Career profile: Chief Executive of a charity

Posted by & filed under Career, Career profiles.

What’s it like to run a charity? Sian Broughton (MAAT) became CEO of East Riding Voluntary Action Services at 32 years of age.

Sian Broughton (MAAT) is CEO of East Riding Voluntary Action Services (ERVAS), supporting charitable, voluntary and community sector organisations across the East Riding of Yorkshire. As many of these organisations are small, they don’t have the resources to pay for staff teams with all the skills required – ERVAS offers infrastructure support.

What does your role entail?

I have a very wide remit. As well as day-to-day financial management responsibilities, I handle legislation compliance, sustainability, funding and contracts, information governance and quality review. I’m also Company Secretary, so I prepare annual returns and Annual Reports. So I’m busy, and there is no slowdown!

How did you develop your career?

Actually, when I left school I had no idea about what I wanted to do. I did a BTEC Travel and Tourism diploma but soon decided it wasn’t for me so I went onto an HND in business studies – both times, finance was my strongest subject. After I had my daughter at 20, I worked part-time for a small charity where I had responsibility for admin and finance. Whilst there I decided to study AAT as it was a great way to progress in finance, and I started at Level 3 [Advanced Diploma in Accounting] because of the experience I already had. After being made redundant, I became finance and payroll officer for another charity, continued AAT to Level 4 [Professional Diploma in Accounting] and then full membership.

How does being qualified help with your salary?

In the first place, being qualified enabled me to get the job – I wouldn’t be here without qualifications. I was very conscious that I was in a highly responsible position at the age of 26 and the salary is appropriate. However, the charity sector is not as well-paid as the private sector or even the statutory sector – for all the responsibilities I have, it would be higher elsewhere. I work here because it gives me immense job satisfaction, freedom and flexibility – I can juggle home, work and life.

What fears have you overcome as you’ve built your career?

People have always thought me older than I am; I was CEO at 32 so considered very young. I knew I had the skills but worried about being taken seriously because of my age. Also, a lot of high-powered people tend to be male and I did encounter stereotyping around women – especially young women – that I had to get past. But, I got there. More recently, with austerity cuts a new level of tension has come in. Financially we are very reliant on grants; and when there was a big change in local authority policy, we were left struggling financially. However, we are working on turning that around by diversifying income streams.

Sian’s CV

2005: The Forge Project Limited part-time as Centre Administrator
2006: Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire as Finance Officer (part-time)
2007: MAAT
2008: Joined ERVAS as Finance Manager/Community Accountant
2011: Became Chartered with CIMA and gained Diploma in Charity Accounting
2014: Acting Chief Executive (Job Share)
2015: CEO

What else have you experienced on your journey?

I’m extremely proud to work in the voluntary sector and love the work that I do. At any time, a person can be touched by an act of charity; when you are feeling at your lowest point it can be a great support blanket. My son was born nine weeks premature and had many problems including a perforated bowel which required life-saving surgery. I had to prepare for him not making it; and I wasn’t in control of what could happen. My life was touched by Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, Tommy’s, Bliss and Steps – they do amazing work and I am so thankful. So it feels very rewarding to work in the charity field where you really feel your work makes a difference.

Any other tips for professionals wanting to develop their accountancy career?

Accountancy is a career choice – it isn’t just for people from an affluent background. As a child I was brought up by a single parent on a low income, we had to flee domestic violence and I had to work from a young age in order to do the things I wanted. I was even homeless for a short time prior to becoming qualified. My attitude has been that these things have made me stronger but vitally, they’ve given me the skills to talk to people with a non-judgemental attitude and explain difficult concepts in straightforward ways. Many people from my background have struggled. Working in accountancy has given me security.

Tips for climbing the career ladder

1. Work hard but be personable

Qualifications and experience are essential, but a less appreciated quality is your
personality. Being a well-rounded person and having empathy is vital. It’s not just
about what you’ve done professionally, it’s about how you can help other people. I
say this because I’ve seen other people who have gone through training but then
still struggle to get employed.

2. See yourself as part of a team

Rather than being an individual doing a particular job, see how you can help the
wider business. For me, that’s about being involved in the community and seeing
what kind of difference you can make.

3. Distinguish yourself from your peers

When I moved to ERVAS I was only 26 and no one really knew about finance. So
the systems needed a lot of sorting out and I had to take full responsibility for that.
It can be isolating, especially in a small organisation where other people don’t
necessarily have the same skills – but it was a huge opportunity, and it was
important to see it as such.

How to make money while you sleep

Posted by & filed under Employers, Run your business.

Productisation is a powerful strategy which can give you a low-risk way of scaling your business. This process involves turning skills you offer into a product, which clients can just pick off the shelf.

Your business can then generate income relatively independently, so you can essentially make money while you sleep.

Why productise your service?

Most sole traders or self-employed people start off with one big goal; get enough work to generate your target income.

When you have achieve this, there are a few options for scaling your business even further.

1. Increase your rates

Charge more for your services to increase your income. Be aware though, there will be a limit to how often, and by how much, you can increase your rates without losing customers.

2. Grow the business by taking on more staff

More staff means you can have more people serving clients per hour, theoretically generating more money for the business. This doesn’t come without risk though, especially if you have to outlay for things like salaries, equipment and larger premises while you are trying to gain more clients.

