In this episode Chris Frame joined Mel Power on The Revolutionary Firm podcast from Expensicon 2018, held in Bora Bora!
Chris is the Chief Operating Officer at LiveCA and shares some great tips on how to build a great team across the world.
Show Notes
Chris and Mel start by making us all jealous by talking about the clear blue waters and stunning sea creatures surrounding them in Bora Bora, while they drink local beers and Piña Coladas!
Chris' start in accounting
Chris starts by sharing a little about his story and how he got into accounting right in the middle of the GFC.
Chris was passionate about marketing, which he acknowledges is typically an unusual trait for accountants.
He worked for the Canada Revenue Agency for 5 years and before finding the right opportunity at LiveCA.
What makes LiveCA so special?
It's the team. A team-first focus flows through all their decision making, right from the start.
Even with all the technology around, it comes back to building relationships, people to people.
How does LiveCA build a great mindset and culture from within, and how does that flow on to clients?
Starting from early on in the hiring process, Chris talks about how they identify great candidates. They look for technical qualities of course, but they're also looking for great people who can develop relationships with clients. Using technology but building relationships and connecting with clients.
They have fairly normal application process, but they switch it up in the last step called Trial Work Days. This is where they bring candidates in for two days, they get to work with the team, in the position they are applying for. This is so LiveCA can test them out and see what they are like in action, but also so they meet the team, learn about the company and the culture. Those two days are so valuable.
Now candidates get the opportunity to get a full understanding of the firm, get their questions answered and how they will fit in with a virtual team.
They are a 100% virtual firm from the very start, all working from home. They bring together people whose values align, they just don't have to be in the same office, city or even country anymore.
Chris explains how they successfully onboard a younger team member, particularly a graduate who may want more of a team or office environment.
LiveCA have put together an extensive list of procedures and documentation, so employees have somewhere to turn when they need guidance on tasks to complete. They also do a lot of training in systems and workflow.
They have also sent up a mentorship program as well, where they partner a newer employee with a more experienced one. They meet up regularly to talk about setting expectations, communicating with managers, sharing knowledge with junior employees.
Team get togethers
They bring the entire team together once a year, fly them all off site to various locations, make it a special experience. There is some structure to the meet ups but a lot of free time to connect and continue to foster a cohesive team atmosphere.
Bringing people together, face to face time is where relationships and connections really happen.
Chris says he thinks their employees are changed and empowered by their remote working experience. It allows for more work-life balance because they don't have to sacrifice things they might have had to do if they worked in a different way.
How to build a million dollar firm with good people - that's revolutionary!
Chris' advice for people looking at accounting as a career
Don't be intimidated by the horror stories of long hours during tax season, there are a lot of people out there who are committed to making...
