Earlier this year,
Brown Smith Wallace was honored by the Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis as a top “Women in the Workplace” employer. For the second year, our firm was also named to both the 2018 Accounting MOVE Project Best CPA Firms for Women list and the 2018 Best Firms for Leadership Equity List. Fellow Moore Stephens North America (MSNA) member firms Lurie LLP and The Bonadio Group were also named to the Accounting MOVE Project lists.
Attracting, retaining and advancing women leaders of today and tomorrow is a core aspect of our firm’s strategic vision to be The Firm for Growth. In the accounting industry, women comprise the majority of professionals. That rings true at Brown Smith Wallace, where women make up 57 percent of our staff, including 47 percent of our leadership (managers and above).
Companies with the highest level of gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to outperform those with the lowest. For many industries and companies, gender inclusivity doesn’t happen overnight. It requires reflecting on your company culture, your leadership examples and your talent management.
As part of our firm’s overall vision of growth, we passionately support the growth and successes of our colleagues, and it’s important to us that the culture we’ve developed extends beyond our firm. As an independent member of MSNA, we value the relationships we’ve developed with like-minded firms.
One of the benefits of being a member of MSNA is the opportunity to develop an identity of our own, while being a part of the larger picture. We don’t expect our affiliation with an association such as MSNA to dictate the values of the whole, nor do we want to have a culture forced on our firm. MSNA excels through a relationship-based approach, and we have found compatible cultures of growth at firms throughout the association.
As the third managing partner of our 46-year-old firm, there are some behaviors and expectations the firm partners and I have set for our leadership team to create a culture of growth for all. We are proud to be a part of an association that also emphasizes and celebrates these values:
- Challenge the status quo. Our firm’s founders, Jeff Smith and Harvey Wallace, were pioneers in creating flexible work arrangements in public accounting when no one else was doing it. This shift in thinking has directly impacted the ability for some of our female leaders to achieve top professional accolades, despite making the decision along the way to cut back their work schedules based on family decisions. Our firm’s pay policy corresponds to the level and percentage of time that the professional is working. We don’t let what are often short-term family decisions impact that individual’s long-term leadership potential. Other MSNA members have implemented similar ideas. Citrin Cooperman launched their Women’s Initiative (CCWIN) several years ago, focusing on fostering a work environment where women thrive. CCWIN includes offering flexible work schedules, providing technology that allows working at home, offering leadership training and mentoring, and providing access to firm leaders.
- Change the vocabulary. Leaders must hold each other accountable to think about women in positions of power and speak about them in that way in everyday business conversations. Something as seemingly small as not automatically using the “he” pronoun in business situations helps change the mentality, behavior and culture.
- Understand the differences. There is an often-cited finding from a Hewlett Packard internal report that states men apply for a job when they meet only 60 percent of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100 percent of them. The report does not clarify whether this disparity comes from a lack of confidence in women or a misconception of the hiring process (i.e., not seeing the hiring process as “one where advocacy, relationships or a creative approach to framing one’s expertise could overcome not having the skills and experiences outlined in the job qualifications,” as a Harvard Business Review article states). Regardless, it should be eye-opening to the potential differences in how men and women approach challenges and new opportunities in the workplace, and how understanding these differences can create an environment for all to equally thrive. Our firm has numerous internal professional development opportunities for women, and we’ve hosted THE BRIDGE, an external women’s event series, since 2014. THE BRIDGE is open to all women within our firm and the community, and has continued to grow in attendance over the last four years and 10 events.
Similarly, MSNA member HCVT created Women @ HCVT to address topics that are important to the women of their firm, including networking, work-life integration, leadership and communication styles.
One of our firm’s core values is improvement – we don’t rest on our past achievements. So, while being recognized as a top “Women in the Workplace” employer is encouraging, it only motivates us to keep the momentum going. Every effort to bridge the gender gap is a huge step forward. Brown Smith Wallace is proud to be a part of an association like MSNA that allows us to independently shape our firm’s vision and strategic plan while also helping drive and support initiatives like being a top workplace for women. We are excited to see the continued success of these initiatives across the MSNA membership.