3. Productise your service

It may take some time to gain momentum, but productising is a relatively low-risk and low-cost way of scaling your business. At it’s root, it’s simply a way of structuring your offerings to make them more strictly defined and self-contained.

Actor and businessman, Sir Michael Caine convinced his good friend Vidal Sassoon to productise his offering in the 1950s.

“I told him that he must have something that is working for him while he slept. I told him he had to make hair care products,” Sir Michael Caine to the New York Times.

The strategy obviously worked extremely well for Vidal Sassoon – who launched globally successful hair care products, as well as opening training academies and even more salons worldwide.

The benefits of productisation

As well as there being no limits to how much money you can make, there are even more advantages of productisation.

  • You can launch a product really quickly.
  • You can automate the whole process with an online system for clients.
  • You don’t need to deal with clients, saving time in the long-run.
  • The product doesn’t rely on you as the business owner to make money.
  • You get paid straight away.
  • You’re building an income-generating asset that you could sell later down the line.

Robo-advice as a product: Large financial institutions like Natwest have productised their advisory service, through the use of robo-advice. Customers can now interact with an automated system to get investment advice. This works well because the system can generate pre-recorded advice based on financial information.
Read more on robo-advice here.

What could you productise?

There are a few things you can productise in any business in order to start making money while you sleep.

1. Productise your service

When prospects visit your website they really want to know two things – what you do and how much it costs. By turning your service into a product you could streamline, automate and outsource parts of the process which would allow you to scale.

2. Make resources for others

Share your knowledge on bookkeeping, accountancy by writing guides or books. These can be produced as PDF documents, or self-published to be downloaded from your website and other platforms like Amazon, for a fee.

3. Create courses

Think of it as a form of recorded, general consultancy. Pick a topic you know well, and put together a course which you can resell. It’ll be beneficial for your brand if this topic is related to your business, as it sets you up as an expert in the field.

4. Design your own software

Perhaps you have an idea for a new software product that could help people in your industry. There may be initial costs for outsourcing the actual software/creation, and long-term marketing, but you’ll have created something that potentially generates income without much interference.

Day Accountants of Cambridgeshire identified consultancy work as their most valuable service, so they automated what they could to allow more time for consultancy.

“The way accountancy is going, the compliance work is more and more looking after itself. The consultancy side is … a complete change in terms of what you can offer and that develops into longer-lasting relationships and less client turnover,” explains Julian Day, Director.

What services could you productise?

How to productise your service

Productised services are packaged up and sold like products. To turn your service offering into a product it will need to have these features:

  • a clear definition of exactly what the product is and the benefits
  • a fixed price
  • when it will be delivered.

When you have created your product you’ll need to work out where and how you are going to sell it. You’ll either need e-commerce functionality to sell it via your own website (or create an e-commerce website with a tool like Squarespace), or you can sell it via a third party website (like Amazon).

Don’t be scared to launch a ‘minimum viable product’ early so that you can test the process and improve it as you go. You’ll need to be prepared to dedicate time to the activities of creating and improving your products as well as promoting them.

Promoting your product

Hopefully, you created your product with a clear target market in mind. Now’s the time to tell those people about it, through marketing.

Build a network of people to help you shout about it (social media is great for this), create content about your new product for your website and consider using paid ads.

Read more on marketing tools you could use here.

Use your email database and work on growing this database. A good way to do this is by creating a free downloadable product and asking people if they’d like to sign up to your database when they download it.

In summary

If you’re stuck in a rut with your business and wondering how to grow further, productisation could be a great option. It’s a bit of marketing, and a bit of psychology, but should streamline the buying process for your clients so you make money while you sleep.

For more on growing your business:

Unconscious bias: are we pre-programmed to select people that are like us?

Posted by & filed under Social mobility.

We may all think that we’re progressive, modern professionals, but the fact is that there is no escaping our unconscious biases.

Whether a bias is related to gender, sexuality, race, age or multiple other factors, workplace decisions are rarely made in the vacuum of infallible objectivity.

How do biases work and do we all have them?

“We all have biases, it’s part of human nature, it’s how the human brain is constructed. And the way that bias works is really through a process of associations,” said Dan Robertson, diversity and inclusion director at the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, a non-profit organisation.

“The major one is what is called affinity bias – human beings are neurologically designed to gravitate towards people who are like them,” he said.

This inevitably has an impact on the workplace, even during the initial recruitment process, argued Robertson.

The likeability factor

“Imagine you’ve got a CV in front of you. What a hiring manager would do is look at skills, competences, experience. But that’s what the conscious brain is doing,” he said.

“The unconscious brain is looking at the CV and scanning for indicators that suggest likeability. One is if they went to the same university, or even names. There’s lot of research that you’re more likely to select a name that is similar to yours, which is really arbitrary,” Robertson explained.

“We’d all like to think that we are fair and objective in our decision-making processes. That we have frameworks around us so that when we do recruit we’ve got scoring frameworks. They basically don’t work,” he said.

“All of the data says that human beings are designed, pre-programmed, to select people that are like us.”

Invisible advantages

In another striking example, American writer and editor, Martin Schneider, recently wrote about an experiment he conducted with his colleague, Nicole Hallberg, when they swapped email signatures.

