February 10, 2025 • 31 mins
Join host Adam Larson for an enlightening chat with business consultant Mike Straza of Straza Consulting as they tackle the ins and outs of strengthening accounting teams amidst today’s market challenges. Mike shares his secrets on balancing financial responsibilities with genuine team support, emphasizing the power of effective communication and tailored leadership. Discover how identifying each team member’s unique motivations and strengths can lead to happier employees and a healthier company. Hear real-life success stories, practical tips, and down-to-earth advice on navigating the modern work environment. Whether it’s about mentoring, improving workplace culture, or handling restructuring gracefully, Mike serves up wisdom with a side of humor, making this episode a must-listen for leaders and team members alike. Tune in for a casual yet impactful conversation that’s packed with insights you can apply right away.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Adam Larson (00:21):
Welcome back to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam
Larson. Today, we have afantastic episode lined up with
Mike Strazza, a seasonedbusiness consultant with Strazza
Consulting. Mike is here toshare his expertise on
navigating the challenges ofbuilding strong accounting teams
in today's unpredictable market.We'll delve into how to balance
financial duties whilesupporting our team members and
(00:41):
the importance of identifyingeach individual's why to align
their roles with theirstrengths.
Mike also highlights thebenefits of open communication,
strategic role alignment, andthe evolving office environment,
including the shift towardsremote work. Get ready for
actionable insights and thoughtprovoking strategies that can
lead to both immediate and longterm success for your
organization. Let's jump rightin.
(01:09):
Well, Mike, we're really excited to have you on
the Count Me In podcast today.Today, we're gonna be talking
really about teams and,strengthening our teams. And,
all of us know that it's a hugestruggle right now with so many
different, things happening withthe markets and, teams having to
tighten their belts. I mean, alot of times, you know, we have
to focus on the numbers,especially in the accounting
team. But understanding that thesupporting supporting the people
(01:30):
behind the numbers who are doingthat for we especially with our
accounting teams that are ourorganizations.
How do you how do we balancethat? Because it's it's really
difficult.
Mike Straza (01:39):
It is, it is the hard thing is as, as an
organization, you have, afinance team and it all depends
on the size of the company andhow many people are running
different things. You have an APperson, AR person, controller,
all those, the makeup of that.And a lot of experience I've had
in the past is when things aregoing okay. But there's stress
points going on in the overallorganization, in the finance
(02:00):
department and differentdepartments. Everyone looks at
the finances like, well, causeeverything starts and stops with
the money coming in and out.
You have all the other parts ofthe business that are very
important that make it go tobring in sales and everything
else. But the thing is, is theheart of it is I look at as
finance and looking at that ishow do you support Good
(02:21):
question. How do you support thepeople that are taking care of
the numbers or making sure thatthe numbers are correct, making
sure things are being paid.People are, you know, from
payroll to bills to everything.And so it is something that you
really have to have a way aboutleading a group and helping them
through those that process.
Adam Larson (02:42):
So what, as we're helping them through that
process, a lot of times,sometimes people get into jobs
or to roles. And they mightrecognize months or or time a
certain time later that, hey.This might not align with the
strengths or my goals. You know,how do you help what strategies
do you kinda use to help teammembers identify those strengths
and kind of align their roles?Because, you know, you don't
(03:02):
want somebody stuck in a placebecause if they're stuck and
they feel like it doesn't alignwith their goals, you might see
a, you know, downturn of ofproduction because it's just not
what they want to do.
And you've gotta kinda find thatbalance within your teams.
Mike Straza (03:14):
Yeah. A lot of that is when you look at that is
really looking at your team.When I've come into groups and
look at the team, it's trying todo an evaluation of each person.
It's not an evaluation to getrid of somebody. It's really
understanding their strengthsand even also their weaknesses
and the weaknesses doesn't meanyou're out of here.
It's more of like, what can webuild? What can we learn? What
education, what other thingscould we do to build you up? But
(03:36):
also too, I look at it as whyare you here? We all have our
why, you know, you always hearabout that.
What is your why? And you'retrying to look at that and
understand is why am I in thisposition? Why do I like this? Do
I like the organization? I liketo pay.
There's a lot of factors thatfor reasons that people are in
jobs that they're in. And a lotof times I've always told people
(03:57):
that if you're not happy in thisposition, because for whatever
reason, fill in the blank, thenlet's find out where you're best
suited. You love theorganization. Okay. Maybe
there's somewhere else in theorganization that would fit the
type of person you are.
Personality, skillsets, thingslike that. So I always try to
look at that and kind of breakthat down and put them in almost
at us, not a grid system, but athing that said, okay, you like
(04:20):
these things, you're strong inthese things. Here are the
opportunities here are not theopportunities. And really being
honest to say, here's how I canhelp you. And that's where the
making sure they understand us.
Like I'm here for you. I'm I'mwant to help you be a better at
who you are. And I think ifyou're, if you make them the
best person they are in thatorganization, then they're going
(04:42):
to thrive. The business is goingto thrive. And that's where
everyone wins on this is bysaying, Hey, I love this place.
I love working here. Or I maybeI should be here, but I do, I do
have an evaluation. There's alot of different types of
evaluations. You can do sometasks. You can do, you know,
some like string finder orsomething out there that
basically says, Hey, this iswhere you, your personality,
(05:04):
this is where you fit.
And that's what I, I do withpretty much everybody. It's
like, I look through it and see,how do we do that? And then also
to look at the communicationmaybe it's just a
misunderstanding or somethingthat they're having a hard time
with. And I just helped try tohelp them walk them through
that.
Adam Larson (05:19):
Do you ever go through that process and, and
come to find out that both sidesare like, Hey, this isn't the
best place for me. I need tomove on. Does that ever happen?
Mike Straza (05:28):
It does. It really does. And what I do within those
situations is, we both come to apoint where like, Hey, this is,
this isn't a match. And that'sokay. It's not like, Hey, we're
getting ready tomorrow.
What can we do to help you onyour next, your next part of
your journey, your next part ofyour life? If it's not here, if
we can't find a thing in thisorganization, let me, I have
(05:49):
resources out there. I hadcontacts. Let's find you
something that is better andwe're not, and we're not giving
you a timeline, so you gotta beout of here, but let's, let's
push for that. Let's try to findyou a place to land.
