[Anonymous]

Curious what you guys think about working in the accounting industry and receiving poor performance reviews?

Regardless how hard you work, most firms will give you a poor performance review and focus on the areas you didn’t do well rather than praise you for what you did right.

What are your ideas and theories on why many companies do this and do you agree/disagree with this practice? I have my ideas, curious about yours.

[Anonymous]

Wish I could say the same. Wonder why my experience as well as many others has been different then. It is definitely not competence or efficiency or even accounting related and it's not difficult to communicate or ask questions if I need something clarified.

Those are all basic things that would be easy to admit if it were an issue, but it's not considering I am typically in the position to train and motivate others.

I have heard the perspective that some firms give more individualistic training based on your personality and that a tactic used is to be more tough on your best employees. This practice is not uncommon considering it's a technique used in the military as well as in sports to develop a more strong and capable leader, etc.

[Anonymous]

@Toni – On point. I think the op is struggling and trying to get people to agree that the system sucks. Unfortunately his limited experience in the corporate world hasn't been good and he's in a bad situation. If anything, this should be motivation for those struggling and realize there's good opportunity available to be successful and happy if you put yourself in a position to succeed.

[Anonymous]

You have to honestly ask yourselves if you really have what it takes to be successful? Ask yourselves what is the difference between someone who becomes Partner or CFO and a person who is made to just be an accountant?

I don't think being babied and coddled your entire career is in the formula that creates a great leader. But I suppose my opinion doesn't matter any longer here does it… Perhaps I have unintentionally offended one too many people so all my points and perfectly sound reasoning are now invalid? 😉

[NYSCPA]

Please don't waste your time and our time asking “if you really have what it takes to be successful”. Success has no finite definition. Some people use salary to define success, some people use net worth to define success, some people believe success is making decisions to affect the world they won't live to see.

Your OP assumes that everyone receives negative reviews no matter how hard they work. Do you not see the fault in this logic? Do you not see how unsound your reasoning is?

Unless you are perfect at your job you will always have suggestions on things to improve on during reviews. Just because one receives constructive criticism doesn't equate to a poor performance review.

NYS Licensed CPA. 12yrs in this shit and it never gets easier!

[Anonymous]

That's your perspective @NYSCPA

I ask questions and respond in the manner I do because it's effective in generating responses. I think the auditors who have received exceptional training and experience understand what I'm talking about. Not the ones who are babied in their performance reviews and expected to follow a checklist like a robot.

[NYSCPA]

Well Your question wasn't so effective in generating responses this time around.

You might want to work on that. Since you “think the auditors who have received exceptional training and experience understand what I’m talking about” maybe you should have specified that your question was geared toward “auditors who have received exceptional training and experience”.

Since most people that are responding haven't had your experience of shit performance reviews they are “babied and expected to follow a checklist like a robot” Really? You obviously have some issues you need to work out.

NYS Licensed CPA. 12yrs in this shit and it never gets easier!

[Anonymous]

Actually it did go well. I'd say the threads I have posted are very fruitful and filled with excellent information. The unfortunate part are the people who become offended and derail the thread instead of building on the discussion, but those people will eventually mature and hopefully develop a more critical mind moving forward.

[ruggercpa2b]

If you receive exceptional experience and training then you are most likely going to get good performance reviews. How is getting a good review because you are doing your job well mean you are being coddled and babied. So only if you get a bad review then you are destined for success? How does that even make sense.

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

AUD - 1/6/18
FAR - TBD
REG - TBD
BEC - TBD

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[NYSCPA]

Curious what you guys think about working in the accounting industry and receiving poor performance reviews?

Regardless how hard you work, most firms will give you a poor performance review and focus on the areas you didn’t do well rather than praise you for what you did right.

What are your ideas and theories on why many companies do this and do you agree/disagree with this practice? I have my ideas, curious about yours.

1) “Most firms” – what firms are you talking about exactly?

2) “poor performance review and focus on the areas you didn’t do well rather than praise you for what you did right.” – Being told what you need to improve upon does not equate to a poor performance review. If it does to YOU you need to evaluate that for yourself. – We are paid to perform a service. Presumably, we know what we are doing and it is expected of us to do it right. Therefore, there is no need for praise for what we do right. Every now and again my boss will put “Great Job” on his review notes for returns I have prepared. I like this because it is some recognition outside of pay increases and higher bonuses. But this is not necessary.

3)”What are your ideas and theories on why many companies do this and do you agree/disagree with this practice? I have my ideas, curious about yours.” – Any company that intentionally keeps staff at a level below their potential is disgusting. Other than trying to hire more junior level staff at lower salaries there is not logical reason for doing that.

NYS Licensed CPA. 12yrs in this shit and it never gets easier!

[Anonymous]

Op lost me. I don't know what his point is besides trolling. His “Sound reasoning” explains why he's probably struggling in public.

[Anonymous]

I've already addressed all these questions in my previous posts, except you guys were too busy being offended and defending yourselves.

Accounting is accounting, an audit is an audit. But what good public accounting firms do in addition to technical training is interpersonal and leadership development training as well.

Some people do not take criticism very well, it is quite apparent in the feedback I see in this thread. I am not sure how anyone expects to be a great leader if they cannot take criticism. But perhaps your aspirations are to be an accountant forever, and if that is the case, then perhaps you do not receive any special training and instead receive a more generic brand of training and performance review. That is like going to work everyday and keeping the blinders on.

[rb2017]

Receiving criticism does not mean “poor review” though. Anyone with common sense knows that new staff will not get everything right the first time. I got plenty of constructive criticism when I started out but I never felt like I was doing poorly at my job. I'm sorry if that's how you feel at your job.

AUD - 77
BEC - 86
FAR - 75
REG - 77

No need to worry, my accountant handles that.

[Anonymous]

@Toni “Receiving criticism does not mean “poor review” though.”

In the best learning environments, perhaps it does. Rarely have I ever been praised for doing a good job or told what I was doing right in a review. At the firms I've worked for, doing the right thing is simply just expected of you. I've never mentioned I felt bad or think that I'm doing a bad job. I know the type of experience I have been receiving compared to my co-workers and I have no doubt in my ability to perform.

My point is that at firms that are conscious enough to provide individual training to their employees, one person may receive different type of training than their co-worker based on their personality.

I have taken personality assessments for work including the Predictive Index assessment which tells the employer much about my preferred working environment and management style, etc. Not sure to what extent other firms do specialized training in this regard, but it doesn't seem like many firms do based on the responses here.

[Christopher]

@brickell Good job blaming everyone else for your childish behavior. If you aren't a troll, you should really seek help. This isn't the place to start trouble. Have you ever heard of Facebook?

AUD - 81, Wiley

BEC - 77, Wiley

FAR - 76, Ninja

REG - 69, Wiley, 70, Wiley, 88, Wiley/Ninja MCQ

[Anonymous]

@Christopher Why are you offended? I have simply been respectfully responding with my perspective to your questions. If you are not comfortable sharing your perspective and receiving honest feedback from others, then please kindly remove yourself from the discussion. That is exactly the entitled and coddled mentality that poorly developed leaders portray.

This is a question regarding accounting careers posted in the career section of a discussion board. I have already addressed this. Your post serves no purpose other than to derail the discussion because you are offended at a bit of criticism. In my opinion, that is childish.

[Author]

Replies