Schneider said his advice and technique did not change but when he signed off as Hallberg, “everything I asked or suggested was questioned.”

“Clients I could do in my sleep were condescending. One asked if I was single,” he said, describing the experience as “hell.”

Hallberg on the other hand “had the most productive week of her career.”

Blind recruitment

Blind decision-making is now an established technique used by several big companies during recruitment processes to combat bias, said Robertson.

The method involves removing references to a particular university or even family names from CVs to allow recruiters to focus solely on the skills presented to them.

For Sandra Kerr OBE, race equality director at Business in the Community, a business group committed to making a positive social impact, the first step to overcoming unconscious bias is for employers to take a proactive stand against it and get their messaging right.

If managers were not fully aware of their inner biases, it could affect some employees’ career progress, Kerr argued.

“There’s a certain group that get the opportunities to progress, get the opportunities for the better job roles,” she said.

Top tip: 

  • One of the best things that employers can do is to ensure that those who are involved in recruitment, in promotion processes actually go through the unconscious bias training awareness first.

Unconscious bias training 

Some companies worried about bias thwarting a diverse workforce that they are hiring professionals like Stephanie Morgan, director of learning solutions at communications group Bray Leino, who offer unconscious bias training.

“I think people are aware of it, but they are not always clear about how to tackle it,” she said.

She said one recent client had asked for help in identifying why their talent process was not producing enough diversity to reflect their customers and the demographics of their staff.

“When they looked at the process, what they found is that managers are championing their high performers. Totally acceptable on the face of it,” she said.

“But what we realised was that at that point their bias had already been applied” she said.  

Summary 

We all have biases, it’s how the human brain is constructed. Tackling the problem of unconscious bias requires sensitivity, to help people understand the problem without becoming defensive.

Questioning bias is a good way to tackle it, naming it is another, being able to spot it is important because quite often it’s not tangible in the moment. 

People need to be role models. In the accountancy industry are there role models showing that they are not male, pale and stale? Are there role models proving it is a diverse industry and that all people are welcome?

For more on diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

Learning what cognitive bias is and how to recognise it

Posted by & filed under Social mobility.

Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts that we develop based on past experience and the ways we apply our knowledge. When we’re overwhelmed with lots of information and need to be able to make decisions quickly, it’s helpful to be able to rely on a mental shortcut. Sometimes this process serves us well, helping us make good, speedy decisions. Sometimes, however, it doesn’t. Many biases are deeply emotional and often unconscious.

How you can battle bias

As an accountant, you’re in a unique position to help companies avoid the pitfalls of cognitive bias. With a handle on the actual numbers involved, you can provide a dispassionate, evidence-based view – a crucial element of any project. Once you understand the most common cognitive biases that can lead to financial mistakes – and how to recognise them in yourself and others – you can take steps to help your company or clients avoid them.

Optimism bias

What it means:

You have an idea that you’re convinced will work, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Or you are so sure of your skills that you’re certain your prediction will be correct, despite the facts.

Why it can be a problem:

When people have this bias they can really persist with a project, and that can mean businesses end up throwing good money after bad ideas simply because those involved don’t believe they could have got it wrong,” says business psychologist Binna Kandola. “This can result in big losses. This failure to accept you’ve got it wrong can also mean you don’t learn from mistakes, which can be detrimental to the future of the business.”

The solution:

“Encourage the team to stick to facts and keep reviewing the original plan,” says Kandola. “At some point in the project planning stage, there should have been a decision to take a certain step if things went badly. That decision would have been made when everyone was less emotionally involved. The more that’s been put into a project the harder it is to let it go, but trust the plan that was made. It’s also important that those in charge take feedback on board and adapt their processes.”

Confirmation bias

What it means:

You look for evidence that supports your views and beliefs and filter out anything that doesn’t.

Why it can be a problem:

“Quite simply, it can lead to bad financial decisions because people are failing to look at all the data,” says Kandola. At Lehman Brothers, senior management ignored their chief risk officer’s warnings in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis because her view of the facts didn’t align with their beliefs.

The solution:

“It’s vital to work in a team with people who have different perspectives and different sets of expertise, so everyone is coming at a problem from a different point of view,” says Kandola.

Conformity bias

What it means:

The larger group influences thinking, even if their views don’t fit with the evidence, and individuals fail to use their own judgement.

Why it can be a problem:

This bias can lead to groupthink, whereby there’s a culture within a company in which dissenting views are shut down. This can mean businesses become close-minded about opportunities and fail to spot potential problems. “At Lehman, those who spoke out about risk were ridiculed before being fired,” Kandola points out.

The solution:

“It can be difficult to challenge senior management if yours is the only dissenting voice and you’re being disregarded,” says Kandola. “It can often be helpful to turn to someone else on the team, share your views and try to get them on side”.

Present bias

What it means:

“This is the belief that whatever is going on now is how it will continue to be,” says Kandola. “Looking at the crash of 2008, house prices in the US had only dropped by a maximum of 5% since the Great Depression of the 1930s. So people assumed they’d never go lower than that.”

Why it can be a problem:

This bias can make businesses vastly over-optimistic when things are going well and can lead to a failure to spot potential financial risks. Conversely, when business is going badly, present bias can lead to excessive caution and an unwillingness to be creative.

