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Just because someone has a lot of billable hours doesn’t mean they get a lot of work done or do it well. Can’t strictly look at hours. I’ve known people with a ton of hours but they didn’t do nearly as many returns as others.
You’ll get even more work 😉
It’s more about whether you get your shit done right than how many hours you charge. The better you are, the more responsibility you get. Often times the people with the most hours are just phoning it in. That said, if you bust your hump productively you will be noticed and rewarded accordingly, whether through a faster rise up the ladder or higher % increase
I had 120% last year and didn’t mean shit. This year I took a ton of vacation for CPA and was told I came in “low"
It’s all just noise don’t worry about it
We should have some sort compensation for those who hit high utilization to make us feel like our hard work is appreciated, even 10 bucks Starbucks gift card lol
Here’s a fun anecdote for you: I’m about 3.5 years into this job and I have never met the utilization goal of my office for my level. I was promoted to senior early and received something like an 11% bonus last year as a senior 2. I’m not bragging in the least.. just showing the masses that it isn’t about working as long as you can, it’s about becoming more efficient and spurring some innovation on your engagement. Next fiscal year I am up for Manager and I think I’ll just make a point of not hitting my util goal just to prove that you don’t need to be a slave to your partner to rise in PA.
Ya...worth about another $200 of salary during year-end. Congratulations on overachieving. Hope the extra hours were worth the rounding error.
As a partner I am not impressed by a number alone. The question is does it tell a good story? Can you articulate why? I have had team members take on extra projects because they wanted new and different learning experiences and were willing to invest their time to make it happen. That is a good story. Absent that, largely it tells me someone isn’t managing their time well and it is a red flag. Even with a good story, it isn’t very relevant in terms of salary or bonus. It likely gets you RAC awards
As long as you are average in your peer group you are fine. If you meet the goal of, let’s say, 90% and all your peers have 110%, meeting the goal isn’t enough
They don’t care
Having high utilization does not necessarily mean that you’re efficient and respect the budget. Could mean the complete opposite. I knew a senior with 110% utilization but was regarded as someone who couldn’t efficiently manage their time and engagement budget. They got denied promotion as manager and were basically coached to leave.
You’re learning
Yea the thing with high utilization is it’s hard to discern hard work from inefficient work. Generally it’s a good thing but I don’t think the highest performers would actually have the highest utilization since they should be getting stuff done more timely.
I basically took the last three months off because I calculated my utilization and would still finish above target even while billing zero hours. So yeah, stop looking for more work, you are done.
Keep it up, you are making up for the slackers
I view utilization more as a threshold of you should meet the minimum and anything beyond that doesn’t really matter in comparison to the actual quality of your work
The two partners above echo my experience so far in PA. Good, efficient work DOES get rewarded. I’m on pace to be a couple hundred hours under goal this year, my PML is the next business unit partner in charge, and my hours weren’t even mentioned at interim reviews. They aren’t just blowing smoke up your asses.
Did you get the best rating? ^
Totally understand the two partners above and agreed - the issue now we are facing is the better you are, the more work and responsibilities you are taking. It’s true that you’re in charge of the your career and they are all learning opportunities. It just upsets me sometimes by thinking by the end of the day, the hard work will rewarded by more work and obviously the high utilization doesn’t really mean anything. What I expect to see is our contribution has been recognized in some ways...