Public accounting is not a meritocracy.

The best people do not necessarily get to the top, even though they should.

This needs to change.

likefunny
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My experience is it’s a pretty decent meritocracy until you get to the PPMD process, then politics and leadership trying to check characteristic boxes in the promo class ruins it.

likeuplifting

It’s a war of attrition. Some of the smartest people leave because they realize it’s not a meritocracy

The best people get burnt out at the SA level and move to industry

likesmartfunny

They weren’t the best if they got burnt out at SA level. You can say they realized this was a shitty career and decided to do something more worthwhile

“Best” is subjective.

Those with the most chargeable hours consistently can be labeled top performers, but these people can also be hardasses and frustrating to work with for the average person.

Someone that is strong at managing internal and external relationships can be great at generating sales or tacking on value-added services to their clients, but can also be poor at hitting firm metrics and can be less result-oriented, falling behind on tasks at hand.

I think we tend to focus on the negatives because I can complain about a lot from leadership, but I can’t deny that most in the leadership positions are among the very best at something.

like

Define best

like

So define best

You’re not wrong, but I think that’s all businesses. Where do you think the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” came from?

like

SM1 - you can make it without good political backing; it just takes longer.

In today’s stagnant growth environment with years and years of very small promote classes and an ever building backlog of very qualified potential promotes vying for the few slots that get made available, putting your head down, working hard and assuming you’ll get your number called on merit alone is a good way to get stuck in “maybe next year” parking lot. Everyone in the process is qualified on merit, if you’re not playing the game you’re not going to win.

like

So I worked at ey before irs

Umm you don’t think there’s a big component of being well liked , client service , etc

Meritocracy and merit are generally terms only to be seen as memes

I've come to realize something similar. The process for reviews and feedback has limitations. Those who understand the system and how to work it are much better off.

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