Clark Schaefer Hackett places an increasingly HUGE emphasis on billable hours over investment (i.e. PTO, CPE, volunteer, etc.) hours and yet will reprimand employees either in real-time or in semi-annual/annual reviews for blowing budgeted hours. (How is the budget decided, you ask? Either a number is pulled out of a hat or the service manager is using empirically bad historical data because associates feel pressure to eat hours.) While billable hours are not unique to just this one accounting firm, the stress it puts on associates is real. I cannot tell you how many friends I've lost over the years because of the terrible work/life balance. Not only that but the hours charged really don't have any bearing on what we're charging clients. If there is a prenegotiated rate with a client (that barely keeps up with inflation but that's beside the point), why does it matter how many hours are in the WIP? It's merely a metric used to berate staff. Rather than fix the billable hour issue (or any issue really), their "cure-all" solution is to place an employee engagement survey in the field...and then promptly place its filings in the special filing cabinet known as the trash can. "They've talked themselves out! That should automatically make them feel better. Why do we need to change anything?!" The percentage rate increases in salaries from year to year are nebulous in terms of how they're determined from employee to employee and don't keep up with inflation. "We are committed to competitive compensation and meaningful benefits" rings hollow when other employers in our immediate area are providing their associates not only with end-of-year bonuses if they hit certain parameters but also with a mid-year cost of living increase. What good is 5-weeks of PTO if you can only cash out 40 hours once a year and employees feel like they can't take time off for fear of missing budgeted hour goals?
