INTHEBLACK August 2022 - Magazine - Page 57
“Someone who has worked in sales has strong skills around relationship and
crisis management that may be able to be utilised in other roles. An employee
who has worked in law and does well with detailed processes and procedures
could excel in an operational role.”
SHIVANI GOPAL, THE REMARKABLE WOMAN
More specifically, identifying transferable skills in
current staff, as well as potential new recruits, can not
only expand the pool of applicants, but it can also pay
benefits for companies in cross-industry knowledge and
expertise.
Bernard Poon FCPA, a partner at EY and a CPA
Australia director, says that, in recent years, it has been
difficult to get the right accounting graduates and,
currently, it is also challenging to find experienced hires.
“Graduates have more choices,” he says. “The
accounting field is not always perceived to be as
attractive as other professions, and yet a lot of
entrepreneurs, for example, started with an accounting
or commerce degree.”
In the case of graduate hire, Poon says EY is
exercising a more flexible approach. “We prefer people
with the right accounting and finance skill set, but we
are considering graduates from different backgrounds
such as engineering or mathematics, as long as they
have a high level of intelligence and the ability to work
in a team environment.”
Poon says that, in thinking laterally, companies may
need to put new hires through more training processes.
However, it can be even more effective to partner them
with a mentor, he says. “On-the-job training by a senior
staff member is definitely more beneficial to the
candidate.”
IDENTIFYING ALIGNED SKILLS
By role-mapping – listing the core skills and the
peripheral skills needed for a position – employers may
be able to broaden their pool of valuable candidates,
says Shivani Gopal, CEO of women’s leadership and
education network The Remarkable Woman.
“For example, someone who has worked in sales has
strong skills around relationship and crisis management
that may be able to be utilised in other roles,” she says.
“An employee who has worked in law and does well
with detailed processes and procedures could excel in
an operational role.
UPSKILL NOW
Click here to access CPA Australia’s
Micro-credentials
“Similarly, you might find someone for a financerelated position by considering, among other things,
their ability to problem-solve.”
Blind job-matching removes the bias, says Gopal.
“You are hiring people for skills rather than titles.”
“Looking at what an employee could be in the future,
rather than relying too much on where they have come
from, is also a shift in focus that can pay results,” says
Edwin Trevor-Roberts, CEO of Trevor-Roberts, a career
management firm that helps organisations build thriving
work environments.
“The problem with graduate programs and defined
development pathways is that a person can be seen as
‘the class of 2018’. One individual, however, may show
much more growth and promise than another,” he says.
“Very often, managers don’t see how people have
changed and evolved over time. We don’t see they
could do something different.”
FOCUS ON JOB DESIGN
Job design is also important, says Trevor-Roberts.
“People join a firm because they are naturally attracted
to being able to use their skills and competencies to do
interesting work.
“For accountants, a job that involves compliance work
or audits, for example, may be made more attractive by
the fact it involves interesting clients or environments.”
While hiring managers are looking to identify
transferable skills, they should also hold up the mirror
and see what the opportunities to use those skills
look like.
It’s a given that a position will attract more applicants
if it offers a solid remuneration strategy and gender pay
parity, flexible working, perks such as health insurance,
upskilling opportunities and a strong company culture.
Yet meaningful work is now more important than ever
as the best and the brightest seek impactful choices in
their career journey.
This is especially true of milliennials, who want
purpose and passion embodied in their role. This can
simply mean that they have the ability to push a project
forward and be taken seriously by colleagues.
In a marketplace where employment opportunities for
candidates are likely to exceed available candidates for
some time, it is a combination of strategies that is most
likely to ensure hiring success.
CLICK HERE
HERE TO
BORROW
Skills for Career
Success from the
CPA Library
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au August 2022 57