How Moore Global leads people to the top, so they stay there

There are endless business manuals and a mountain of commentary out there, packed with inspirational, well-meaning – and sometimes  cliched - quotes about just how important your staff are.

I cannot top some of the best, in terms of impact. Although I especially like, the succinctness of acclaimed former US Navy Rear Admiral, Grace Hopper, who said: “You manage things; you lead people”.
I will simply say this: join us in Moore Global, and you become our greatest asset. Period.

Nothing makes me prouder personally than to help talented young people hit their maximum potential.
Yes, I know – professional services organisations like ours need to place their customers and the service they receive, on a pedestal. And we do.

Last year’s 14% rise in revenue across the global network, makes us the fastest growing advisory group amongst the top 25 networks.

So, we are a business clearly doing things right.
But I am convinced, primarily because we emphasise over and over, that joining the Moore family and signing up to our values, our culture, can genuinely make a big difference to  people’s professional lives.

We are a highly ‘relational’ network – by that I mean we develop companionship relationships with our clients, not just service relationships; and that goes for our relationship culture within our network too.

As a result, we have ourselves become a leader in solving one of the biggest eternal dilemmas for accounting organisations - how to develop and maintain the best staff.

Without ensuring your people function at their best, any organisation will struggle to meet  financial goal, social ambition, or operational target it sets itself.

We believe investment in our people is money more than well spent – it’s at the very heart of the business.

We don’t just blend into a sector which is arguably too often viewed as simply a money-making machine, rather than a crucial contributor to any successful, progressive economy. As part of an accounting and advisory family with over 29,000 people in 547 offices across 113 countries, when you work with a Moore firm, you stand out.

We are especially proud of how we have redefined the best ways of preparing all the network’s young leaders, to be ahead of their peers and competitors.

I recently wrote about the arrival of private equity investors within the accounting world, and how I welcomed them as a positive sign of a new era for the profession.

I readily admitted, accountancy still has an older owner/leader profile than many other sectors. We are conscious of how transition needs to happen, but especially around how our profession is owned, and led.
As a leader of a certain age myself, I also admitted the upcoming generation of accounting organisation managers - the best and the brightest young superstars coming through - are more global, business savvy and fearless about using new technology..

They are also more demanding of themselves and of those who court then employ them.
Accountancy companies, no matter their size, need to motivate their talent more than ever, offer them better opportunities to grow as individuals, so ultimately, they can lead not only their own firms but the industry as a whole, as the next generation of business and societal superstars.

As one of the world’s top accounting member organisations, Moore Global is obsessed with developing people; helping them realise their potential. It is an obsession of which I am proud.

Here is a confession - it keeps me awake at night, that we have the very best processes in place to differentiate our people and what we do well, from the rest of the market.

As a result, I often describe us as ‘a non-accounting’, network of practices, in that we want this organisation run by a group of leaders who are attentive to not only everyone’s day-to-day jobs, but the world around them.

That means their local environments as well as their clients; and that they are all able to respond to every situation presented, with enthusiasm, maturity, agility, and empathy.

We want to redefine what is meant by a modern accounting network by serving each other, and our clients, from the heart, coupled with technical excellence. 

Our constantly evolving talent and leadership programme - available to anyone from any of our member firms to access - has four main pillars of excellence: leadership, personal, the firm, and technical, incorporating 18 different initiatives:

One of my own highlights working here is taking part in our monthly Moore Ambition remote sessions, when I join our CEO Anton Colella and global director of talent Margie Alt, in hearing from managers right across our global network.

These are training sessions, primarily; but they run as open and unrestrained discussions about leadership, and how people think it works best.

Between the sessions, interaction groups are held within members firms to discuss the previous session, and how they could embed what they learned, into their own operations and thinking.

In recent months we have covered varied topics such as leadership, new business models, differentiation, and evaluating leaders through emotional intelligence.

I would encourage anyone from the network to tune in and speak out. I learn more in those sessions than at any other time.

I hear the word ‘transformation’ used a lot in the feedback, right down to how the sessions are simply great opportunities to catch up with colleagues from around the network.
Do not miss these – they are fantastic value.

This overarching ‘reaching out’ approach to everyone, is far from new for us.

For the past few years, for instance, we have worked together with Harvard Business School on delivering a hugely successful leadership programme, which has allowed countless Moore leaders from around the world, to learn from leading business and finance figures.

That joint programme has played a key role in strengthening our reputation as a recognised leader in personal development and professional progression.

Elsewhere there is training available to member firms to help with quality management and technical issues, our own global learning and development community, secondments with partner firms and within industry, ongoing webinars, an ambassador programme allowing direct contact with local community groups, and our dynamic growth academy.

Accounting and business advising is a people business.
At the end of the day, Moore Global is about the development of people – those from within the network, our clients, those in our communities, locally and around the world.