That's going to be better foryou. And that's what I do is I
reach out to people I know orhelp them put things together,
almost like an HR type thing,working with them. Redo their
(06:11):
resume and things like that. AndI think that's where it's like,
they feel like, oh, wait,you're, you're really for me.
You're not trying to kick me outof here right this second, but
you're, you're giving me Xamount of time to find something
and that's, and I think that'sbetter for everybody.
And, it just depends on thepersonality, how people take
that. And I think that's whereit's just trying to really make
them understand that like, Hey,what I'm doing here is for the
(06:32):
betterment of you, We will findour replacement, but first we're
going to find you a place to beso you can be the best you can
be.
Adam Larson (06:40):
So well, and I'm sure a lot of people listening
to this would be like, wow, Iwould never think my boss would
have that conversation with me.And also, you know, a lot of
times when you're when it comesto terms like, hey, this is no
longer right fit for you. Theyjust kinda say, okay. Bye bye.
And Yeah.
You go out the door. So whatyou're saying is very it's a
very radical move, which not alot of people have seen or heard
before.
Mike Straza (07:01):
No, it's not. And I think we've all, it's a hard
thing. And in our lives, wealways have the, you know, the,
the unnatural or the weird, likewe're going to cut this off as a
relationship it's, you know,relationship and personal
relationship to businessrelationship. A lot of times
people just don't know what todo. So like you're fired, you're
out of here.
And then some people are like,well, I'm, if I'm heading out,
then I'm not going to work ashard or I'm not going to do the
(07:24):
work and
Adam Larson (07:25):
kind
Mike Straza (07:25):
of things. That's saying they're intentionally
doing anything wrong. They'rejust not putting in the, they're
not staying in the rhythm ofwhat's going on. And you can
start seeing a decline in that.And it's like, how do we keep
people focused, both sides,focus the, the business and the
person looking somewhere else.
How do we keep ourselves bothfocused? Because we at times
will then be less. You won't beas patient with people. We will
(07:46):
be a little bit more quick to beon them. And I think it was both
ways.
So it's trying to have that moreopen discussion and really
looking as a, what is the best.And I think that truly will help
people both the organization andthe person to continue without
having these big drops inproductivity and issues and then
(08:07):
having to find someone else toretrain. Cause it does cost
money to retrain somebody or getsomebody else in that position.
So, yeah, it's, you're trying tofigure out what the limit, the
amount of stress on eitherperson. I that's how I feel.
Adam Larson (08:19):
For sure. It makes a lot of sense. And that kind of
brings me to like the kind ofwhere the next part of the
conversation talking aboutmotivation, you know, helping
motivate your employees. Becauseit's a very difficult time. We
we live in tumultuous times.
Everybody's kind of unsure abouta lot of things. And how do you
kinda help your employees staymotivated, especially, you know,
if they do feel stuck or even ifthey feel good in their current
(08:39):
role, but they're unsure abouteverything
Mike Straza (08:42):
else. Well, a lot of it is you have to, I mean,
this day and age that we havesocial media, we have all these
things that are clouding ourminds. We have family, we have
all these things. There's alwaysstuff going on in our lives. And
sometimes we don't know whatthat is.
Each of us don't know eachother's what's going on and we
have to be, you know, step backa little bit and say, okay,
something's going on here. Wedon't know what it is, but
(09:03):
trying to, it's, it's trying toget them, everyone motivated.
Everyone has their inspirationon what motivates them to do.
Adam Larson (09:09):
So
Mike Straza (09:09):
what motivates them to get up and some people, they,
they have low motivation orthey're just, they're, you know,
they have depression or anxietyor something that's causing them
to seem like, well, they mustnot be motivated. It's like, no,
there's something else going on.So not getting into the
psychology of things or tryingto dive into somebody's mind,
what they're thinking everyminute is trying to say, okay,
how do you make steps as aleader in your company to say,
(09:33):
making sure you're, you'reacknowledging their hard work,
making sure they know that, youknow, things are going well.
People are pleased. How do wekeep on investing in you?
As the employee, how do weinvest? How do we continue to
have you grow and hopefully growand stay with the company. But
if it's not then grow and besomething else. But I look at it
as you keep on paying it forwardand getting people to do
(09:55):
something, it's gonna becontagious to, or through the
whole organization. And also forfuture people, because people
talk like, well, how, how do youlike working for so and so?
Or how do you like working forthis organization? And if
they're saying, well, wow, theyreally want to prepare you to be
the best you can be in your, inyour role and, and be part of
this company, or they're goingto send you on to something else
(10:17):
in, you know, it's just, again,I think it's, we all want people
to work hard to do well. Andcompanies are looking at bottom
line, of course. But I thinkthere's a little bit, you're not
sacrificing by being kind intoactually helping people. Just
increase their knowledge or bebetter at their jobs.
I just think that's, it's justtrying to look at how each
(10:40):
person's motivated is the keything.
Adam Larson (10:42):
Well, and it's a good life lesson to be kind to
others. And they may, you know,that might be the only kindness
they see that day. And then theymake me kind to somebody else
and it kind of pays it forwardover time. It's it's something
that you kind of see in life.And if we're not kind in our
workplaces, even though, youknow, workplaces can be
cutthroat, it can be really hardto work in the high pressure of
(11:02):
situations.
We still try to be kind to eachother.
Mike Straza (11:06):
Yeah. And that's the thing is we all are
motivated. Like I said, we'reall motivated. I think some of
us are very competitive. Wewant, you know, if you have a
sales team or something likethat, they're like, well, I
wanna make I want to be the topsalesperson.
I want this. And so there's thisaggressiveness and stuff like
that. But I was thinking, again,there's nothing wrong with
striving to be at this level.It's just like, how do you, but
how do you, who is your, who areyou? Who's your character and
(11:28):
how do you treat others aroundyou?
You can still do the things. Youcan still hit the numbers. You
can still be able to do whatyour hopes and dreams are, but
you don't have to degrade or todo something that would be not
appropriate in a work setting.So again, it's just trying to
say, how do we, activate thatthing that says, this is, I'm
going to be an amazing, whateverit is in your.
