In line with globalization in the accounting industry, the international culture of Mazars CPA Limited has enhanced staff career development in an innovative way.
A Taste of Different Cultures
With an international vision in mind, the management of Mazars has implemented policies contributing to promoting an internationalized company culture. For example, they offer a staff secondment programme, in which staff have the opportunities to work in the office of another country for a short period to experience cultural exchange and learn something very different from their own countries.
Edmund Chan, Practising Director, Mazars CPA Limited, commented that the secondment programme helps staff expand their horizons. "Learning the culture of other people and soft skills is more important than learning technical knowledge." He said that understanding the background of other staff can enhance communication and contribute to more harmonious working relationships.
In 2009, two staff from Mazars were sent to South Africa in May to July under this secondment programme, and two staff came from South Africa to Hong Kong for two months.
A New ExperienceTo assistant managers Yeung Lok-ki and Man Tat-kau, this secondment provides them a very different experience. Man said, "It was interesting to learn the various audit systems they use in South Africa, which were different in subtle ways to ours in Hong Kong." Yeung added, "In South Africa, more time is spent understanding statistics for transaction testing, for example. In Hong Kong we will also need to analyze statistics to seek out expenditure patterns, but we do it in a different way and at a different time in the audit. It’s interesting to see the pros and cons of different systems in practice."
Secondment & Retention
In choosing staff to take up the secondment, Chan said that colleagues having worked for a few years in Mazars and with development potentials will be on the shortlist. "We will select staff with strong interpersonal and communication skills." In a sense, staff chosen to be seconded realize that the management recognizes their good performance, and the secondment is an extra benefit to them. To keep staff with high calibre, Mazars uses this as a retention strategy.
Mazars provides lots of cross-office training to staff. For example, managers are sent to an international management seminar every year in which they learn coaching skills, networking skills, etc. Such training is to prepare managers to become partners in Mazars. In 2009, the seminar was organized in Paris from 4 to 7 October, and three managers attended it. In 2007 and 2008, it was held in Barcelona.