Competency and talent management for Audit firms: knowing who can do what before you staff the next engagement
Engagement staffing can depend on what the manager remembers. A competency view of seniors and managers lets the firm match people to clients and see who is ready for more.
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Share your requirementsWhy competency and talent management matters in audit firms
Staffing meetings in audit firms rely on memory and goodwill. The manager asks for the person who did well on a similar client, another asks for someone free, and the firm drifts towards using the same dependable people. Others stay under-used and grow slowly.
A competency view records technical skills, sector experience, tools used and soft skills for each person, with a rating agreed by reviewers. Then the staffing meeting can use facts, and talent decisions rest on more than who was noticed last.
Competency also guides learning. If the grid shows that only two people know a particular sector, the firm can send a junior to shadow them. Without the grid, those skills stay with the same two people, who then become overloaded and are the first to leave.
How to set it up
1. Choose the skills that matter
List technical areas, sectors, tools and client-facing skills that your firm needs. Keep it to fifteen or twenty items.
2. Rate each person simply
Use three levels, such as learning, working and able to lead. Ask reviewers to agree the rating from recent engagements.
3. Use the grid when staffing
Check the grid before each engagement team is set. Aim to stretch one junior and rest one stretched person in each team.
4. Spot talent and gaps
Look at who is ready for a bigger role and where the firm lacks depth, such as a sector or a systems skill.
5. Link gaps to learning and secondments
For each thin area, name a person to shadow the expert on a live engagement, and note it on their development plan.
6. Review twice a year
Update ratings after the main seasons and agree development actions with each person. Link to the learning plan.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. Use your own records for a defined period and note gaps in the evidence. The review may take longer if records are incomplete or spread across teams.
- Pick three engagements and note how the team was chosen.
- Ask a senior to list their own strengths and compare with the reviewer's view.
- Find the sector or skill where only one person is strong.
- Check whether any capable person has never led a team.
- List the sectors or tools where the firm has only one strong person.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach competency and talent management in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Light enough that managers will keep it current. A page per person with fifteen to twenty items, rated on three levels, is enough.
They can if hidden. Share each person's own grid, explain how it was agreed and link it to development actions, not to blame.
Yes, as one input along with engagement feedback and conduct. A clear link between the grid and the next grade makes the process easier to explain.
Yes, at least for sector and client relationship strengths. It helps the firm see where the next generation will need to take over.
Describe what good looks like in examples, such as handling a disagreement with a client, and rate against those. Use more than one reviewer so one person's view does not decide.
We set up the interview and hiring process for audit firms
Every business interviews, but few have a written process that works the same way for every role and every interviewer. GullyHR designs yours, from the role brief to the offer, trains your managers to run it, and can run it for you on the roles you hand us.