Adam Larson (11:54):
Yeah. As a lot of organizations are tightening
their belts, you know, and andthey're restructuring or
restructuring, a lot ofemployees are getting additional
responsibilities. And sometimesthey might get a little bit of
financial incentive. Sometimesthey may not. A lot a lot of
companies aren't able to dothat.
You know, what advice do youhave for managers, especially
when they're trying to helptheir employees navigate these
scenarios? Because that cancause lack of motivation, that
(12:15):
can cause burnout. So there's alot of things you have to tell.
Mike Straza (12:18):
Well, as you've seen over the years, you see
where where the economy is goingwell and everyone that everyone
starts hiring a lot of people.Yeah. And then the economy
flattens, it gets expensive.Inflation goes up, all these
things go up and you're like,oh, we gotta cut back. We're not
gonna, you know, reduce,downsize, but, but downsizing
people.
And we're going to say, by theway, we removed these people,
(12:40):
but you have to take it over.We'll flatten management or
we'll flatten this area. Andthen we're going to add,
everyone's going to have allthese extra responsibilities and
change is hard. And it's like,okay, are they, are they
equipped to take on those extraroles? Is that, you know, do
they have the time?
Do they have the knowledge?Because sometimes you're like,
Hey, we're going to combineeverything, but they don't have
the skillsets to do it. Andthat's the thing is, is like,
(13:04):
you're hurting yourself as acompany is like, you're saving
money on a, line item. But thenis it really saving you because
it's, there's some unforeseencosts. You're not seeing, that's
not out right there that younotice.
And you're like, oh, well, thisis costing us over time. Money
people could people leavebecause we're like, I'm not
doing this because, you know,I'm do have too much
responsibility. So I thinkthat's where you have to look at
(13:27):
it as like, what is the truebenefit? And I know we've seen
it recently in the last so manyyears of this up and down where
people are moving because theycan, they have opportunities. So
employees are leaving.
Companies are cutting backbecause they're either have to
deal with the bottom linebecause they have board members
to answer to, they havestockholders to answer to.
(13:48):
There's so many reasons why. AndI think it's more of trying to
understand how do youcommunicate that? And then also
too, is like truly understandingwho are the people you need to
make sure that you're gettingthe full, you know, what they're
able to do in a daily basis. Andsometimes the evaluation, I
(14:09):
don't, I'm not sure.
I mean, I think a lot of timespeople evaluate based off, oh, I
like that person. They don'treally do it. They're not really
good at their job, but I reallylike them. So I'm going to keep
them versus really good. It'slike, ah, I don't get along.
We don't hang out. We don'ttalk, tell stories. So I'm gonna
get rid of that person. And it'slike, okay, you really kind of
mess the dynamic of what reallyneeds to happen for the
business. So it's not as so cutand drive this looking at a name
(14:32):
and a position and, dollaramounts.
It's sometimes you've got tolook at all those things and
determine what that matrix lookslike to determine are you going
to adjust? And that's kind ofwhat I've been doing with some
of the clients I have is reallylooking at some other
departments and saying, okay,how do we re rethink the finance
department? How do we look atwho we have right now, who we
(14:53):
need. And then do we change someroles? Not just saying, Hey, you
get everything now.
We're going to say, how do we,maybe you take this and this
that someone else did, and we'regoing to bring someone else in
and say, we're going to hire aperson for this area only
because this is what we need themost. And you're great at this,
but we need someone else to dothese things. So that's trying
to be just open to theemployees, but also to telling
(15:15):
the C level people, like here'swhy we're doing it. And this is
what's going to be mosteffective. Long term not short
term.
It's going to be a little crazy.Long term is gonna be be great.
Adam Larson (15:25):
Yeah. It's hard to see the short term versus the
long term and have thedifferent, the different views.
And, and, and speaking ofcommunication, communication is
super important, especially whenyou're in a change management
here, which you're justdiscussing. How do you balance
the, Hey, hey, we're gonna dothis new thing and this is the
way you do it with theresistance from people saying,
hey, wait, but I've done thisfor twenty years. Why are you
(15:45):
changing my because why are youchanging what I'm doing?
Like, how do you balance that?Like, how do you get that in
transparency communication tohelp people keep going?
Mike Straza (15:53):
Well, I think a lot of it is, is kind of prepping.
It is as you're looking atpossibly doing changes and
working with the managementdirectors, C level board
members, if there's boardmembers involved or something
they needed to understand is,Hey, this is what we're doing.
This is why we're doing it.Getting some understanding and
buy in from that. And then asyou're talking to the employees
(16:13):
is really saying, you know, Hey,you've been here for twenty some
years.
And you obviously like beinghere. You do a great job. You've
over the years, I've noticed,you know, I've from what you've
told me from kind ofinterviewing, basically as I'm
coming in and they're inter I'minterviewing them is like, you
really like this area and youdon't like this area. Here's
(16:33):
some opportunities that we'relooking to actually grow this
area. And it's like, this seemslike something you'd be
interested in.
Here's the job description.Here's what the range is, pay
range. Here's everything. Andit's like, what do you think? I
mean, just kind of get a feelfor that.
It's like, here's how we aregoing to divide these things up.
And we want you since you'vebeen here the longest, we'd like
you to know what is the areathat you see. And then usually
(16:56):
it's pretty much on with whatI've already evaluated and said,
okay, this is something. This isreally where they're going to
their sweet spot, where they'regoing to thrive. And generally
that's what they pick.
And then you are now looking forpeople to take over the things
they were doing and addinganother job or a different
description. And I think that'swhere you just have to know that
(17:16):
you're, they have to know thatyou're really trying to work
with them and trying to figureout where where it's best for
them and where it's best for thecompany and why. And other than
it's a cost savings, I don'tlike you. You know, one of those
things like those are goodthings that like start off with
that, that does not go well.Yeah.
So, yeah.
Adam Larson (17:36):
How like, how do you balance, balance those types
of conversations, especiallyyeah. Yeah.