The solution:

Encourage your team to see the bigger picture and think more broadly. It can be helpful to ask some ‘What if’ questions. What would happen if the situation were different? This sort of question can help decision-makers develop a more lateral way of thinking.

Summary:

As humans we are prone to unconscious bias. But becoming aware of what these biases are and how they effect your every day decision making can improve your effeciveness at work. As an accountant with a handle on the numbers, you can provide a dispassionate, evidence-based view – a crucial element of any project. For more on biases and inclusion in the workplace:

The misconceptions about diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Posted by & filed under Social mobility.

It is increasingly clear that a diverse and inclusive workforce is good for business and more broadly for society.

Research points towards diversity and inclusion (D&I) positively impacting the bottom line, productivity and innovation.

However, often when an issue gathers such momentum and exposure, it can also gain a passing status, of being a trend or a fad, something that organisations need to be seen to be doing something about, as not wanting to appear behind the times or operating in the dark.

This can lead to misconceptions. “One big one that is still pervasive today is that D&I are just fluffy issues that only HR need be concerned with,” says Danielle Ramsbottom, director of Client Management EMEA and Diversity and Inclusion strategy leader at Frank Recruitment Group.

That’s not the only misconception around D&I.

D&I washing

Just as environmental issues have suffered from ‘green washing’ (looking to be doing good, jumping on the sustainability bandwagon), D&I is not immune.

Superficial virtue signalling is something that companies do to make themselves appear progressive, and “right on”, says Ramsbottom. “I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about the far-reaching, practical knock-on effects of D&I, and how deeply they can benefit companies that get it right.

“Some companies do feel they’ve ticked a box because they’ve placed people from diverse backgrounds in their roles. There’s definitely an attitude in some businesses that having a ‘token’ member of staff fulfills their social duty.”

Skills, quality and diversity are not congruent

Subscribing to the idea that hiring for diversity is merely a box-ticking exercise highlights a deeper problem at the heart of recruitment. For too long hiring quality talent has meant sourcing from the best schools for people with the best academic records. But companies such as EY, Google and Apple are challenging this by focusing less on academic credentials and more on ability and experience, thus creating a broader talent pool for themselves. If you cast your net far wider, you’re going to find people who bring with them diverse and varied experiences, abilities and outlooks, thereby deepening and enhancing the quality of your workforce.

Diversity and inclusion are not the same

“Just because you’ve hired a candidate who looks different to the majority of your team doesn’t mean you have an inclusive workplace,” says Ramsbottom. “If you don’t work to foster inclusivity and make all of your employees feel equally valued, respected and secure, then you’re going to see high turnover, and you’re going to lose all those fresh perspectives and diverse ideas. Getting people through the door means nothing if you don’t give them a seat at the table.”

Diversity is a soft issue

The notion that diversity is a soft issue,  is a very damaging myth, says Ramsbottom. “It means that a lot of doors are going to remain closed to talented people for longer. Not only is that unfair to candidates, but it also means businesses are missing out on skillsets and experience that could be hugely advantageous to their operations. If companies continue to brush diversity off as a soft issue that only concerns enterprises, and they don’t make a serious effort to fish from new ponds, they’ll find it increasingly difficult to hire great talent.”

A widening skills gap

The current scenario in which a widening skills gap is a concern for the majority of professions means viewing D&I as a soft or non-issue is very shortsighted. “Skills shortages are a pressing problem in a lot of industries, and as the demographics of our workforce changes, employers need to shift their hiring policies to keep up,” says Ramsbottom.

“Perhaps they could look into new channels to source candidates, whether that’s creating returnships and intern programs, linking up with professional organisations that support professionals who are underrepresented in their field, or work with specialist recruiters who can cast a wider net than an internal hiring manager might be able to.”

What to do?

There is no magic wand for D&I in a workforce, but there is plenty that can be done to make positive changes to enhance D&I for the long term. Strategies to achieve a more diverse and inclusive workforce need to become ingrained into hiring, retention, culture and how an organisation and its employees operate and work together.

The benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce should be communicated across the business, says Ramsbottom. “Let your employees know that this isn’t about meeting a quota, it’s about bringing in skills that are going to be valuable to your business, and help everyone succeed.”

A major part of getting those wheels turning and chipping away at these misconceptions is exposing your business to a more diverse set of candidates when you’re hiring.

Top tips:

  • treat everyone the same throughout the hiring process

  • why not try removing names from CV’s before circulating them internally
  • do everything you can to level the playing field, and make sure no one is discounted based on anything but their professional suitability for the job.

Summary

There is no magic wand for D&I in a workforce, but there is plenty that can be done to make positive changes to enhance D&I for the long term. Strategies to achieve a more diverse and inclusive workforce need to become ingrained into hiring, retention, culture and how an organisation and its employees operate and work together.

For more on diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

The future of audit is changing, here’s why…

Posted by & filed under Future of accounting.

There’s no two ways about it, the role of the auditor and how audits are performed is changing… rapidly.

Auditing has long been associated with labour-intensive manual processes, but thanks to the evolution of artificial intelligence, automation and data analytics, auditors are now being freed up to unearth deeper and richer insights, provide greater value and improve audit quality.

Machines are doing it for themselves

One of, if not the key engine of change in auditing is the use of workflow or robotic process automation (RPA) in combination with artificial intelligence (AI), or cognitive technology.

