Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker finds opportunities in executive recruitment
When UniTel Inc. began scouting for a new controller in June, it first tapped the shoulder of its accounting firm, Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker. Rather than launch its own search for a top-level employee, which would have been complicated and time-consuming, the Unity-based telephone and Internet company handed over the search mission to its accountants.
And BDMP was glad to help. The largest accounting firm in Maine had just formalized what it had been doing casually for years — that is, providing the right person for the right job as an extra benefit to its clients.
"We were looking for someone that had professional experience in public accounting. And our industry is a little bit unique," UniTel's Chief Operating Officer Jim Carlson says. "We knew we probably wouldn't find someone with a lot of industry experience, but we wanted a seasoned person in that position."
Carlson met with Sarah Olson, a consultant at BDMP, and less than 12 weeks later she had tracked down and referred David Dubois, a former CFO with The Daigle Oil Co. in Fort Kent. Dubois started at UniTel at the end of October.
"That was a lot quicker than we anticipated, and we were happy about that," Carlson says, adding that he credits some of the ease of the search to UniTel's comfortable relationship with BDMP. "We looked at other headhunter firms as well, just to get a sanity check, but [BDMP] really had the inside track in terms of understanding what our department looked like and what our company looked like," Carlson says.
Although accounting firms specialize in numbers, not people, many CPAs have a deft grasp of the corporate culture of their clients. After wading through financial data and completing many audits, the accountants can't help but gain insight into a company. When you mix that with accounting firms' wide-reaching networks, it makes sense for some clients to turn to their CPAs for help filling financial positions. Plus, CPAs can ask other accountants the types of technical questions that might perplex human resource managers unaccustomed to, say, industry jargon or the latest accounting trend.
"They are so intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of clients," says Mark Gottlieb, owner of Mark S. Gottlieb CPA, a forensic auditing firm in Great Neck, N.Y., that published a 2006 industry study on executive recruiting. "An accountant has a broad understanding of clients' businesses."
Beyond that, accounting firms often seek to diversify to fortify business and increase their customer base. "Accounting firms have historically worn many hats in servicing customers, and some firms have gone into the consulting business," says Gottlieb.
Mark Koziel, a senior technical manager at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, says some firms need to add new arms, too, the smaller the market. "If you are in a limited business market, it makes sense to diversify," he points out.
So while it's not unheard of for accounting firms to take on the task of helping a client find a new employee, BDMP has taken this service, often treated as a second thought, a step further. In June, the company presented Executive Fit, a new department of the firm that wholly focuses on employee searches. At its head is Olson, who transitioned from human resources director, a job she held for about seven years, to the first and only Executive Fit consultant.
Finding a niche
Olson says she first broached the idea of formalizing a search arm with BDMP's manager of operations, Dennis Lemieux. "I asked, 'What if we did this more on a full-time basis?'" she recalls.
The idea was welcomed. "This firm has always had an entrepreneurial spirit," she explains. "They're always asking, 'What is the next service we can offer clients that they can benefit from?'"
As of the beginning of November, Olson says she has worked with 10 clients. Six of those were companies that had previously used BDMP strictly for its accounting services. The rest were new clients, and although those clients have not yet branched out to sample the company's other offerings, Olson says Executive Fit is hopeful it can hook new clients in the future. "It's another way for us to attract people to the firm and what we do," she says.
Part of the formalization process involved raising the service fee. Olson wouldn't disclose what BDMP charged before launching Executive Fit, but says fees now range from $10,000 for placing a lower-level person, like an accounting manager, up to $30,000 for a more senior post such as chief financial officer. "We did some analysis of what we bring to the table and we were really underselling it [before]," Olson says. By the end of this year Olson expects to have worked with 15 clients, a number she will try to match again or increase next year. To that end, the firm is spreading the word by networking, and Executive Fit plans to host a variety of business events and send out mailings to existing and prospective clients.