Mike Straza (17:42):
A lot of it is the balances. It's for me, it's
stepping back away from my ownself is, like, I have these
perceptions. I have these thingsI'm thinking about or
assumptions. Let them play out,but also trying to not sometimes
too much read the body languageor what people are saying and
not take it on personally. Andalso understanding just people
(18:04):
and stepping back.
And I think that's what it is,is trying to truly try to
understand. And sometimes you'reoff and I'm off at times, but a
lot of times it's like, okay, amI focused on truly helping them
and truly helping the companyout of why can those two
coexist? And I think that can,it takes sometimes more work,
but in the long run, it will beless work, less time. Less money
(18:27):
spent on trying to forcesomething or trying to do
something that's just it's, youknow, the employees aren't
bought into it. Management'sokay with it.
And then they get frustrated andthis whole thing you want to
make a change real quick. It'slike, you're a, you're a coach
or something like that. Andyou're trying to coach somebody
and you know, it takes time,nothing in sports or any other
(18:48):
type of thing that you'recoaching. It's like, it takes
time. You can't just say, go outthere and, do this.
I want you to be the best freethrow shooter. I need you to be
the best, you know, whatever infootball, best running back
best, whatever. It's like, theymight be nationally talented,
but it's like, if you don't helpthem instruct them, same thing
in business, if you don't helpthem instruct them how to do
their job, the best way, thenit's, it's gonna fall flat, but
(19:12):
you have to tell people thistakes time. We're developing
you. We're developing musclememory and all these other
things.
These things develop, figure outhow to look at it. How do you
see things and try to track? Andthat's where sometimes when
you're dealing with numbers,it's like there's patterns with
numbers. Can they figure outpatterns or is it something
that's just, they're not goodat? And if they're okay, what
(19:33):
can they do?
That's not this type of, youknow, piece of accounting. So
there are places you just haveto be a little bit more
creative. And sometimes I thinkwe get stuck in this box of
thinking. This is the only wayyou can do things. And I think
there's so many other optionsyou can do.
Adam Larson (19:51):
Do you have any success stories maybe that you
can share, you know, obviouslybroadly, because you can't share
to people's names, but thesesuccess stories that you can
kinda share that kind of alignwith what the, some of the
examples you've been givingtoday.
Mike Straza (20:03):
Yeah. There is, there's been several occasions
throughout the last couple ofyears where, I've come into
organizations and it's just,it's, everyone's just kinda just
worn out. And they're just, it'sjust not working. They've had
high turnover. They've had justthings that are just not
correct.
The job is being done, but it'sjust not the way it needs to be.
(20:25):
And they bring me in and there'slike, Hey, we're we need an
evaluation. We just need you tocome in and do an evaluation of
our organization. And sometimesit's mostly finances and, but it
also trickles out into all theother departments because
finance might be the heart of itas I'm looking at it. But there
are also communications ishappening outside of that.
(20:46):
They're coming in or out. Andyou have to look at that and
say, okay, what is that about?And trying to figure that out
too. So one of the groups I,like I said, as I went in there
and I was like, okay, there's acommunication problem. And it's
like, it's so simple.
We talk about it forever. I'vetalked about this all my life
and I've heard it all my life.Communication, communication,
communication. But the sad partof it is we're bad
(21:06):
communicators. We think we knowwhat we're talking about.
And that's the thing is it'salmost like a translation. It's
like a foreign language orsomething different that we're
not used to. We say it. Andwe're like, well, you know what
this means. And you expect themto say, or re you know, come
back and they're like, I don't,and they don't feel a little
hesitant of saying, I didn'tunderstand what you said, or I
thought you meant this.
So I did this. So, reallycommunicating well with the
(21:29):
groups. And that's what I do. Icome in there and help them
figure out how to communicate,like saying, Hey, there's a
translation issue here. Theyknow what they're doing.
This employee knows what they'redoing. They are just aren't
understanding what you weresaying or what you're asking. So
changing that, getting thatnarrative change and saying,
okay, how do we fix that? Soworking on that with the
different groups, so. You know,top down up, you know,
(21:51):
everything is say, okay, how dowe make this better?
And then looking at that andwhat I've done is done that and
it's improved communication islike, okay, this needs to be
communicated with this group.And this means communicate with
this group and it's worked andit's, and people are like, oh my
gosh, now we're not spendinghours and emails back and forth,
back and forth, back and forth.We're simplifying it. Or reduce
(22:12):
the amount of people on theseemails because there was way too
much where people are just like,I just I'm on this email chain
and there's like 30 responseswith several different people
and it's just, it gets lost. Sothat has been one of the
successes, turned around theirfinance area where the numbers
are correct.
They're they're confident intheir numbers. They're able to
(22:33):
then take that and say, okay,now we can look at the future
and our vision of what we reallywant to do here. And we can do
so much more. We can, we canhelp more people. And that was
one area that I've worked withsome nonprofits where I can help
more people and what theirservices are doing.
And also I've helped in groupswhere it's a for profit where
they're like, we can expand andtruly scale our company in a way
(22:58):
that we haven't before, becausewe actually are. Have a handle
on our finances. We have ahandle on how we are
communicating back and forthbetween departments. And I've
seen that. And this happenedmultiple times in the last five
plus years for me, working withgroups, that have been around
for a long time.
These aren't like just startups.These are people that have been
(23:18):
doing this for, you know,twenty, fifty years. Of been in
business. And it's like, youwould think by then fifty years,
like you gotta have it allfigured out. You're still in
business because most people areout by five to seven.
If they're starting a newbusiness. That is, some of the
success for me has been, I'veseen that in two organizations,
(23:38):
for profit and a nonprofit whereI've come in there and really
help them focus and really helpeducate the people and have them
learn more about their area. Andthat's even not just the, you
know, it's middle management onup too. It's not just saying,
oh, it's the day to day workerthat's doing AP or AR or this
(23:59):
it's like, no, it's C level islike, you're doing a great job.
You've been doing this.
You're an expert. That's whyyou're hired here. But here are
some things that will help youas a leader to be better, to
empower the people that you haveworking for you and to help them
understand where you're comingfrom.
Adam Larson (24:17):
Yeah. I mean, that's, that's an amazing story
and it's got to feel good seeingthose successes because you go
and put it in the work and thenit's like, Hey, they're, they're
doing well after that.