These combine within tools to not only collect and process huge quantities of data and information (RPA), but then to analyse, find correlations and make predictions.

Finally, at the very cutting edge of the technology, AI is effectively the machine learning from experience, teaching itself how to perform tasks or analyse data, and therefore improving its own performance and effectiveness.

There’s an app for that

At this point it would be fair to wonder where the ‘human’ is in all this. In theory they’re not burning the midnight oil buried beneath piles of documents, but receiving information sooner than ever before, allowing them to not only complete projects more quickly but to a higher standard.

Data visualisation tools

For example, Deloitte has a tool called Argus, which uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to rapidly read and understand key concepts in audit-specific electronic documentation. It can scan documents for inconsistencies and flag up concerns. It can visualise data and present findings as working papers.

Drones used to collect data

Drones are being put to use by auditors to collect data from the air. Drones can get to hard to reach places and capture huge volumes of data in very short periods of time. They can be deployed to inspect assets, count inventory or monitor environmental impact. The data captured can produce digital twins as 3D representations of mapped areas.

Analytics and visualisation

Visualisation of information can turn the arduously won and often dry work product of audit into snappy visual representations that make it easier to find valuable insights buried within large and complex sets of data.

A functional use is in journal-entry testing, whereby auditors can run a programme over millions of records to produce a visual representation of the journal-entry population across an organisation globally, potentially highlighting avenues for improvement, such as automation.

The Internet of Things

The mobile and the tablet aren’t just for Instagram, Google Maps and YouTube, they’re replacing the good old-fashioned pencil and clipboard for auditors.

Mobile tools/apps deployed within an audit – think inventory count, asset assessment and beyond – allow auditors to gather and share data quickly and securely for live analysis with teammates, wherever they are; compile photographic evidence; and create reports and working papers in real time. Again this provides auditors with more time and space to focus on what they are trained to do – observe, question and critique, not collect data and document.

It’s also expected that the Internet of Things (IoT) will give back even more time to auditors as ‘intelligent electronic devices’ bypass humans to communicate directly with one another. Machines will report their performance in real time to other machines that will monitor and analyse data for inconsistencies or problems.

Blockchain, a key disruptor?

It feels like blockchain has long been touted as a key disruptor in the audit profession, while in reality it’s at the ‘let’s see if it sticks’ phase of its evolution across the business world.

A blockchain is a digital ledger that captures transactions made by various parties in a network. It is peer-to-peer, internet/cloud-based and includes all transactions since its creation. As an example, digital currencies such as bitcoin use blockchain.

Arguments have been made that blockchain will do away with the need for a financial statement audit altogether. Perhaps so, but in the meantime, as with the aforementioned technology, it will serve to free up auditors to do what they’re best at.

A change in skill set

The contemporary and future audit requires a more varied and nuanced skillset of its practitioners.  Firstly, and perhaps contrarily given the aforementioned technological disruption, auditors need to be gifted communicators, team players and stakeholder managers.

It’s all good and well having this technology doing the laborious tasks and offering up fresh insights, but it takes intelligent communication to convey findings and justify recommendations effectively and efficiently.

Auditors also need to be flexible, reactive and adaptable in the face of constant change. As for the technology side of the skill set, embracing apps and systems, and being comfortable with the rapidly evolving nature of technology is vital.

Key technology skills relate to:

  • mining structured and unstructured data from varied sources
  • identifying data risks
  • working with relational and non-relational databases
  • applying statistical methods and advanced analytics within tools to turn raw data into useful insights
  • knowing how to leverage analytics to perform robust risk assessments
  • using visualisation tools to present complex data analysis in a way that is compelling and easy to understand.

In Summary

Auditors with the right skill sets and attitudes to change and technology will provide more value to clients throughout the audit. How these skillsets are achieved rests on the shoulders of the profession.

  • Including professional bodies and qualifications providing support and development.
  • Organisations upksilling their workforce’s and helping to enrich the talent pool via partnerships and broader engagement across the profession.
  • Technology companies educating the workforce on their products and innovations.
  • Finally individuals taking it upon themselves to move with the times and see this evolution of the profession as an opportunity for richer careers.

For more on audit and data analytics:

The importance of an open and fair workplace

Posted by & filed under Social mobility.

Social mobility is essentially about providing a fair and open workplace where everyone can thrive and everyone has a level-playing field when it comes to work opportunities.

Pete Ward, deputy CEO and operations director at Leadership Through Sport & Business (LTSB), says: “It’s about talented people getting the opportunity to do jobs equal to their ambition and ability. But beyond the moral case, there’s a clear business case too. The more representative a workforce, the more diverse its leadership, the more effective and profitable the company,” he notes.

So how can employers incorporate social mobility into their workplace and make it part of their business strategy?

It starts with recruitment

“When the overriding criteria for recruitment is “Will they fit in?”, that can quickly become “Are they like everyone else who works here?” which means it’s really hard to change the make-up of an organisation,” says Ward. It’s a matter of recognising the virtue and value of difference, rather than imagining it as a barrier to a cohesive team. The return on investment is, says Ward, limitless.

“When you give an opportunity to diverse young people who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to show what they can do, they repay that faith with loyalty and their talent!” he notes.

