Exercise is such an important part of my overall wellbeing. Whether it's walking the dogs, running, cycling or swimming, these times allow my mind to wander while my body works. I find this a much more effective way of thinking through what matters, or indeed just finding some time to reflect.
So yesterday was a perfect opportunity, out on my bike with only myself for company. I've started listening to podcasts while cycling for long distances - more than 3 hours of my own thoughts gets a bit much. This said, I may have to reconsider as if I'm listening to something then I'm not thinking, or maybe it's food for thought given the subject matters are wide ranging and varied. Either way, yesterday I got lost and my phone battery ran out so I had to resort to my own thoughts and I was reflecting on why I'm so convinced I need to do something different professionally. I'm pretty sure it's not a whole scale change much of what I do I enjoy, but it's clear to me that change is required - the restlessness is getting greater and I can feel myself checking out. I was challenging myself as to what I would say, how will I explain, my reasons why I would leave where I am today. After a number of miles it came down to this:
In our partnership (let's make it personal, this isn't true of all I'm sure), the leading metrics are those that impact our reported numbers of revenue and Total Income per Partner. This latter one is all important as for years we were out of the pack and having finally got up to the level of our competitors we are very reluctant to let go. In an increasingly commoditised consulting market where margin is declining the only way to keep the TIPP number high is to innovate or increase the amount of chargeable time we get out of our people. Innovation is costly and must be paid for, so people need to work harder.
Now all of this makes sense - many organisations are looking to maximise profit and in fact there is an obligation on the directors of a listed organisation to maximise shareholder returns. The subtlety I struggle with is that in a corporate environment everyone can benefit - all employee are eligible to purchase shares and hence benefit from the increasing value of the organisation and their efforts. There is a long term view - benefits are split between cash and shares and so it pays to balance thinking about the long term sustainability of the organisation as well as short term returns,
A partnership is closed and therefore its the partners that benefit. While staff should benefit through bonus schemes and benefits, these are capped and will be squeezed to ensure that magic TIPP number is reported favourably. It's all about the in year number and our reward is as short term as the focus - one feeds the other.
Am I naïve, I don't know. I just feel intrinsically that the Big 4 partnership model of massive returns is under threat. I don't believe we look after our staff as well as we might given their contribution to these huge returns and in doing so we disengage them. the model has relied for many years on the next generation of hopeful partner candidates working incredibly hard to try and secure their own place, but is this changing? Is the next generation disillusioned and looking for more balance, more diversity, more parity?
A final point about passion - at work that is rather than elsewhere... I'm avidly soaking up podcasts and articles about purpose and passion. I liked this one from Jim Whitehouse, CEO of Red Hat:
For me, a passionate employee is someone who pays attention to the what and the how of the company’s strategies and tactics, someone who is involved and curious and who constantly questions what the company is doing and their own role in making it successful. And they do that not because someone ordered them to, but because they want to. That’s the kind of intrinsic reward today’s workers seek out, not the lavish perks or financial bonuses that we mistakenly assumed motivated workers of the past.
For example, at Red Hat, where I serve as president and CEO, we have at least three associates who are so passionate about our company’s role in changing the world through open source technology that they have gotten a tattoo of “Shadowman,” the icon wearing a red fedora in our company logo. How many companies can say the same? That’s a level of permanence and sense of mission that no economist could ever have predicted with a chart.
Now that is a measure of success!
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