Mike Straza (24:26):
Yeah. It's, it's exciting. That's the thing I
love about it is I love helpingpeople. I love helping
companies, organizations thrive.And it's just like, yeah,
there's times that it's just,it's a struggle, but it's like,
I love when I'm done there andI'm like, this is great.
They are able to move forwardand continue and grow. You know,
next so many years. And theyhave a plan, they have a
(24:48):
strategic plan to get them towhere they need to go. And I
think that's what excites me isI can walk away from it or come
back later and say, how'severything going? And it's just
like, people have grown anddone.
They've, you you know, you loveto see, you know, companies just
doing amazing things.
Adam Larson (25:02):
Yeah. One thing we've mentioned a few times as
you've been talking, you know,just how there's a shifting
attitude toward careerlongevity, being able to swift
job, switch jobs thicker. Andhow how has that influenced the
way organizations try to retaintheir talent? Because, you know,
even if things are going reallywell, sometimes places have high
turnover, and you're like,what's going on? Like, how do we
(25:24):
how do we balance that,especially in in this market?
Mike Straza (25:27):
It is tough. This market has really changed in the
last, you know, four or fiveyears. It's just there's because
of the digital age andeverything like that, we can
transfer for one job the other,or I've seen it where I've
helped people try to enter, youknow, companies interview people
and they like, yep, I'm gonna,you know, this person's coming
in and like, they know shitwhere, where did they go? And
(25:48):
they had already found anotherjob or they, they come for the
first couple of interviews andwe're thinking we're gonna hire
them. We're like, oh no, I foundsomething else.
Or you have people that havebeen with you long term and
they're like, yeah, I foundsomething I like. Cause it fits
my, you know, my work skin, youknow, my work life balance. And
that's trying to figure thatout. And sometimes you can do
well, to retain, but thenthere's also two, it's just like
(26:12):
knowing that there is any timeyou're going to have to possibly
find someone else. And that'swhere I go the point of making
sure whoever leaves, no matterwhose job it is, you have all
the information about what theydo and how they do it and make
sure it's in a, in a, basicallyin a playbook that basically
you're saying if this person,unfortunately doesn't come back
(26:34):
to work because of someunfortunate circumstances or
they decided to leave in ontheir own.
We have something that says,this gives us a pretty close
idea, everything they do, theircontext, their how they do these
functions, that type of thing.And a lot you'd be surprised how
many companies don't have that.And I think that saves you time.
(26:55):
So it does help prevent ifpeople do leave, you do have
this thing that you, you can sayfor each, each area has this
playbook to say, this is how yourun, do this job to one to cover
it in that short time. A lot ofit is again, relooking at the
way businesses are, how we dobusiness.
I mean, you know, I've been, orbeen doing, this work for twenty
(27:15):
five plus years and way peoplework internally, externally, it
couple of years because theyfigure, Hey, there's something
better. Or now I can work fromhome and I can have a job that's
somewhere not in the place Ilive in my city. I can work from
anywhere and it's fine. And somepeople are like, I like doing
(27:38):
that. And it's just like, okay,so knowing you have those
possibilities, but, and also tosome of your companies, like you
have to be here.
So that makes people, you know,so it is a, it's a balancing
act. I think what it all comesdown to is it's a balancing act
and sometimes you'll have itright. Then sometimes just not.
And just knowing that now we'rein that age of, you know, people
(28:00):
can change jobs at a moment'snotice and knowing that you're
going to, when you, the peopleyou have treat them well as much
as you can and be, you know,communicate well. And then the
ones that's the decide to moveon, just like, okay, learn from
it, figure out why.
And then from there, try toimprove that.
Adam Larson (28:18):
Well, yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, we we you can
read the headlines and majororganizations are saying
everybody has to be back in theoffice. And Yeah. For people who
are the last four years havebeen figuring out, have been
working from home most or halfthe time.
And they've got kids things, andtheir their lives are pretty
much set in a certain way. Andif you say to your employees,
you all have to come to theoffice every day, you know,
(28:40):
you're gonna have some turnover.It's gonna cause some turmoil in
the organization. And and how doyou how do you keep that? Say,
Hey, we, we think work lifebalance is important, but yet
we're changing all this time.
You all have to say, Yeah.
Mike Straza (28:53):
And that's the thing is, is like, yeah, you
have those companies and somecompanies have decided that,
Hey, it's just not, it's notgonna work, bringing everyone
back. There are certain thingsthat they have to be in the
office just because the thingsare doing, but most people like,
okay, how do we make this work?How do, and I think what
happens, unfortunately, withsome companies they put that
pressure and people are like,I'm out. So were they really in,
in the first place? Or, I mean,yeah, it's just, it's, it's a
(29:16):
generation, all generations havebeen affected by this.
It's not just the youngergeneration everyone's talking
about. I was like, oh, they justdon't wanna go to work. And it's
like, no, it's all thegenerations. I've talked to
people at different stages oftheir life. And like, oh man, I
really like working from home.
I don't have to get ready rightaway. I don't have to drive X
amount of time or take the trainor do what all these things. And
(29:38):
then I can be more responsive tomy kids if they're in that age
range of kids. So that's thetough thing is like, it's now
not the standard that it used tobe that I grew up in where it's
like, you go into work at acertain time you leave and it's
just like, you do that and yourepeat that for the next thirty,
forty years. It's like, it has,it has changed a lot.
(29:59):
And I think that's where youhave to figure out, okay, what
type of business do you have?What does it require? The thing
I always think is sacrificing istruly the dynamics about
learning and from your men,your, your having mentors,
having people that you'relearning from when you're you're
in an office space. Yeah. Timeis wasted by talking about who
(30:19):
knows what.
But that's part of life, but thehow you watch people learn and
understand things. And I thinkthat's, I think it's helpful to
be around somebody. Yes. You canwatch it on YouTube or do
whatever. Learn from it.
Talk to someone on zoom orwhatever the platform you're
using, but you still are missingout on something, not being
connected in an officesituation. But yeah, it's, it's
(30:42):
a new age. It's not changing.It's some things where we
adjust, but not everyone's goingback to not as supposed to go
into a physical office anymore.It's just not going to, so we
have to figure it out.
