times in one day One team is currently having to raise 200 manual bills a month plus 200 nil manual bills a month as a temporary fix to a Workday challenge IT Service Desk relay: examples when an IT Service Desk ticket has bounced between a number of people on the desk before it is addressed.
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A SPOTLIGHT ON CLIENT TAKE-ON In one group, we heard of a challenge with Client Take-On and our current SSC model In Valuations, there was a powerful experience shared about the personal implications of working through the CTO and Project Code process – where is has reduced team members to tears - as well as client delivery implications. NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS Continue to raise IT issues with the IT Service Desk for immediate support Paul has asked a group of the Principals who attended the listening event (Ashley Carter, Shawn Healey, Malcolm Pengelly, Charles Pascoe) to work together to build a case study of examples of issues they have faced and recommendations, which we can review with our CIO, Head of IT and Ops Board Where you can, please bear in mind that BDO sends 48 million emails a week and our IT Service Desk deals with 46,000 IT incidents a year, so we need to be patient at times.
NEXT STEP FOR BDO Consider the idea raised by a number of Principals to reinstate the ‘Dealing with IT issues’ timecode so we have a clearer idea of how much time we collectively spend in this area Consider the idea raised about an IT ‘how to fix it’ promotional campaign: ‘Don’t suffer in silence on IT issues: here’s what to do if you have an IT problem’ Consider the idea the one Principal had: iPads should be given to senior staff, given the quality of that technology in an agile world; this feedback will be passed to the team reviewing our IT equipment programme that is being adopted as we shift to Agile Working Reflect on the best balance of face-to- face support versus self-help as we switch to Agile Working Urgently review the CTO/SSC experience that has happened in Valuations. We seem to like designing IT products fit for super tankers but forget that some pockets of the firm just want a working fishing boat. “
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CONNECTING INTO GLOBAL EXPERTS AND SUPPORT
The groups recognised the importance of being part of a $10bn global organisation – but that there are specific areas we can address to ensure a positive experience.
One of the groups explored whether the BDO Global organisation is yet really set up to deal with major global clients. The example given was of tension between UK and Germany in dealing with master services agreement to have one contract with BDO One specific question was: do we get the right people from the right streams in place to design the MSAs? One group also discussed our offshoring strategy. A Director with smaller clients thought this was a reputational challenge; those with larger clients understood it was necessary
There was agreement that there is finite resource in the UK so there does need to be a solution And, if offshoring is here to stay, we know it works well when everyone is well-trained to do a quality job and are dedicated to specific areas so they feel part of the team. This will give people confidence One example given was where a team can map out resource needs for the next year, engage with BDO global offices to organise medium-to-long-term secondments and get them into the team.
NEXT STEP FOR BDO To ensure the topic of Global Client Strategy remains on the Global Board’s agenda; Paul Eagland will do this To pass the insight onto Julian Frost, Chair of the Global Markets Taskforce, whose ambition is to ensure we are set up globally to win and deliver truly global work To pass the perceptions of offshoring to Mark Cardiff, who is leading Resourcing 2.0 for the Audit Executive.
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SPECIFIC REQUESTS MADE OF OUR PARTNERS
PARTNER BEHAVIOUR IS PARAMOUNT
ROLE MODELLING AND OPENNESS It’s important that partners understand and support the new Agile Working framework, so the Directors and Principals can follow this ‘tone from the top’. An example was given of one partner saying “I support agile working; I will be very flexible as a leader; but I’ll always be in the office” which is giving mixed messages to the team working with them.
Our Directors and Principals see, and need to see, our partners living our Values – especially when it comes to Be Yourself. They want partners to continue living our Values and openly holding people to account if others aren’t doing the same.
COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP
HELP DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS TO SAY NO
Some Directors weren’t sure of how their partners wanted to lead and run their teams, and therefore how the Director could help. For example, they didn’t know if the partners’ wellbeing check-in calls were something they really wanted to do or if it was a tick-box exercise they were being forced to do centrally.
Listen to your Directors and Principals on a number of business areas – from people management to client service to operational ideas. And, in particular, listen to them on wellbeing and resource challenges, where the simple solution can be to run the 4R programme.
NEXT STEP FOR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS To reflect on what this report means for your personal interaction, style of leadership and your individual action.
NEXT STEP FOR BDO To share this report with All Partners, Directors and Principals.
29 BDO LLP | LISTENING TO OUR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS
To see Paul Eagland say in a video to 6,000 people that he needs to go for a daily walk or a cycle to look after his mental health is huge. It really helps others when senior people openly acknowledge challenges and vulnerabilities. “ A partner asking me how it had gone with taking my autistic son to his new school blew me away. I wasn’t used to my old employers even remembering I had a son, let alone the rest. “ I’m a person first, not a tax professional – and I think my partners know that. “ WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE PAUL EAGLAND FOR 30 MINUTES? Panic for 25 minutes… Tell everyone to shut off their laptops for 30 minutes and go for a walk Concentrate on giving people time back rather than worrying about whether they get paid enough Delete a proportion of our clients that we don’t want off the system Encourage people to be more empathetic of others by asking three things: How are you? What do you have on your plate? What does success look like for you.
30 LISTENING TO OUR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS | BDO LLP
OUR THANKS TO OUR DIRECTOR AND PRINCIPAL ATTENDEES
Hakan Henningsson Andrew Stewart Ben Henton Caroline Jones Catherine Whitelam Chris Morgan Effie Karamani Gabriel Fuenmayor Helen Griffiths Helen Humphries Karmjit Mader Mark Seaden Marin Callaghan Nuala McLaughlin Victoria Cook Wayne Dutton Yuri Hamano Martin Anastasov Aimee Winterbone
Kevin Lamb Kiri Holland Maria Mason
James Newman Jill MacRae Lucie Kingdom Mark Hutton Mark Spencer Moses Serfaty Neil Ebdon Peter Duffy Rachel Brittain Sakib Isa Shabbir Somani Stuart Godfrey Ashley Carter Andrew Statham Charles Pascoe Chris Carle Clare Windsor Diane Elliott Jon Dee Malcolm Pengelly Nick Duffin Philip Reynolds Shawn Healy Stephen Cooney Tim Hall Vicky Robertson
Nicola Walker Rachel Turner Rebecca McClure Sandeep Mohan Sasha Molodstov Satvir Bungar Silvana di-Finizio Alex Traill Anne Daniels Ben Peterson Binit Shah Kristinah Samy Laura Stuffins Michael Shears Nadine Hill Peter Cheng Rashpal Virdee Tannyth Bush Tom Robinson Tu Tang Aphrodite Lefevre Gail Lamb Jack Draycott
Alisa Voznaya Andriy Lazarev Andy Hucknall Claire Taylor Craig Davies
Elizabeth McGovern Graeme Gladstone
SUPPORTED BY OUR HR COLLEAGUES: Rebecca Claridge
Hosted by Paul Eagland, and attended by Wendy Walton (Principals event) and Nicola Lally.
Sian Edginton Alex Garnett Joanna Collins Anita Murthy
31 BDO LLP | LISTENING TO OUR DIRECTORS AND PRINCIPALS
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
PAUL EAGLAND +44 (0)783 155 9549 paul.eagland@bdo.co.uk NICOLA LALLY +44 (0)758 101 9870 nicola.lally@bdo.co.uk
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