iscover The 3 key ingredients to a thriving culture
BusinessIn a world where accounting firms and finance teams face talent shortages, escalating compliance demands and a schedule determined by deadlines, culture is a strategic asset. When nurtured, it has the potential to be a key talent attraction and retention differentiator. Yet too often, it is not a leadership priority.
The truth is that thriving workplace culture is neither complicated nor accidental. At its foundation is a common and agreed-upon purpose, a clear behavioural framework which supports it, and a consistent prioritisation of, and investment in, professional relationships.
Where these three elements co-exist, firms and teams can perform at their highest level.
Common purpose: The ‘why’ your team can rally behind
In such a task-driven profession, it’s easy for accountants to fall into the mentality of “just getting through the work.” But high-performing firms operate differently; their success stems from a clear, shared purpose that unifies the team around why the work they do matters.
A strong purpose connects people to something bigger than their daily task list and deadlines. It sustains motivation during peak periods like EOFY and audit season.
At Leading Teams, our common purpose is simple – we exist to help individuals and teams be high performing. It unites us a group and anchors our strategic decision-making.
Having purpose is a powerful retention tool: people are far more likely to stay where their work has meaning, and where their contributions matter not just to the firm, but also to them and clients alike.
A behavioural framework: How we do things around here
There are many organisations with well-intentioned values that, in practice, never see the light of day. Values don’t change culture. Behaviour does.
To build a culture that supports high performance, firms must explicitly define how they do it, not just what they need to do. Everyone on the team should be involved in co-designing a set of agreed behaviours that staff both support and hold one another accountable to. This framework doesn’t interfere with the compliance process; it complements it.
A clear framework can answer questions like:
-
What does accountability look like here, day-to-day?
-
How do we give and receive feedback?
-
How do we feel when we give and receive feedback?
-
How do we behave when we’re under pressure?
-
What does good communication look like in this team/firm?
-
How do we treat each other, regardless of role or title?
When everyone understands these expectations, leaders create a standard that can be coached, reinforced and benchmarked for all staff. Genuine conversations are the norm and people feel like they able to grow when they receive feedback.
Strong professional relationships: The Foundation of trust and performance
Accounting is not just a numbers business; it’s a people business, too. It’s a business where success is built on one’s relationships with clients, partners and colleagues. Strong relationships won’t eliminate pressure, but they will make it more manageable. So, while investing time in them may feel difficult when deadlines reign, when trust is in place, problems surface early, people stretch themselves to find solutions, and conflict becomes productive rather than personal. When trust is high, culture will typically look after itself.
These three ingredients enable firms and teams to navigate the inevitable stress of deadlines and compliance with cohesion and resilience. They create workplaces where people genuinely want to show up – especially when the work is tough.
The reality is that the accounting profession will not get less demanding. Technology will continue to transform workflows, client expectations will continue to rise, and compliance will remain non-negotiable. Firms that focus only on systems, processes or technical training will struggle to retain talent and maintain performance. Good culture is not an accident. It’s the result of a deliberate investment made by high-performing leadership, and the shared responsibility of every staff member.