So that's why I always tellpeople, well, we just got to
figure it out. And when thingsgo a certain way, it's like,
well, some people are gonna riseout of it and some people are
just gonna fall flat. And it'sjust, you just gotta continue to
figure out what's gonna workbest for your company.
Adam Larson (31:05):
Like, I feel like this has been a wonderful
conversation. I just reallywanna thank you again for coming
on. Count me in today. It's beengreat.
Mike Straza (31:12):
Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Announcer (31:16):
This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast providing
you with the latest perspectivesof thought leaders from the
accounting and financeprofession. If you like what you
heard and you'd like to becounted in for more relevant
accounting and financeeducation, visit IMA's website
at www.imanet.org.
Welcome back to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam
Larson. Today, we have afantastic episode lined up with
Mike Strazza, a seasonedbusiness consultant with Strazza
Consulting. Mike is here toshare his expertise on
navigating the challenges ofbuilding strong accounting teams
in today's unpredictable market.We'll delve into how to balance
financial duties whilesupporting our team members and
(00:41):
the importance of identifyingeach individual's why to align
their roles with theirstrengths.
Mike also highlights thebenefits of open communication,
strategic role alignment, andthe evolving office environment,
including the shift towardsremote work. Get ready for
actionable insights and thoughtprovoking strategies that can
lead to both immediate and longterm success for your
organization. Let's jump rightin.
(01:09):
Well, Mike, we're really excited to have you on
the Count Me In podcast today.Today, we're gonna be talking
really about teams and,strengthening our teams. And,
all of us know that it's a hugestruggle right now with so many
different, things happening withthe markets and, teams having to
tighten their belts. I mean, alot of times, you know, we have
to focus on the numbers,especially in the accounting
team. But understanding that thesupporting supporting the people
(01:30):
behind the numbers who are doingthat for we especially with our
accounting teams that are ourorganizations.
How do you how do we balancethat? Because it's it's really
difficult.
Mike Straza (01:39):
It is, it is the hard thing is as, as an
organization, you have, afinance team and it all depends
on the size of the company andhow many people are running
different things. You have an APperson, AR person, controller,
all those, the makeup of that.And a lot of experience I've had
in the past is when things aregoing okay. But there's stress
points going on in the overallorganization, in the finance
(02:00):
department and differentdepartments. Everyone looks at
the finances like, well, causeeverything starts and stops with
the money coming in and out.
You have all the other parts ofthe business that are very
important that make it go tobring in sales and everything
else. But the thing is, is theheart of it is I look at as
finance and looking at that ishow do you support Good
(02:21):
question. How do you support thepeople that are taking care of
the numbers or making sure thatthe numbers are correct, making
sure things are being paid.People are, you know, from
payroll to bills to everything.And so it is something that you
really have to have a way aboutleading a group and helping them
through those that process.
Adam Larson (02:42):
So what, as we're helping them through that
process, a lot of times,sometimes people get into jobs
or to roles. And they mightrecognize months or or time a
certain time later that, hey.This might not align with the
strengths or my goals. You know,how do you help what strategies
do you kinda use to help teammembers identify those strengths
and kind of align their roles?Because, you know, you don't
(03:02):
want somebody stuck in a placebecause if they're stuck and
they feel like it doesn't alignwith their goals, you might see
a, you know, downturn of ofproduction because it's just not
what they want to do.
And you've gotta kinda find thatbalance within your teams.
Mike Straza (03:14):
Yeah. A lot of that is when you look at that is
really looking at your team.When I've come into groups and
look at the team, it's trying todo an evaluation of each person.
It's not an evaluation to getrid of somebody. It's really
understanding their strengthsand even also their weaknesses
and the weaknesses doesn't meanyou're out of here.
It's more of like, what can webuild? What can we learn? What
education, what other thingscould we do to build you up? But
(03:36):
also too, I look at it as whyare you here? We all have our
why, you know, you always hearabout that.
What is your why? And you'retrying to look at that and
understand is why am I in thisposition? Why do I like this? Do
I like the organization? I liketo pay.
There's a lot of factors thatfor reasons that people are in
jobs that they're in. And a lotof times I've always told people
(03:57):
that if you're not happy in thisposition, because for whatever
reason, fill in the blank, thenlet's find out where you're best
suited. You love theorganization. Okay. Maybe
there's somewhere else in theorganization that would fit the
type of person you are.
Personality, skillsets, thingslike that. So I always try to
look at that and kind of breakthat down and put them in almost
at us, not a grid system, but athing that said, okay, you like
(04:20):
these things, you're strong inthese things. Here are the
opportunities here are not theopportunities. And really being
honest to say, here's how I canhelp you. And that's where the
making sure they understand us.
Like I'm here for you. I'm I'mwant to help you be a better at
who you are. And I think ifyou're, if you make them the
best person they are in thatorganization, then they're going
(04:42):
to thrive. The business is goingto thrive. And that's where
everyone wins on this is bysaying, Hey, I love this place.
I love working here. Or I maybeI should be here, but I do, I do
have an evaluation. There's alot of different types of
evaluations. You can do sometasks. You can do, you know,
some like string finder orsomething out there that
basically says, Hey, this iswhere you, your personality,
(05:04):
this is where you fit.
And that's what I, I do withpretty much everybody. It's
like, I look through it and see,how do we do that? And then also
to look at the communicationmaybe it's just a
misunderstanding or somethingthat they're having a hard time
with. And I just helped try tohelp them walk them through
that.
Adam Larson (05:19):
Do you ever go through that process and, and
come to find out that both sidesare like, Hey, this isn't the
best place for me. I need tomove on. Does that ever happen?
Mike Straza (05:28):
It does. It really does. And what I do within those
situations is, we both come to apoint where like, Hey, this is,
this isn't a match. And that'sokay. It's not like, Hey, we're
getting ready tomorrow.
What can we do to help you onyour next, your next part of
your journey, your next part ofyour life? If it's not here, if
we can't find a thing in thisorganization, let me, I have
(05:49):
resources out there. I hadcontacts. Let's find you
something that is better andwe're not, and we're not giving
you a timeline, so you gotta beout of here, but let's, let's
push for that. Let's try to findyou a place to land.
