CareerCoach
How to make partner in five years
Making partner doesn’t have to be a dark art – nor should it be underestimated. But ability, communication and energy could help you navigate a path to success, suggests Keith Underwood
There are concerns that the younger generations ‘aren’t interested’ in making partner in a firm, compounded by opportunities disappearing through practice mergers and acquisitions. But there are still a considerable number of firms willing to support your journey. And the benefits of making partner are great: responsibility; decision-making (having a say in your firm’s destiny); and, particularly, financial.
In a people profession, having the right skills and attitude could see you progress quickly up a firm’s career ladder.
Here is a guide to many of the traits that will support your quick progression through the ranks.
Join the right firm
Be bold at interview stage. Ask the questions: “What is the firm’s fast track to partnership?”; or “What skills and attributes do I need to make partner?” Their response might colour your interest in a position with that employer.
And, of course, research your intended employer. The chances of a partnership in a two- or three-partner firm may be limited due to age profiles. Be careful to avoid a glass ceiling situation, which might have limited partner positions in the five-year timeframe.
Serving clients
Alongside undertaking your accountancy studies, you will be learning the ropes at your practice. This may well involve serving in different departments, and across a range of clients (by size, sector or even complexity).
Much will be going on around you and your focus should be positive. While it may seem overwhelming, it’s a great moment to absorb as much knowledge as possible; whether it’s about technical points; understanding business cycles and sectoral differences; or how your practice operates.
In turn, begin learning about clients’ business - not just from the perspective of accounts preparation or audit but how they go to market, who are their competitors, and what they are trying to achieve.
Behaviour to clients… and your boss
Alongside providing the technical know-how to support your clients’ compliance or advisory needs, your manner in dealing with them will be closely watched. In turn, you should also be watching the behaviour of your peers and seniors too.
Listen attentively when given a task. Be active and questioning where possible, but appreciate that there are things you will be expected to try on your own. This is definitely one of the toughest aspects of career development: knowing when to take initiative versus being hand-held through tasks. Even if the solution you find is wrong, or needs refinement, a proactive approach will be recognised.
Client-getting ability/business development
As your career and seniority develops, more responsibility will fall on your shoulders to support the firm in winning clients. This isn’t about turning you into a marketing professional, nor necessarily acting like one. Instead, it’s about working closely with your chosen markets – whether regionally, by sector or both. Can you network at the right events?
Are you respected because of your knowledge…and do you demonstrate that through commentary or article-writing? Be proactive with existing clients and encourage referrals. Provide a service they will be pleased to recommend to their family, business associates and fellow professionals.
Leadership and management
Your strong performance will, hopefully, have given you an aura among both your peers and seniors. This should be allied with taking the opportunity to manage, train and develop your team. Managing and leading are skillsets that need developing and very few are great at either from the get-go. Certainly consider leadership management and business training. Finally, you should be in a position where you are managing both a profit centre and other team members. Combining these with a tenacity to succeed should bring you the invitation to become a partner.
Aura, attitude, proactivity
If you’ve been alive to the firm’s attitude towards its clients – certainly in terms of who it wants to work for and how – then it would make sense that you are in a position to leverage that knowledge in terms of the firm’s strategic and operational direction.
Hopefully, the goodwill you’ve built up will go in tandem with them wanting to hear from you about growing the firm. This will require some diplomacy allied with opportunism. Another opportunity could be in mentoring – who in the existing partnership is looking to help you develop?
Portfolio management
There is a subtle but important difference between clients wanting to work with you and your firm, and them being the right clients. This is where understanding the workings of your firm, and its performance targets, really come together.
If you can identify clientele that the firm can service, but will provide good fees and at a higher margin than the firm’s target KPIs, then the existing partner base will look upon you very favourably – you will, after all, be likely hitting your bonus targets while helping them take home a higher profit-share distribution.
How to make partner in five years
Making partner doesn’t have to be a dark art – nor should it be underestimated. But ability, communication and energy could help you navigate a path to success, suggests Keith Underwood
