If you downloaded The Ultimate CA Hiring Toolkit you will relate to the band/orchestra analogy I used.
We compared your practice team as a group of individual musical ‘instruments’ who are all singing off the same ‘song sheet’. When they are collectively on song they create a harmonious melody despite their radically different notes and sounds. In the download we gave you a way to ascertain the gaps in the skills of your team.
Today I want to address the ‘song sheet’ itself. The ‘song sheet’ is what gives meaning to the expression of the individual skills. This is your practice’s purpose, vision and culture. It sets the tune, the resonance and the tone of your practice.
As we have discussed before, people have certain skills and when crafting your team it is important to filter for them. The placement of people on your team could be likened to choosing which instruments you select to compose your band or orchestra. Who you choose depends on the music you want to generate and the effect that you want to have on your audience i.e. the public and your practice members.
Whilst the ‘instrument’ is important it is more important that the ‘instrument’ is tuned and is in-tune with the essence of the ‘songsheet’. The ‘tuning’ of the member of your team comes in the form of their character preferences.
As with the skills assessment, before considering hiring someone into your team you must do a thorough analysis of where your practice team’s character preferences are right now. You must be aware of the state of your business as it’s structure directly affects its function.
You need to fill in the ‘gaps’ that exist in your team. Don’t hire people like you (or even like your current CAs – Hire for the ‘gaps’. Your ideal CA is not a collection of skills – this person is an arrangement of character traits which fit together in a unique package that complements your practice’s unique ‘songsheet’.
You must know the ‘Gaps’ and you must be able to recognise the person who is the ‘Gap Filler’ – that special person who is in tune with your ‘songsheet’ and will bring the complementary harmony to your team.
Your practice has a vision or purpose whether you have defined it or not. This is the true north reference point, your moral compass that your practice resonates with and that your CAs character traits must always align with. There will be a number of actions and jobs that you or others don’t love doing so these are what you look for in the skills of the new CA.
The important thing though is that the new CA must resonate with your vision.
The key reference for your practice ‘songsheet’ is your Statement of Purpose. If you either don’t have a practice statement of purpose or if your practice Purpose/Mission Statement is in need of review then download the Character Traits checklist.
In this we give you the steps to take to create a Statement of Purpose plus how to identify where the character traits ‘Gaps’ are in your team.
From this you will have a very clear way forward in selecting the best CA addition to your practice team.
The decision on who to include in your CA team is a big one which impacts upon yourself, your team, your practice members and your business.
It is critical that this decision is made with your eyes wide open with attention to the ‘instruments’ and the ‘songsheet’.
If you would like the character traits assessment, which is part of the Ultimate CA Hiring Toolkit then CLICK HERE.