That's going to be better foryou. And that's what I do is I
reach out to people I know orhelp them put things together,
almost like an HR type thing,working with them. Redo their
(06:11):
resume and things like that. AndI think that's where it's like,
they feel like, oh, wait,you're, you're really for me.
You're not trying to kick me outof here right this second, but
you're, you're giving me Xamount of time to find something
and that's, and I think that'sbetter for everybody.
And, it just depends on thepersonality, how people take
that. And I think that's whereit's just trying to really make
them understand that like, Hey,what I'm doing here is for the
(06:32):
betterment of you, We will findour replacement, but first we're
going to find you a place to beso you can be the best you can
be.
Adam Larson (06:40):
So well, and I'm sure a lot of people listening
to this would be like, wow, Iwould never think my boss would
have that conversation with me.And also, you know, a lot of
times when you're when it comesto terms like, hey, this is no
longer right fit for you. Theyjust kinda say, okay. Bye bye.
And Yeah.
You go out the door. So whatyou're saying is very it's a
very radical move, which not alot of people have seen or heard
before.
Mike Straza (07:01):
No, it's not. And I think we've all, it's a hard
thing. And in our lives, wealways have the, you know, the,
the unnatural or the weird, likewe're going to cut this off as a
relationship it's, you know,relationship and personal
relationship to businessrelationship. A lot of times
people just don't know what todo. So like you're fired, you're
out of here.
And then some people are like,well, I'm, if I'm heading out,
then I'm not going to work ashard or I'm not going to do the
(07:24):
work and
Adam Larson (07:25):
kind
Mike Straza (07:25):
of things. That's saying they're intentionally
doing anything wrong. They'rejust not putting in the, they're
not staying in the rhythm ofwhat's going on. And you can
start seeing a decline in that.And it's like, how do we keep
people focused, both sides,focus the, the business and the
person looking somewhere else.
How do we keep ourselves bothfocused? Because we at times
will then be less. You won't beas patient with people. We will
(07:46):
be a little bit more quick to beon them. And I think it was both
ways.
So it's trying to have that moreopen discussion and really
looking as a, what is the best.And I think that truly will help
people both the organization andthe person to continue without
having these big drops inproductivity and issues and then
(08:07):
having to find someone else toretrain. Cause it does cost
money to retrain somebody or getsomebody else in that position.
So, yeah, it's, you're trying tofigure out what the limit, the
amount of stress on eitherperson. I that's how I feel.
Adam Larson (08:19):
For sure. It makes a lot of sense. And that kind of
brings me to like the kind ofwhere the next part of the
conversation talking aboutmotivation, you know, helping
motivate your employees. Becauseit's a very difficult time. We
we live in tumultuous times.
Everybody's kind of unsure abouta lot of things. And how do you
kinda help your employees staymotivated, especially, you know,
if they do feel stuck or even ifthey feel good in their current
(08:39):
role, but they're unsure abouteverything
Mike Straza (08:42):
else. Well, a lot of it is you have to, I mean,
this day and age that we havesocial media, we have all these
things that are clouding ourminds. We have family, we have
all these things. There's alwaysstuff going on in our lives. And
sometimes we don't know whatthat is.
Each of us don't know eachother's what's going on and we
have to be, you know, step backa little bit and say, okay,
something's going on here. Wedon't know what it is, but
(09:03):
trying to, it's, it's trying toget them, everyone motivated.
Everyone has their inspirationon what motivates them to do.
Adam Larson (09:09):
So
Mike Straza (09:09):
what motivates them to get up and some people, they,
they have low motivation orthey're just, they're, you know,
they have depression or anxietyor something that's causing them
to seem like, well, they mustnot be motivated. It's like, no,
there's something else going on.So not getting into the
psychology of things or tryingto dive into somebody's mind,
what they're thinking everyminute is trying to say, okay,
how do you make steps as aleader in your company to say,
(09:33):
making sure you're, you'reacknowledging their hard work,
making sure they know that, youknow, things are going well.
People are pleased. How do wekeep on investing in you?
As the employee, how do weinvest? How do we continue to
have you grow and hopefully growand stay with the company. But
if it's not then grow and besomething else. But I look at it
as you keep on paying it forwardand getting people to do
(09:55):
something, it's gonna becontagious to, or through the
whole organization. And also forfuture people, because people
talk like, well, how, how do youlike working for so and so?
Or how do you like working forthis organization? And if
they're saying, well, wow, theyreally want to prepare you to be
the best you can be in your, inyour role and, and be part of
this company, or they're goingto send you on to something else
(10:17):
in, you know, it's just, again,I think it's, we all want people
to work hard to do well. Andcompanies are looking at bottom
line, of course. But I thinkthere's a little bit, you're not
sacrificing by being kind intoactually helping people. Just
increase their knowledge or bebetter at their jobs.
I just think that's, it's justtrying to look at how each
(10:40):
person's motivated is the keything.
Adam Larson (10:42):
Well, and it's a good life lesson to be kind to
others. And they may, you know,that might be the only kindness
they see that day. And then theymake me kind to somebody else
and it kind of pays it forwardover time. It's it's something
that you kind of see in life.And if we're not kind in our
workplaces, even though, youknow, workplaces can be
cutthroat, it can be really hardto work in the high pressure of
(11:02):
situations.
We still try to be kind to eachother.
Mike Straza (11:06):
Yeah. And that's the thing is we all are
motivated. Like I said, we'reall motivated. I think some of
us are very competitive. Wewant, you know, if you have a
sales team or something likethat, they're like, well, I
wanna make I want to be the topsalesperson.
I want this. And so there's thisaggressiveness and stuff like
that. But I was thinking, again,there's nothing wrong with
striving to be at this level.It's just like, how do you, but
how do you, who is your, who areyou? Who's your character and
(11:28):
how do you treat others aroundyou?
You can still do the things. Youcan still hit the numbers. You
can still be able to do whatyour hopes and dreams are, but
you don't have to degrade or todo something that would be not
appropriate in a work setting.So again, it's just trying to
say, how do we, activate thatthing that says, this is, I'm
going to be an amazing, whateverit is in your.
