Endangered Species

There is a profound shift happening in the North American workplace.

Employees are becoming an Endangered Species.

Just as Polar Bears in the Arctic are becoming endangered because the environment (weather) in the North is changing, so too are Employees facing similar issues because the environment (workplace) is changing.

The North American workplace, no matter the industry or specialization, faces one continuous constant – Change. Good Change or Bad Change. Growth or Consolidation. Technological change or Global competition. These changes seem to be here for good. The business world moves quickly, and the Labor force needs to adapt.

Generally, from my observation, employees change companies every 3 years (on average). This is because companies either cannot support longer term employees because of Change, or if they do, employees are looking for something “new and improved” as their job gets monotonous (code word for boring).

Companies that will succeed in this environment will need to start treating their employees not as assets they control, but as freelancers they need to continually invest in and work to retain.

Employees that will succeed in this new environment will need to start treating themselves as freelancers rather than employees, working to continually invest in themselves to add value to their employers (current or future).

Employees as we know them are becoming a thing of the past. How does this affect you?

The most overlooked skill in Accounting

Little boys and girls who want to be accountants when they grow up are usually interested in accounting because they LOVE numbers. They love adding, subtracting, number puzzles and like the idea of counting money.

This may have been the ideal profile for an accounting career in the past, but accountants today are required to be much more than analyzers of numbers. Accountants today are looked up to by business people to assist in making business decisions, preferably profitable ones. Successful accountants are not only able to analyze the decision options and make recommendations, but also have strong communication abililities, specifically written communication.

The accountant's involvement with the corporate MD&A (Management Discussion & Analysis) is a great example of how accountants are relied upon to provide analysis that need to be expressed clearly.

From my experience, accounting professionals with solid written communication abilities will have better career opportunities. While looking for your next career opportunity (or your next hire), keep in mind that a resume showcases written communication, a key success indicator.

Economic Outlook 2008: Effects on the Accounting & Finance Job Market

I have always looked at Economic forecasting as something of a voodoo science. Many economists and pundits have opinions of where the economy is going, and the beginning of a new year is always a good time to predict the future.

Thankfully, I’m neither an Economist nor a Fortune Teller. However, the general economic opinion on the North American market for 2008 ranges from “Cautious” to “Pessimistic”. I haven’t come across an opinion that says that 2008 is going to be a gangbuster year.

Being directly involved in the Job market for Accounting & Finance and subjectively watching trends, I do believe the following: No matter the economy in 2008, the Job Market in Accounting & Finance will stay strong.

I am confident in this prediction for the following reasons.

1) If the economy contracts, companies may cut people in core areas of the business directly related to revenue. However, companies, whether profitable or not, still need to produce and prepare their financial information on a timely basis. This still needs competent, intelligent and hard working accounting and finance professionals.

2) Accounting departments are not currently overstaffed. No one we speak to (either client or candidate) will admit to their accounting departments having too many people.

3) There may be fewer companies doing transactions, but I don’t believe that these transactions will grind to a halt. I do believe that companies with strong cash positions may acquire struggling companies at better prices than they could have bought them for in 2006/2007.

4) The strong economy has created a lack of work for Restructuring professionals. Many I have spoken to in 2007 are waiting for their turn for growth. This could be a great area to get new experience for candidates looking for something new and challenging.

One thing I am sure of – 2008 will be an interesting year. And as the Chinese Proverb says, “May you live in interesting times”.

Wishing you a successful 2008…

Samuel

What you know vs. Who you know

What you know = knowledge
Who you know = network

In reaching for success, which is more important?

Ultimately, they are both important. Each career minded individual needs to use their knowledge and their network to succeed.

From my perspective, many career-minded individuals focus too much on knowledge, and not enough on network. This is very evident when people begin to look a new job – they usually start their network again from scratch.

People that have mediocre knowledge with an excellent network often find their next great career opportunity quicker than those with excellent knowledge and a mediocre (or non-existant) network.

Lesson: ABN – Always be networking. You never know when you’ll be looking for that next great career opportunity

Career Change and the Holiday Season

It’s the second week of December, and you are officially in holiday season mode. Christmas Cards are cluttering your desk, you’re running out at lunch to get another gift (or buying it online during work hours), listening to holiday music on the radio, and either getting ready for the office party (or are recovering from it).

And you’re asking yourself – do I really want to spend another year in my current job?

If your answer is “yes”, stop reading this post.

If your answer is “no” (or “I’m not sure”), continue reading.

There is a general belief that the world closes down for the end of December, so there is no point in starting (or continuing) a career change search during the Holiday period.

While I will agree that a number of companies close down during the holiday period, and people take their vacations to coincide with days off during the holidays, I would like to share our experience with you.

Our experience has shown that down time is the best time for hiring. Why? Because Decision Makers are ready, willing and able to make decisions (i.e. hire). Historically, July and December are our best months of the year. Many of our competitors look at me funny (with a dark tan) when I mention this fact.

The reason is simple. Decision makers use down time to focus on what is important to them – making decisions. The rest of the year they are so focused on fighting fires and meeting deadlines that they don’t have time to plan forward. But when everyone else around them is relaxing, the pressure on them is less to fight fires and meet deadlines. So they make decisions. And hiring is one of they key decisions they make.

From a job seeker perspective, what better gift can you give yourself (and your family) this holiday season than the gift of a new career opportunity, a gift that will give you more of what is important to you in your life?

Accounting Standards: USA vs. World (rest of the)

Convergence is the name of the game for standards in many industries, and the Accounting industry is no different.

Up till now, different countries around the world have had their own accounting standards, reflecting an introspective view of the world. As economies around the world focus more on globalization, the ability to understand financial information from different countries has taken on a greater significance.

GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) are the standards by which accountants prepare financial information. GAAP is converging, and is on the road to being one GAAP worldwide.

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is the global accounting standard that is being accepted in more and more countries around the world. Europe integrated their standard to IFRS in 2005. Canada is set to accept IFRS to replace their accounting standards in 2011, and other countries around the world, including Japan and India, are getting with the program.

The major holdout, no surprise, is the USA.

However, something shocking happened a few weeks ago. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the United States said that they will accept IFRS reporting for foreign private issuers (public companies from outside of the USA listed in the USA).

Not only that, but the FASB (the US Accounting Standards Board) and the IASB (makers of IFRS), are working jointly on some projects of significance, ensuring that some standards will be the same worldwide.

As Canada is getting ready for IFRS for 2011, we are too. Some of our clients are hiring right now for this convergence project. We are talking about IFRS, and are presenting at conferences across Canada in 2008 - We presented earlier this week in Toronto.

You may be asking yourself (or me) “who cares”. And that’s fair. GAAP isn’t an exciting topic (at least it is not supposed to be). Accountants care. Their world is converging.

Is this a good thing? I think so, because I’m a believer in the positive impact of economic globalization. More convergence on standards means less confusion on understanding others financial information. And this small part can assist in growing global economic health, which in the end makes the world a better place.

The Welcome Posting.

Welcome to CFO2Grow's Blog. Written by Samuel Dergel, Founder and Senior Partner of CFO2Grow, The Financial Statement should be of interest to:

1) Those that hire in accounting and finance.
2) Those looking to be hired in accounting and finance

The blog entries are Samuel's thoughts, in his search to provide information relevant to cfo2grow's clients, candidates and friends.

You may agree. You may disagree. And that's ok. Your comments on this blog are appreciated.