COMPANY CULTURE STARTS WITH GOOD HABITS

The general development and future achievements of any business lie in the balance of a healthy, well-established company culture. Generally, the average business owner overlooks the importance of investing in a healthy company’s culture and doesn’t put the required time and effort into it at inception. They subsequently realise the negative impact it has had on their business by which time it’s too late. The irony is fixing something entails spending more money and time, compared to if the investment was made in the first place.

A healthy company culture demonstrates the values that the organisation stands for. Understanding and living by a company’s values increases organisational efficiency and productivity as everyone is aligned and recognises the priority of decision-making and action. One of the common mistakes that people make when searching for a job is to solely pursuit money and opportunity without actually enquiring what the company culture is. If values are not aligned, a relationship struggles to work and grow whether this is in business or in personal relationships.

In 1987, Paul O ‘Neill became the CEO of a listed manufacturing company called Alcoa. In his first official address to the Alcoa staff, O’Neil mentioned that he wanted to discuss the element of safety. He continued the address by introducing safety as a company value, a value which subsequently became a habit and drove the company culture. Despite initial resistance, it soon became evident that the organisational culture hailed from the employees, and not simply from his mouth. As a result, it improved their mind-set, way of thinking and increased the company’s productivity for the company. Paul O’Neill changed the habits and eventually the culture of the organisation; as a result by the time he retired in 2000 the annual net income was five times larger than when he took over. This particular example highlighted the influence of values and revealed how values be lived through good habits thus creating a solid company culture.

We spend close to 60% of our week at work, it’s important to ensure that the individual and organisational values are aligned because it does affect our way of thinking as well as how we carry ourselves as individuals. As an employee the type of culture in an organisation we want to work for should be a top priority when looking for a job. As an employer, the type of culture we create in the company should be a priority if we want to attract top talent and create value.

http://accasouthafricablog.com/2014/08/22/company-culture-starts-with-good-habits/

GOOD ACCOUNTANCY IN DEMAND

I read somewhere where they say, “Accounting: The One degree with 360 degrees of possibilities.” How true is this, considering the versatility this qualification offers you including a wide variety of choices for future career opportunities? Whilst you spend a great deal of time working with numbers, communication and people skills play a great role within this job and this is just the operational aspect.  The Director role is both strategic and proactive as you spend time examining financial records, the market and making sure that the company is competitive and compliant with their policies and the law as well as good governance and which direction the business should navigate towards.

On the other hand compliance, risk and good business practice is almost inevitable as a business grows and who else is equipped to ensure that? The cost of not having a good accountant is a recipe to fail in your business and South Africa does not need failing businesses with our high unemployment rate. There is no organisation that runs efficiently without a good accountant. This is why skilled accountants have the tools to become entrepreneurs as they are trained to understand businesses in totality. On the other hand all entrepreneurs will need accountants if they do not have the skills themselves.

Here is a reality, a business can’t go anywhere without a good accountant, not even an individual. I once heard Khanyi Dlhomo give advice to entrepreneurs about business. She said “as soon as you start a business, invest in a good accountant and a good lawyer” I couldn’t agree with her more because this profession has become more than just a reactive role in this ever changing market, it has become a needed proactive role.

The skill in this profession is decreasing, but more and more businesses need good accountants as stakeholders need someone they can rely on. This means that there is no supply, but there is a high demand. It’s all good and well to tell me that you have the best product that can change the world and make you successful, the question is how does that transform into something we can call a business and present to funders and investors? Who else can answer that question other than the person you hold accountable to inform you of results, performance and sustainability of your products performance in the market? A good accountant in demand is who.

The reality is that some businesses may go down because of bad accounting, but all businesses will go down if they have no accounting.

This Blog is also posted on the ACCA website. 

http://accasouthafricablog.com/2014/05/05/good-accountancy-in-demand/