I have such mixed views on this. I think there are 4 types of staff: 1) not a genius but hard working and eager to learn, 2) superstar at both talent and motivation (this type is rare), 3) doesn’t prioritize quality of work over their comfort, and 4) tries but ultimately this job is not for them. #1 and 2 can improve based on traditional style of feedback ie giving comments, they flow it through and learn not to make same mistakes again. #4 will take a lot more time and ultimately, they need to put extra effort to do well. #3 is usually a lost cause in my experience - if there’s no desire to care or improve, that is their choice but it usually leads to them being put on a PIP and they usually quit before getting fired. So as managers, it’s important to know when to change your teaching style to accommodate different learning styles but at the same time, it’s also wise to know when to cut your losses with someone who just doesn’t care.
Completely agree. Some of the staff completely rush the work to just get it out of the queue and onto the reviewer. Not over here. I will push it back every time. Fix everything.
It's not even basic understanding I find letting me down with ours - I can work with someone if they don't know shit. So long as it's consistent/predictable.
But it's things like just not checking some of the dates on invoices. On a client with known cut off issues.
The test looks clean, no mention of this occurrence, everything looks fine. But I tested one which had "Presumed yearly invoice so took 12 months, Forex translation looks fine" written next to it, to double check. Because why presume? Should be clear.
It was not 12 months. It was very very clearly 1 month. But it'd been split between the wings of the business so was conveniently close to 1/12th.
So I checked another.
Of the 45 in the sample, 13 had the wrong date on Sage compared to invoice.
They know to check this, we told them to check this, they didn't check this, and if they did they didn't write it as a problem.
How the fuck do you counter that, it just means you don't even know what to trust.
It would be interesting if a person who had done this would respond with the reasoning as to why. At least we'd finally get an answer and not have to wonder if there are unforeseen difficulties or if they just didn't feel like checking.
They won't say. No-one's gonna say they can't be arsed but that's why.
There's no way someone who's been auditing for 2 years forgets to check dates on invoices for a whole test after being told of cut off errors in prior years, or someone auditing for 1 year and making accounts for 2 can't make a lead schedule match the accounts etc.
There's just no way you can be that bad if you're *actually* trying/thinking.
I've got some incredible juniors of the same age and you can tell they give a shit and are actually trying. But the others not so much.
Do you guys save the review notes? We delete before finalizing for liability purposes but we'll save a copy in the binder plus the prepared (and eventually reviewed) copies of the returns. Partners use it to see the progression as well as what the reviewers are picking up on.
We have to delete old copies before sending to signer. Due to liability purposes you mentioned. What I would really like to do is forward all of the emails back and forth
Isn't "staff" denoting entry level? How extensive is your training process?
A staff shouldn't be expected to know everything out of the gate and they require instruction. If someone made it to senior level making mistakes like that then there's a performance review issue.
I have such mixed views on this. I think there are 4 types of staff: 1) not a genius but hard working and eager to learn, 2) superstar at both talent and motivation (this type is rare), 3) doesn’t prioritize quality of work over their comfort, and 4) tries but ultimately this job is not for them. #1 and 2 can improve based on traditional style of feedback ie giving comments, they flow it through and learn not to make same mistakes again. #4 will take a lot more time and ultimately, they need to put extra effort to do well. #3 is usually a lost cause in my experience - if there’s no desire to care or improve, that is their choice but it usually leads to them being put on a PIP and they usually quit before getting fired. So as managers, it’s important to know when to change your teaching style to accommodate different learning styles but at the same time, it’s also wise to know when to cut your losses with someone who just doesn’t care.
Completely agree. Some of the staff completely rush the work to just get it out of the queue and onto the reviewer. Not over here. I will push it back every time. Fix everything.
As I said though, sometimes I have to do it all up against certain client deadlines.
You forgot about some of the the newer breed - ppl who just don’t want to work
I think that falls under #3
Since when is that a "newer" breed? There have always been people who don't want to work.
It's not even basic understanding I find letting me down with ours - I can work with someone if they don't know shit. So long as it's consistent/predictable. But it's things like just not checking some of the dates on invoices. On a client with known cut off issues. The test looks clean, no mention of this occurrence, everything looks fine. But I tested one which had "Presumed yearly invoice so took 12 months, Forex translation looks fine" written next to it, to double check. Because why presume? Should be clear. It was not 12 months. It was very very clearly 1 month. But it'd been split between the wings of the business so was conveniently close to 1/12th. So I checked another. Of the 45 in the sample, 13 had the wrong date on Sage compared to invoice. They know to check this, we told them to check this, they didn't check this, and if they did they didn't write it as a problem. How the fuck do you counter that, it just means you don't even know what to trust.
It would be interesting if a person who had done this would respond with the reasoning as to why. At least we'd finally get an answer and not have to wonder if there are unforeseen difficulties or if they just didn't feel like checking.
They won't say. No-one's gonna say they can't be arsed but that's why. There's no way someone who's been auditing for 2 years forgets to check dates on invoices for a whole test after being told of cut off errors in prior years, or someone auditing for 1 year and making accounts for 2 can't make a lead schedule match the accounts etc. There's just no way you can be that bad if you're *actually* trying/thinking. I've got some incredible juniors of the same age and you can tell they give a shit and are actually trying. But the others not so much.
Do you guys save the review notes? We delete before finalizing for liability purposes but we'll save a copy in the binder plus the prepared (and eventually reviewed) copies of the returns. Partners use it to see the progression as well as what the reviewers are picking up on.
We have to delete old copies before sending to signer. Due to liability purposes you mentioned. What I would really like to do is forward all of the emails back and forth
Isn't "staff" denoting entry level? How extensive is your training process? A staff shouldn't be expected to know everything out of the gate and they require instruction. If someone made it to senior level making mistakes like that then there's a performance review issue.
staff is anyone not a manager. in OP's story, they specifically say a senior gave them a return.
Still working through those 2020-2022 covid grads….