Look in different places

‘If you’re looking for different types of people, you need to look in different places – and, if possible, adjust entry criteria,” says Ward. “Recruit through charities such, or through colleges. Does the role really require a degree? With the cost of university education rising dramatically, really talented young people, intimidated by debt, are looking elsewhere. Are you dismissing this talent pool unnecessarily?”

Get your policies and procedures up to date

As a starting point, businesses need to have all their policies and procedures relating to equality, diversity, bullying, harassment and discrimination up to date, says James Tamm, director of Legal Services at Ellis Whittam. ‘Employers should also train staff on the importance of a diverse and inclusive workplace, and create an atmosphere where employees feel able to report behaviour that violates these values as they know concerns will be acted upon. If in doubt, seek advice from an HR or employment law specialist,” he notes.

What about including staff with disabilities?

Liz Johnson, co-founder and managing director of The Ability People, says the task of incorporating and including people with disabilities starts the moment the new job becomes available.“SMEs should look at basic areas like the accessibility of their website careers page and application process and not ask people to disclose a disability, so they are judged on ‘level playing field,’” she notes.

“Those with a disability will disclose it if relevant at the appropriate time, and employers should consider how to adjust the interview and selection process to give each candidate the best opportunity to showcase their skills and experience.”

Don’t forget about neurodiversity

Having a neurodiverse workforce, in other words, one which includes people with autism, dyslexia or ADHD, can also unlock a whole new area of talent and expertise, says Johnson. “Those with different life experiences bring with them fresh perspectives, creativity and ways of thinking which enable companies to assess ideas and ensure they don’t miss out on valuable new opportunities,” she notes.

“Members of the neurodiverse community have great strengths and skills in specific areas far beyond other candidates and if given the opportunity to showcase those talents, they will become outstanding contributors.”

Think about the legal obligations

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must also make “reasonable adjustments” to ensure disabled workers are not seriously disadvantaged when fulfilling their role. “For example, you may consider changing their equipment, installing a ramp for a wheelchair user or retraining the employee,” says Tamm.

“Other adjustments are less obvious but still as important, such as adjusting absence procedures if the reasons for sickness related to a disability.”

Don’t overlook mental health

Alison King, managing director at Bespoke HR says mental health is often described as an invisible disability, which many employers are unaware of unless the employee tells them. “If staff are working in an environment where it’s hard to raise concerns (about themselves or others), then it’s more than likely that absence rates will increase,” she notes. “

For employers who can create awareness amongst staff about the signs and symptoms, this creates an open culture for staff and can help to break the stigma attached to mental health issues.”

Leadership Through Sport & Business is a social mobility charity that gives bright young people from disadvantaged backgrounds access to meaningful work with major firms. If you’re an employer in London, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester and are interested in recruiting a positive and effective apprentice for entry-level positions, get in touch at [email protected]

In summary

Social mobility is about everyone giving everyone, regardless of whether they have any form of disability or don’t conform to neurotypical expectations, an equal opportunity and chance to contribute. The more diverse the workforce, the greater the reward.

For more on social mobility and the benefits of a diverse workplace:

How to master effective delegation

Posted by & filed under Run your business.

Have you fallen into the trap of trying to do everything by yourself? If so, you must learn to delegate, both to stay sane and to give your team room to grow.

Running a business can feel like an uphill struggle – there’s always too much to do and not enough time. But if you’re honest with yourself, isn’t this because you find it difficult to loosen the reins and let others take on more responsibility?

The fear of delegation

Karen Meager, organisational psychologist and co-founder of training consultancy Monkey Puzzle, says many practice owners choose not to delegate tasks out of fear of them not going to plan.

“They want to stay in control to maintain high-standards, especially if they’ve built the practice themselves from scratch and their reputation is on the line.”

If you started out as a solo practitioner, you’re used to wearing multiple hats and may be reluctant to divvy out certain responsibilities once you’ve hired staff.

“Also, the common belief is If I don’t do it myself, it will not be done properly,” says Vivienne O’Keeffe, business mentor and CEO at V Vortex Holdings. Perhaps you believe it’s easier or faster to do the job yourself, too

“You may feel like it takes more time to tell people what you want and then oversee it,” says Shaun Thomson, CEO of Sandler Training (UK).

Or, simply, you may not know how to delegate. Fortunately though, delegation is a skill that you can learn.

Top signs that you should delegate

  • You feel 24 hours in a day is never enough.
  • You are stressed, overwhelmed, irritable and have difficulty sleeping and concentrating.
  • Routine or menial tasks take up a significant part of your working day. 
  • Important items on you to-do list often do not get done.
  • Your staff are bored or demotivated.

Stop doing, start managing

“Placing everything upon your shoulders can cause intense anxiety because you feel responsible for everything too,” says Meager. “Therefore, delegating is good for your mental health.”

It will allow you to use your valuable time more productively. 

Thomson says: “Accountants tell their clients they must work on the business, not in the business. They should heed this advice themselves and delegate the doing to the rest of the team so that they have time to concentrate on growing their practice.”

You will also have time to ‘be there’ for your people. “As a practice owner, it’s important that you have the capacity to deal with any problems or challenges your team members bring to you,” Meager says.

O’Keeffe adds that delegation encourages a culture of trust.

“Empowering others with crucial tasks and trusting them to do a good job also boosts your staff’s morale and self-esteem. And this makes for a better working environment for everyone,” she says.

