PRA2501. Transforming Your Business Model: Redefining Partner Compensation for Growth and Collaboration
When Jonyce Bullock stepped into the role of Managing Partner, she faced both a legacy and a challenge: "Partner Compensation is broken... good luck." This marked the beginning of a transformative journey to redefine what fair, motivational, and effective partner compensation looks like in today's professional landscape. In this session, Jonyce will share insights on designing a compensation model that not only meets traditional metrics but also aligns with evolving priorities, such as talent retention, firm culture, and strategic growth. She will be joined by Erin Hartman, Senior Manager of Firm Services at the AICPA, who is at the forefront of the Transforming Your Business Model project—a program aimed at providing firms with resources to support cultivating cultures that attract, retain, and develop accounting professionals.
The Transforming Your Business Model project focuses on five pillars: Strategy, Governance, Service Offerings, Technology, and Talent. Erin will highlight the latest resources related to firm governance and discuss how changes due to internal firm growth, external market forces and other key triggers may lead a firm to reevaluate its current governance structure including partner compensation. Focused on optimizing efficiencies and each leader’s highest value, this session will provide ways to navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead while positioning firms for sustainable growth by focusing on clarity, transparency, accountability, and adaptability. Join Jonyce and Erin to explore how your firm can redefine its compensation strategy that fosters collaboration, innovation, and sustainable growth in an ever-evolving profession.
Learning Objectives:
- Apply core principles to design a partner compensation model that aligns with firm growth, culture, and strategic goals, focusing on collaboration, innovation, and talent retention.
- Analyze practical approaches to transition from traditional to performance-oriented compensation frameworks, including case studies and engagement strategies for partner buy-in.
- Choose metrics beyond financial performance for a comprehensive compensation model, emphasizing leadership, mentorship, innovation, and firm culture contributions.
- Determine strategies for integrating flexibility and adaptability into compensation models to meet future industry, economic, and workforce changes, including mechanisms for regular review and adjustments.
