Accountancy , especially auditing and financial analysts, is a profession that is in high demand in South Africa. It holds a prominent position on the Department of Home Affairs’ critical skills list. However, one can’t ignore the growing decline that has plagued the profession with millennials and Gen Z’s opting for alternative career paths. In 2022, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi tweeted that the interest in accounting taught in schools was dwindling as only 20,000 out of 140,000 matric learners in Gauteng were registered for the subject .
Accounting firms need to start considering how to boost the attractiveness of their businesses, and the profession at large, or risk dealing with a future talent gap like those being seen in U.S. and U.K. today. This begins with understanding the mismatch of millennial and Gen-Z aspirations and expectations and the reality that awaits them in the profession. Here are three starting points for making accountancy sexy to millennials and Gen Zs.
To foster retention, focus on mentorship
Often, when young professionals enter the work environment they struggle to convert their theoretical knowledge into practical use. This is when they actively seek mentors to provide them essential support to help to ‘fill in the blanks’ and share vital knowledge and wisdom from years of experience.
However, with the reality of work overload and long hours, there is often poor mentorship and guidance in the early stages, making the work environment monotonous and unfulfilling. Accountancy firms should prioritise early-stage career mentorship programmes that enculturate young entrants in a way that enables them to professionalise their knowledge, as they make the jump from graduate to professional.
Embrace their desire to create value
A large part of making the profession attractive to millennials and Gen Z is tapping into their desire to serve the public and contribute to tangible value creation. These are two of the most actively socially conscious generations today. Rote work that does not provide the opportunity to make an impact will leave younger employees feeling dissatisfied.
The profession is at a point where it is not only striving to regain public trust but also to reimagine a future for itself more firmly built on principles of ethics, societal consciousness, and transparency, as well as value creation on a business advisory level. Here, Gen Zs and millennials are well-aligned. To advance towards the aims of the profession, whilst maintaining a steady pipeline of talent, accountancy firms need to adjust their approach to advisory from mere bean-counting to providing strategic business advice that can create tangible value for clients. This will create opportunities for Gen Z to bring their talents to work, and collaborate particularly on project work across functions, disciplines and generations bringing multiple benefits that help generate new and innovative solutions and aid them in adding value to firms.
Let them claim their space in the digital world
It’s clear that the upcoming professionals are digital natives who are well-placed to take the reins in the second wave of 4IR, in which AI, data analytics and process automation are becoming commonplace. This means that the way in which the accountancy profession operates has to evolve in order to accommodate a constantly changing business and social environment. Millennials and Gen Zs are the professionals that can enable smoother adoption of increasingly used fintech tools. However, in order to do this, they need to be able to work at companies that are ready and able to make the digital leap.
According to the SAIPA Existing and Prospective Member Survey of 2021, new technologies are not used – or are only rarely used – by as many as 51% of the respondents. Barriers to adoption include budget constraints, customer resistance to change, limited knowledge about the benefits of new technologies, a lack of understanding of the importance of the digital transformation journey, and limited professional resources. Employers need to embrace the way younger professionals consistently question how things can be done quicker, better, and more efficiently. Alongside this, the crucial steps of training remain as essential as ever in building those capabilities across a business, to ensure no one is left behind – regardless of age.
And finally, keep an open mind
For any industry to remain relevant, it needs to court new entrants. Accountancy firms need to work with, rather than push against, the characteristics of the young professionals entering the profession. After all, they are the people who will be carrying the industry into the future. These tips have provided actionable first steps in firms not only attracting but retaining dynamic accountancy talent.
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