Key reasons why you need to delegate

You’ll be able to:

  • avoid burnout
  • work on your business, not in the business
  • support and develop your team
  • encourage creativity and innovation.

How to embrace delegation

“If you find delegating difficult, it can be easier to start small,” says Meager. “For example, you could initially nominate someone to organise a team building day.

Then both of you should take stock of what you learned, what worked well and what could be improved. Then you can begin delegating some project management tasks to them as you will have greater confidence that they will do a good job.”  

It’s worth spending time identifying the way in which the members of your practice work best.

Meager says: “Some people feel most comfortable thinking about larger tasks with longer time periods, whereas others think in a smaller time frame. If you take into consideration which type of time chunk is most applicable to an individual when delegating a particular task, you will feel more confident they can complete this task to your satisfaction.”

Communicate clearly what results you expect and when, and set checkpoints so that both of you are happy with the direction and the progress.

Six-step formula for effective delegation

Step 1. Decide exactly what you want done. The delegated task must be fully thought out.

Step 2. Assign the task and set clear expectations as to timing, updates and final result.

Step 3. Confirm understanding. Is your staff member absolutely clear on what’s required?

Step 4. Confirm commitment. Are they happy to take on the task? Do they have capacity? Will they need help?

Step 5. Trust, but verify. Let them get on with the job but check progress periodically.

Step 6. Give (and ask for) feedback, and recognise good performance.

In summary

The issue may not be quite as serious as ‘delegate or die’, but your health and your business will definitely suffer unless you learn to divvy out tasks and responsibilities.

Further reading:

Study tips: Budgeting part 2 – Labour, overheads and operating budget

Posted by & filed under Professional Diploma, Students.

This is the second article in our 3-part series on budgeting to support the MABU unit for level 4 students.

Study tips: Budgeting series

In part 1 of this series on budgeting we focused on the raw materials element of an operating budget and set out some key planning assumptions based on our scenario. We are now in a position to look at the labour and overheads elements and compile the draft budget for the upcoming production of the new fruit smoothie.

Let’s resume our role as the budget accountant. The production budget for quarter 1 shows that 106,426 units are due to be manufactured. The process is highly automated and the production lines for similar existing products are supervised by three members of staff who work 40 basic hours per week. Production is expected to occur at the rate of 60 units per labour hour. Staff are paid £12 per basic hour and overtime is paid at time and a half.

Looking at labour costs

The labour hours needed are 1,774 (106,426 units ÷ 60 units per hour) however, there are only 1,440 hours available (40 hours per week x 12 weeks x 3 staff). This means that 334 hours are as yet unaccounted for.

The hours could be offered to the existing members of staff as overtime. However, the basic cost would be £17,280 (1,440 hours x £12) and the overtime £6,012 (334 hours x £18). Therefore, overtime would be 26% of the overall labour cost (£6,012 ÷ £23,288 x 100) and would mean each member of staff working for just over an extra 9 hours per week (334 hours ÷ 3 staff ÷ 12 weeks).

An alternative could be to bring in temporary workers or subcontractors. It would also be worth considering employing another member of staff as an extra 28 hours per week are required (334 ÷ 12 weeks). The labour hours required will build up over the period as production increases from 5,000 units per week to 10,000 units per week so a flexible solution is required.

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After consulting with the human resources manager it has been agreed an existing member of staff, currently working in another area of the company, can be redeployed for 20 hours a week and temporary workers may be bought in later in the quarter. Therefore, the revised labour hours available are 1,680 (1,440 original hours + 20 hours per week x 12 weeks) which leaves 94 hours to be found from overtime or temporary staff (1,774 required hours – 1,680 basic hours). We will assume overtime for our calculations.

The working schedule for the operating budget is therefore:

As the manufacturing process is highly automated, overheads are recovered on the basis of machine hours. The production lines are expected to run for 2 hours for each labour hour worked, and variable production overheads are recovered at the rate of £20 per machine hour. Fixed production overheads of £5,000 have been allocated to the production budget.

The working schedule for the operating budget is therefore:

Now all the schedules have been completed the operating budget can be compiled. Why not have a go yourself before reading further?  A reminder of the information from part 1 is shown below.

Note that the company values closing finished goods inventory at the budgeted production cost per unit, rounded to two decimal places.

Workings:

The quantity of sales in units is taken from the production budget and multiplied by the cost per unit given to calculate the sales revenue.

The cost of production consists of the ‘Used in production’ figure taken from the materials schedule, the total cost of labour from the labour schedule and the total from the production overhead schedule. These three figures are then totalled to calculate the total cost of production.

The total cost of production is then divided by the number of production units in the production budget (£206,277 ÷ 106,426 units) to calculate the budgeted production cost per unit, rounded to two decimal places as per the policy. The quantity of closing inventory of finished goods is shown in the production budget and multiplied by the budgeted cost of production (200 units x £1.94).

The cost of goods sold is calculated as opening inventory plus cost of production less closing inventory. Gross profit is sales less cost of sales and the operating loss is gross profit less overheads.

The budget is now complete and needs to be submitted to the budget committee for approval. Let’s consider what we would want to communicate to the committee in order for the budget to be given due consideration, especially as it is forecasting such a small profit. 

