Welcome to Gro:Gossip, our regular email capturing our thoughts, opinions and experiences, sharing stories and commenting on what we are seeing, hearing and working on in the world of Professional Services.

The purpose is simply to inform, challenge thinking where we can and spark conversations and debate around relevant themes.

theGrogroup are a consultancy led by experts who have all held client facing and senior positions in practice and now support Accounting and Law firms in two ways:

Strategic support – helping senior teams to create a clear picture of where they want to go, and more importantly how to get there and how to bring people on board to drive the plan
Enabling people to build great careers through developing their Leadership, Management, Commercial, Client Relationship and Business Development capability

Ok so, the Gossip!

The purpose and vision conundrum

We continue to have numerous conversations with firms around just how much their people understand, relate to, and align with, what we term the ‘strategic core’ of the firm – the purpose, vision, values and strategy.

Whilst the vast majority of firms have a set of values (and some take these ‘off the wall’ and live and breath them) and most firms have a strategy (sometimes more of a loose plan with headline targets), there are often gaps when it comes to a clear purpose and a picture of what could be (vision).

This is understandable. Creating the purpose and vision requires real thinking and imagining. It draws as much on emotional thinking as rational analysis. It is tough to do (although we do have some simple tools and processes to help with this) and many question the value and impact that a purpose and vision can have on people and the firm. It is often hard to evaluate such an intangible.

Why bother? Here are our top 5 ‘persuaders’!

1 Strategic Direction & Focus

A strong purpose and vision give the firm a clear sense of direction — defining why it exists and where it’s going

Guides long-term decision-making and priorities
Keeps partners and teams aligned, reducing confusion and wasted effort
Makes growth and investment decisions easier to evaluate against strategic goals

2 People Performance, Engagement & Retention

When team members understand and believe in the firm’s purpose and can clearly ’see’ where the firm is going and how they fit in, they feel part of something meaningful

Increases motivation and morale
Helps attract and retain top talent who share the same values and ambitions (very relevant to Gen Y and Gen Alpha)
Drives effective performance through enabling individuals to align personal goals and metrics with the vision
Encourages accountability and pride in the firm’s success

3 Client Trust & Loyalty

A clear purpose signals to clients what the firm stands for and how it wants to go about things

Builds deeper relationships and client confidence
Differentiates the firm in a crowded market
Encourages loyalty from clients who value the firm’s integrity and long-term commitment

4 Brand Differentiation & Reputation

In an industry where many firms offer similar services and push similar messages to market, a compelling vision and purpose can set you apart

Strengthens the firm’s brand identity
Enhances marketing effectiveness by telling a different and consistent story
Positions the firm as a leader with a unique outlook on how it supports clients

5 Resilience & Adaptability

A strong purpose and vision acts as a “north star” during change or uncertainty

Helps leaders make confident decisions in turbulent times
Keeps the team grounded during growth, transitions, acquisitions/mergers, or regulatory shifts
Encourages innovation that aligns with the firm’s long-term vision

In our humble opinion, spending time creating a robust and clear Strategic Core is so important to develop an identity, to bring the firm together, to align goals and performance and to underpin an effective culture. Get those thinking caps on! and get in touch if you need any help or support!

Achieving real outcomes from investment in Learning and Development

Show me the money Jerry’

A quick morph…

‘Show me the outcomes Grogroup’

‘Show me the outcomes’

Showwww meeee the outttttcccommmmmmeessssss’

OK Cuba Gooding Jnr (or programme buyer / stakeholder / senior partner) shall we sit down?

Of course it is a valid question, and we always welcome being challenged on outcomes and returns from investment. But it is only a valid question if those outcomes were clearly identified up front (we push hard on this), are realistic (we push hard on this) and there are processes to enable learning / ideas / plans to be supported back in role, enabling change to be made towards outcomes (and we push hard on this).

We have recently run several ‘check-ins’ following developmental programmes. These are opportunities to hear about how things are, the progress made by delegates against their actions set over the course of programmes, and any barriers / challenges to progress.

There are sometimes some amazing success stories ..

There are often some clear frustrations ..

Let us share examples of some recent actions set on programmes including Client Relationship Building (with stretching desired outcomes around developing deeper, stronger, wider trusting client relationships and an advisory culture) and Leadership programmes

‘Arrange 5 ‘non-agenda’ catch up meetings with key clients over the next 2 months’

‘Arrange and execute on monthly 1 hour coaching sessions with my 6 team members to accelerate their confidence and competence’

‘Run an off-site morning with the partner team to share some of the key learning and thinking around vision and strategy creation / execution’

These show clear intent to make change, to drive positive results

But sadly there was a lack of progress on the actions due to perceived or real support challenges. We heard of internal messages that went something like this:

“I can see some sense in that. Just need to make sure the important stuff is done first”

“How will the extra client meetings be billed?”

“Just make sure that you stay within the non-chargeable time allowance. Don’t let it impact your performance against the key metrics”

“The change and vision stuff is interesting but things are going well. The model has worked for years so why change?”

We hear so many great ideas from highly talented people on programmes. We feel the real intent to go back and make a difference.

Yet messages like these can stop progress in its tracks. Of course we encourage individuals to keep banging on the door, to keep pushing but, if it is a fight against culture and business norms, there is usually only one winner!

Support from the business, and it’s leadership, in terms of time, resources, listening and having an open mind attitude is absolutely essential to enable people to take steps and execute actions to positively impact on culture, clients and performance.

And to achieve the desired outcomes from significant investment in people development.

Without that it is so so tough to deliver results.

‘Show me the outcomes Grogroup’

Ok Cuba…. lets sit down. ‘Help me Help you’.

Celebrating the unsung heroes

Working with a group of professionals recently on a Client Advisor programme, we had a passionate debate about the lack of recognition for the fantastic ‘client servants’ in Professional Service firms.

The ‘hunters’ and the Dealmakers always appear to be the heroes. They have the awards nights, they do the deal announcement stuff, they get the PR and the profile.

Brilliant – they do great things. There is justified recognition and celebration for the work they do and the outcomes they drive. Yet as Roy Keane would say, much of this is ‘just doing their job’.

So what about the ‘humble’ client managers and deliverers who build and maintain trusted relationships, who deliver consistently high service, who proactively recognise client needs and introduce solutions to ensure excellence in service, and client retention…

Often over many years

in a tremendously competitive market

They too are ‘just doing their job’. Yet surely they deserve a similar level of recognition?

An equal amount of space in the firm’s news updates? An equal amount of airtime during the ‘all hands days’?

Alongside the Dealmakers awards, should we have regional Client service / relationship / nurturing / long term business partner awards?

The title needs some work, but it is a valid concept!

On top of the usual, what’s going on with the team?

There has been a fair bit of travel. We have been fortunate enough to have delivered global leadership and management programmes, to over 150 delegates, for some of our International network clients in Budapest, Bogota, Atlanta and Munich.

Kate is getting used to a slightly quieter home life with one daughter off at University, although having a Labrador puppy added to the mix, it’s not as quiet as initially planned!

Paul is having some well earned time off after a busy few months working overseas and across most of the UK, he’s currently exploring Japan, in his words “incredible mixed with some bonkers stuff!”

Alex has developed an addiction to the Flightradar24 app and is probably annoying everyone in earshot with the constant ‘see that plane up there, guess where it is going?’ question.