Olson says she prefers to fill financial positions, as this is her field, but also works with the IT community, as both are areas in which she has expertise. And while finance or IT jobs don't really scream big personality and charismatic flair, Olson says her hiring strategy is all about character and personal fit. "I'm a frustrated psychologist," she says, laughing. "I hear so many horror stories about bad hires and how devastating that is to companies," she says, explaining her view that hiring people based solely on technical skill is inadvisable. A person's character should always have more influence on the final decision, she argues. "If you hire on attitude and fit, most people are trainable."
Koziel agrees. "All controllers are not created equal," he says. "Finding that right fit is critical."
By focusing on her match-making talent, Olson believes she differentiates BDMP from some other executive search services. But she doesn't entirely ignore a candidate's skills. To screen David Dubois for UniTel, for example, Olson first completed a behavioral interview with him, and then had him follow up with a principal at BDMP who grilled him on his financial expertise.
Dubois says he submitted to Olson's behavioral test, which asked him to describe himself based on his own impressions and on what he figured others thought of him. Olson then asked questions about how Dubois' previous managers would describe his work ethic, his skill set and how he gets along with others.
Beyond asking these types of personal questions, Olson also scrutinizes the firm. She'll sit with a management team, asking them who they ideally see in the job and what type of personality they envision settling in for the long term.
Jim Carlson says he informed Olson that UniTel wanted "someone with a professional bearing, someone who had leadership experience, someone who was trustworthy."
But another of Olson's clients, RSN, a sports television network in Portland, sought somebody a touch different for its controller. Susan Haversat, the company's human resources director, says RSN not only wanted someone with experience, but also a person who was comfortable in a non-traditional corporate culture. Haversat and a management team met with Olson to draw up a picture of a perfect controller.
The company eventually chose John Bell from three other candidates. He had previously worked for George J. Foster Co. in Dover, N.H. Haversat says that despite Bell's more corporate background, he acclimated quickly to the quirky company. "It is hard to find a high-level person with this level of experience who can also work in our environment," Haversat says. "We don't wear suits — it's jeans and t-shirts, and shorts in the summer. It is an adjustment to come to this office. He didn't really take much time getting used to it."
An informal service
Koziel says that in the past five years or so, more accounting firms have begun focusing on executive searching as a business strategy. Accounting firms can develop streamlined systems for their new recruiting services, applying their meticulous financial skills to the hunt for an appropriate applicant, he says.
But accounting firms in Maine describe a variety of approaches to conducting employee recruitment for clients, ranging from, "We absolutely don't go there," to, "We do it when we're asked." Jim Otis, who founded accounting firm Otis Atwell in South Portland in 1974, says that during his tenure up to 2003, when he "semi-retired," the company always steered clear of recruiting. "We stay in our niche and don't try to get out of it," he says. "Our focus is on affordable housing and real estate, and we feel that is the thing to concentrate our efforts in."
On the other hand, Reg Perry, a senior partner of PFBF CPAs in Oakland, says his firm will extend a hand for clients who first approach him. "It's not something we publicize, but on occasion we'll try to find a controller or senior financial person," he says. "We'll refer candidates to final interviews." Generally, clients who decide that their accountant has a better grasp on the duties of a particular post will use PFBF's help, Perry says. "We're better suited to ask financial questions," he points out.
PFBF keeps resumes on file and always knows off hand of a few people seeking a career change. When the company can't automatically refer someone, Perry says he or others at the business post advertisements, screen resumes and interview prospects, saving the client legwork and time.
Chester M. Kearny CPAs in Presque Isle is another accounting firm that tracks down qualified candidates for its clients when asked. According to the company's Firm Administrator Colleen Stevens, the service is informal and billed out at normal hourly rates.
Both Stevens and Perry say in the last few years they have noticed more requests for executive searches. "Predominantly in the last two, three years, there seems to be more of a demand," Perry observes, guessing that it might do with finance professionals moving more frequently from job to job.
Olson, too, says BDMP had noticed a jump in executive recruitment requests, which helped its decision to create the new department. Gone are the days when people were expected to work 20 to 25 years in one company. "Companies are changing so rapidly," she says. "Every time we turn around, a company is buying another business or merging or going public — the environment is changing so quickly."
She also says many firms that have been burned once by a bad hire exhibit more caution the next hiring round. "They are more conscientious about spending the money and making sure it is the right person," she says.
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