Communicating the budget

Firstly, we could give reassurances that new products rarely make an initial operating profit at all and that this budget just covers the first quarter. Sales are based on weekly increases and only reach the target volume at the start of the third month. Whilst this won’t affect the variable costs it will mean that the fixed overheads, included the fixed element of the production overheads, will reduce on a per unit basis once the full sales volume is being produced and sold, and that will increase profits.

Secondly, we can point out the marketing cost is the result of the launch campaign and not representative of the on-going overhead. Once this reduces to normal operational levels the expense will reduce and profitability will improve.

Lastly, we can remind the committee of the high levels of product rejection. This is an area where major savings could be realised if the causes can be established and addressed so that rejection rates decrease and the cost of production lowered by reducing the quantity of raw materials required.

In the final part of this series we’ll respond to the budgeting committee’s decision and feedback.

For more Professional level study materials: Professional study tips

Read more tips on Excel here

Browse the full range of AAT study support resources here

Why I left my chartered role to go self-employed

Posted by & filed under Career.

Sometimes people are reluctant to give up an employed job because they see working for themselves as a risk. While running your own business can be challenging, it can also bring great satisfaction.

Here we hear from AAT qualified Chris Brown FCA, ATT, a Chartered Accountant and tax specialist who left his chartered role to become a successful business owner.

A self-employment success story

Chris Brown is a Chartered Accountant and tax specialist, providing tax planning and advice on both a corporate and personal level. He has over 20 years’ experience in the accountancy profession and decided to set up his own business after spending eight years specialising in corporate tax at KPMG.

Now he heads up a team of five accountants and his company is growing fast and taking on new clients all the time.

“I did AAT at local college after my A levels, got my qualification, and then worked for a couple of different firms on audit and tax. He decided to study for chartered status, and said AAT was “a good springboard” towards that.

The path to self-employment

“I specialised in corporate tax at KPMG and was made redundant seven years ago. I was already doing accounts for friends and family and so used redundancy money to launch my career as self-employed accountant. I knew I always had the qualification to fall back on if it didn’t work.”

He grew his own book of clients, and bought another accountancy practice a couple of years ago. He works with a network of other professionals and so can outsource financial advice and mortgages and can also arrange commercial finance via national online firm and provide virtual credit control.

The first steps towards self-employment

“When I first graduated felt like a scary world and felt as though I knew nothing working with other business owners,” he says. “As you become more experienced you find out what works and what does not work and see how other people grow their business and how an accountant can help.”

He says you need resilience, particularly when you are starting out.

“It is important to have a clear idea as to where you want to go and the more you read and connect with your peers, the more it helps you. If you are doing a bit of freelance work for friends and family and you tell your employer they are usually OK with it, but you will need a practising certificate even if you are just doing tax returns for your family.”

It can be a challenge to build up your book of clients in the early days, and having a coach or mentor, and the support of other professionals can really help.

Key takeaway: Be prepared to work hard and learn new skills, it’s also a good idea to think as commercially as possible.

Growing your business

“When I got made redundant, I asked good clients if they knew anyone who was looking for an accountant and made it clear that I was trying to grow my business,” he explains. “Good clients will bring you other good clients.

Now I work more hours than I ever did – probably 60 hours a week and at home in the evenings and at the weekend. That is because I am trying to build the business quickly.”

Key takeaways

  • You can work from home and by using the Cloud you can connect with anyone in the country or around the world.
  • You have greater flexibility and scope to grow income more quickly when you run your own business.
  • It can be helpful to have a coach or mentor to give you the confidence you need.
  • Don’t make the mistake of selling yourself too low and or taking on poor quality clients – make sure you charge what you are worth.
  • If you develop a niche specialism you can charge a premium for your services and experience.
  • Connect with other professionals – you can learn a lot from each other.

Chris Brown’s recommended reading:

In summary

“Once you get going it is an incredible journey,” Chris Brown says. “The upside is brilliant and you get a real sense of achievement. The financial rewards are great and you can help other people in their career – by training and nurturing them you become a better accountant too.

At KMPG I was not very commercial and I was more of a technical specialist – starting my own business I had my eyes opened to the bigger world out there. I would recommend it and if I can do it, anyone can.”

What you need to know about becoming self-employed with AAT:

If you’re an AAT professional member, you can apply for an AAT licence to become self-employed. This entitles you to start taking on clients and offering professional services on a self-employed basis. You’ll be supported by AAT, who will usually also act as your anti-money laundering supervisor, which is a legal requirement.

  • You’re eligible to apply to become an AAT licensed member and offer self-employed services once you become an AAT professional member (AATQB, MAAT or FMAAT).
  • You cannot provide services as a professional member without a licence and must apply if you intend to offer services.
  • Before providing any accountancy and/or bookkeeping services you must ensure you are supervised for the purpose of anti-money laundering compliance by an approved supervisory authority.
  • Applying is simple and you’ll receive help and support from AAT to help you run your business and ensure you’re compliant
  • If you’re providing self-employed services and think you’re exempt from holding an AAT licence, you must check and apply for an exemption if needed.

Applying to become an AAT Licensed Bookkeeper or Accountant is easy.

The first step is to check out the information online and download the AAT Licensed member application form, then follow the guidance on how to complete the form.

Take your first step to getting licensed by checking out the Be Your Own Boss support online.