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generation past the founder, sometimes it’s hard to
uncover those founding values and principles, but AICPA RESOURCES
nonetheless, they’re part of the DNA.
Article
A second way is by speaking to new people to
“Adapting to Workplace Culture in a Virtual World,” JofA, July 19, 2021,
the firm. When I worked for an accounting firm,
tinyurl.com/2cf82k9v
I used to do 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day check-ins
with new employees. I’d ask how they were fitting Online resources
in, but I was also on the alert for what they noticed The Assimilation Process and Orientation Program (free for PCPS members),
about the way a firm did things and what seemed to tinyurl.com/pxkkewf5
be most important to it.
Behavioral-Based Interview Questions for Your Firm’s Next Hire (free for
A third way is exit interviews. One of the PCPS members), tinyurl.com/2vavxu76
questions that you can ask is, “When you were here,
Find New Talent With These Interview Tips and Tricks (free for PCPS
what did you notice that made it more challenging
members), tinyurl.com/35zhfddr
to be here?” or “What are some practices that you
Podcast episodes
noticed going on around you that the firm seems
to be built upon?” Sometimes they can give you “Interviews That Will Get You the Staff You Want,” JofA, June 3, 2019,
glimpses into the automatic things that you never tinyurl.com/94pruhtw
thought about but are still true. “Build Employee Loyalty With Better Onboarding,” JofA, April 30, 2019,
tinyurl.com/nmxnynbx
If you don’t have a clear sense of what your Videos
organizational culture is, you can run into
problems, such as hiring the wrong people. Can “5 P’s That Define Workplace Culture,” JofA, April 15, 2019,
you give us an example? tinyurl.com/7d8mh6uy
Gage: A firm I know of brought in a senior “How Success Relies on Workplace Culture,” JofA, April 8, 2019,
tinyurl.com/rfepmsfk
manager from a larger firm to fill a slot where they
were short, and this person came in with not only “Define, Then Hire Your Ideal Employee,” JofA, March 25, 2019,
experience but a lot of good ideas. But many of his tinyurl.com/57fnphu4
ideas were centered around processes and proce- Private Companies Practice Section
dures and checklists. The firm was very strongly
The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) is a voluntary firm
hierarchical and took pride in its quality control,
membership section for CPAs that provides member firms with targeted
and firm leaders bristled against these ideas. The and customizable practice management tools and resources. Visit the
person’s suggestions weren’t taken as opportunities PCPS Firm Practice Management page at us.aicpa.org/PCPS.
to develop; they were taken as criticisms.

So that person maybe wasn’t a good fit for that
firm’s culture? often that I finally said, “OK, here’s what I’m going
Gage: Probably not. In my conversation with to assume. I’m going to assume you’ve got to have a
[that firm], I said, “What would you like to have strong work ethic, and I’m going to assume that you
known when you interviewed this person?” Then we are a reliable, dependable person. Those two aside,
had a discussion around how they prefer to give and what else? Who else shows up on that first day and
receive feedback. In interviews you can ask appli- every day following? What can we expect from you?”
cants, “How do you share your opinion? What’s your What that shows is their level of self-awareness.
style?” Just knowing a person’s style goes a long way. I also like to ask, “Who do you become when
you’re stressed? What stresses you: Being over-
What are some other good questions to ask whelmed, being criticized, being found unworthy
during an interview to determine cultural fit? or less than, or being in a situation that you’re
Gage: One to ask is, “If we hire you and you unfamiliar with?” There’s a lot of different ways
show up on the first day, what do we get? Who we’ve learned to handle our stress. Some people
comes?” But you need to be careful. I learned early cave in. They get very quiet. Some people lash out.
on that I would get the same answers over and over Some people get distracted and do something else.
and over again. One is, “I’ve got a strong work ethic. I But the bottom line is, I want to know what we can
work hard.” The second one is, “I’m dependable. You expect from you and what kinds of resources and
can rely on me.” Well, I started hearing those two so support you need as you go through your stress.

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