Oscar Wilde and the Value Principle for Accountants

Oscar Wilde once wrote:

“What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”.

Musing on this, I had a slightly mischievous thought: Oscar Wilde might have been speaking as an accountant.

The current economic crisis has demanded that the public sector cut millions from various service delivery budgets up and down the country. The private sector has also been challenged with examining budgets to keep businesses afloat, maintaining profit margins where possible or indeed take advantage of the climate to expand. Inevitably, this unenviable challenge falls at the door of accountants.

Some accountants have adopted an across-the-board percentage cut to budgets to achieve targets and expect Operational Managers to get on with the imposed constraints. While there is some merit in this approach in very specific circumstances, most know it isn’t that simple.

The more visionary and imaginative accountants set out, with their General Managers and Managing Directors, to evolve business models to provide the same or improved services and products for less cost. They will look to where real value lies in the business or service to preserve or enhance it. They will examine very closely the interrelationships between value of service/product, cost savings and desired outcomes before acting and reducing budgets. There is a major difference between direct cost cut and carefully and thoughtfully reduced budgets in order to maintain overall value.

Oscar Wilde, by a twist of fate, might have made a very good accountant. Then again, he might also have been one of accountancy’s severest critics. Just paraphrase:

“What is an accountant? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”.

On an optimistic note, for those brave enough to grasp it, there is a real opportunity to rise to the occasion and to show that you are of value and not a cost to your organisation. 

Chris Cutting, of Chris Cutting Recruitment (CCR), has several years experience in accountancy recruitment at all levels. His career spans working for both national and regional recruitment consultancies in the Midlands and establishing two regional consultancies servicing the M5 and M4 corridors. The one constant throughout his career has been to provide a tailored and personalised service to clients and candidates.

What happens when you drop a piano on an accountant?

Seems obvious doesn’t it?

The comedic potential is hilarious. I can’t resist referring to Laurel and Hardy’s ‘The Music Box’ (still available). As onlookers, we can share in the anticipation of what’s going to go wrong, appreciate the ineptitude of the clueless clowns and enjoy the catalogue of catastrophic outcomes – thanks to the director, scriptwriters and excellent actors.

So what does happen when you drop a piano on an accountant?

Freeze frame the image and now let me put you, an aspiring thespian accountant, in place of the character. What would you like to see happen? What outcomes could there be, and which would you select?

In the original script, the poor unfortunate is walking along the pavement. He or she is unaware of their surroundings, assuming all is well and possibly doing their best impression of Flat Stanley. Great comic drama! Congratulations, you’ve made the celebrity listings.

This time, imagine a different script. The accountant is walking down the same street and under the same piano. They see the mishap about to occur and take spectacular avoiding action. They survive, heaving a sigh of relief. Great dramatic impact, maybe some humour and a heroic outcome. Hearty congratulations for a magnificent performance. You are now an all action hero who has hit the celebrity ‘A’ list.

From the inexhaustible ranks of accountants comes yet another! They saunter down the same street, see and assess the situation from a distance and walk up to the workmen trying to raise the piano to their client’s apartment. Quickly establishing a friendly rapport, the accountant ascertains why they have chosen the particular method of raising the piano. This is followed by a series of practical suggestions designed to make life easier and safer for all concerned. Not very good screen material, this. No drama, no celebrity status and a feeling of having been short-changed with the script.

So what does a piano dropping on an accountant have to do with anything?

While onscreen comedic catastrophe is highly amusing, its roots are often found in tragic reality. Again, in reality, it is the individual who achieves the most effective solutions who is the more impressive of the two. It is this individual who gains the accountant ‘A’ list status. Which of those accountants would you climb Everest with? The first is to be commiserated with. The second is to be congratulated for having sufficient anticipation to take avoiding action. The real hero is the one who not only avoided harm but who went out of their way to make the situation safer and easier to achieve for everyone else.

In the world of recruitment, it is easy to understand which accountant an employer would select. In the light of this, candidates should consider which of these three accountants they might be perceived as. It follows on from this that you should give some thought as to what actions you can take to add value to your role and organisation. These can also be used to demonstrate your potential to a future employer.

Chris Cutting, of Chris Cutting Recruitment (CCR), has several years experience in accountancy recruitment at all levels. His career spans working for both national and regional recruitment consultancies in the Midlands and establishing two regional consultancies servicing the M5 and M4 corridors. The one constant throughout his career has been to provide a tailored and personalised service to clients and candidates.

Employment ... rising or falling?

In August 2009 Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC, commented on recruitment records for August:

“For the first time in 17 months, this month’s report shows signs that the UK jobs market is improving. It seems that employers are becoming more confident in their hiring decisions with an increase in permanent recruitment and growth in temporary placements for the first time in over a year.”

The media then used these comments in such a way as to suggest that the UK was on the way back toward healthy employment.

In November 2009, the Head of the IMF commented:

“Unemployment in Britain is set to climb well into next year, despite the world economy being on the cusp of recovery.”

What is the truth in these statements and what are we to make of it?

Media hype, political sound bites and these conflicting reports add to confusion, uncertainty and worry for accountants who have been made redundant or who are under threat of redundancy. Experience in accountancy recruitment during the last recession has taught me that the apparent conflict will be reconciled and understood when both aspects are placed in context. I would also suggest that understanding the job market is essential for sound decision-making on job offers, and for developing personal strategies to ride out the economic storm.

The August report was correct but the optimistic conclusion drawn from it possibly misplaced. I suggest that what had been evidenced was a ‘spike’: the effect of pent-up demand. (Companies hold off from recruiting over a period of time to the point of damaging their businesses. As a consequence, they decide there is no option but to recruit. A number of businesses reach the same point and happen to enter the recruitment market at the same time). I would also suggest that such ‘spikes’ are unpredictable, irregular and repeated intermittently. As the market strengthens, the traditional recruitment cycle will return and such ‘spikes’ will disappear. This was certainly the pattern in the last recession.

Rising unemployment, as reported by the Head of the IMF, will happen. There are studies that demonstrate that, following a recession, unemployment will continue to rise after an economic upturn and usually for up to 12 months. It is rather like a large seagoing tanker – it takes a while for it to respond to a change in direction. It won’t turn immediately, but will continue for several ship lengths before responding.

The two reports are reconcilable when placed in the following context:

Over the same period of time that unemployment rises, there will be intermittent ‘spikes’ of pent-up demand for accountants. These can be seen as oases of opportunities in a desert of rising unemployment and should be taken advantage of in the best way possible. What this means is: be ready to react quickly during a spike; remain flexible in your expectations; and don’t dismiss opportunities and offers out of hand. If you are moving from a permanent position to an apparently sound role and business as part of a career move, apply rigorous ‘due diligence’. Identify the security of both before making your decision.

The good news is that recruitment doesn’t stop completely during recession, it only slows down and even then there are intermittent surges of opportunities. 

Chris Cutting, of Chris Cutting Recruitment (CCR), has several years experience in accountancy recruitment at all levels. His career spans working for both national and regional recruitment consultancies in the Midlands and establishing two regional consultancies servicing the M5 and M4 corridors. The one constant throughout his career has been to provide a tailored and personalised service to clients and candidates.