Adam Larson (11:54):
Yeah. As a lot of organizations are tightening
their belts, you know, and andthey're restructuring or
restructuring, a lot ofemployees are getting additional
responsibilities. And sometimesthey might get a little bit of
financial incentive. Sometimesthey may not. A lot a lot of
companies aren't able to dothat.
You know, what advice do youhave for managers, especially
when they're trying to helptheir employees navigate these
scenarios? Because that cancause lack of motivation, that
(12:15):
can cause burnout. So there's alot of things you have to tell.
Mike Straza (12:18):
Well, as you've seen over the years, you see
where where the economy is goingwell and everyone that everyone
starts hiring a lot of people.Yeah. And then the economy
flattens, it gets expensive.Inflation goes up, all these
things go up and you're like,oh, we gotta cut back. We're not
gonna, you know, reduce,downsize, but, but downsizing
people.
And we're going to say, by theway, we removed these people,
(12:40):
but you have to take it over.We'll flatten management or
we'll flatten this area. Andthen we're going to add,
everyone's going to have allthese extra responsibilities and
change is hard. And it's like,okay, are they, are they
equipped to take on those extraroles? Is that, you know, do
they have the time?
Do they have the knowledge?Because sometimes you're like,
Hey, we're going to combineeverything, but they don't have
the skillsets to do it. Andthat's the thing is, is like,
(13:04):
you're hurting yourself as acompany is like, you're saving
money on a, line item. But thenis it really saving you because
it's, there's some unforeseencosts. You're not seeing, that's
not out right there that younotice.
And you're like, oh, well, thisis costing us over time. Money
people could people leavebecause we're like, I'm not
doing this because, you know,I'm do have too much
responsibility. So I thinkthat's where you have to look at
(13:27):
it as like, what is the truebenefit? And I know we've seen
it recently in the last so manyyears of this up and down where
people are moving because theycan, they have opportunities. So
employees are leaving.
Companies are cutting backbecause they're either have to
deal with the bottom linebecause they have board members
to answer to, they havestockholders to answer to.
(13:48):
There's so many reasons why. AndI think it's more of trying to
understand how do youcommunicate that? And then also
too, is like truly understandingwho are the people you need to
make sure that you're gettingthe full, you know, what they're
able to do in a daily basis. Andsometimes the evaluation, I
(14:09):
don't, I'm not sure.
I mean, I think a lot of timespeople evaluate based off, oh, I
like that person. They don'treally do it. They're not really
good at their job, but I reallylike them. So I'm going to keep
them versus really good. It'slike, ah, I don't get along.
We don't hang out. We don'ttalk, tell stories. So I'm gonna
get rid of that person. And it'slike, okay, you really kind of
mess the dynamic of what reallyneeds to happen for the
business. So it's not as so cutand drive this looking at a name
(14:32):
and a position and, dollaramounts.
It's sometimes you've got tolook at all those things and
determine what that matrix lookslike to determine are you going
to adjust? And that's kind ofwhat I've been doing with some
of the clients I have is reallylooking at some other
departments and saying, okay,how do we re rethink the finance
department? How do we look atwho we have right now, who we
(14:53):
need. And then do we change someroles? Not just saying, Hey, you
get everything now.
We're going to say, how do we,maybe you take this and this
that someone else did, and we'regoing to bring someone else in
and say, we're going to hire aperson for this area only
because this is what we need themost. And you're great at this,
but we need someone else to dothese things. So that's trying
to be just open to theemployees, but also to telling
(15:15):
the C level people, like here'swhy we're doing it. And this is
what's going to be mosteffective. Long term not short
term.
It's going to be a little crazy.Long term is gonna be be great.
Adam Larson (15:25):
Yeah. It's hard to see the short term versus the
long term and have thedifferent, the different views.
And, and, and speaking ofcommunication, communication is
super important, especially whenyou're in a change management
here, which you're justdiscussing. How do you balance
the, Hey, hey, we're gonna dothis new thing and this is the
way you do it with theresistance from people saying,
hey, wait, but I've done thisfor twenty years. Why are you
(15:45):
changing my because why are youchanging what I'm doing?
Like, how do you balance that?Like, how do you get that in
transparency communication tohelp people keep going?
Mike Straza (15:53):
Well, I think a lot of it is, is kind of prepping.
It is as you're looking atpossibly doing changes and
working with the managementdirectors, C level board
members, if there's boardmembers involved or something
they needed to understand is,Hey, this is what we're doing.
This is why we're doing it.Getting some understanding and
buy in from that. And then asyou're talking to the employees
(16:13):
is really saying, you know, Hey,you've been here for twenty some
years.
And you obviously like beinghere. You do a great job. You've
over the years, I've noticed,you know, I've from what you've
told me from kind ofinterviewing, basically as I'm
coming in and they're inter I'minterviewing them is like, you
really like this area and youdon't like this area. Here's
(16:33):
some opportunities that we'relooking to actually grow this
area. And it's like, this seemslike something you'd be
interested in.
Here's the job description.Here's what the range is, pay
range. Here's everything. Andit's like, what do you think? I
mean, just kind of get a feelfor that.
It's like, here's how we aregoing to divide these things up.
And we want you since you'vebeen here the longest, we'd like
you to know what is the areathat you see. And then usually
(16:56):
it's pretty much on with whatI've already evaluated and said,
okay, this is something. This isreally where they're going to
their sweet spot, where they'regoing to thrive. And generally
that's what they pick.
And then you are now looking forpeople to take over the things
they were doing and addinganother job or a different
description. And I think that'swhere you just have to know that
(17:16):
you're, they have to know thatyou're really trying to work
with them and trying to figureout where where it's best for
them and where it's best for thecompany and why. And other than
it's a cost savings, I don'tlike you. You know, one of those
things like those are goodthings that like start off with
that, that does not go well.Yeah.
So, yeah.
Adam Larson (17:36):
How like, how do you balance, balance those types
of conversations, especiallyyeah. Yeah.
Mike Straza (17:42):
A lot of it is the balances. It's for me, it's
stepping back away from my ownself is, like, I have these
perceptions. I have these thingsI'm thinking about or
assumptions. Let them play out,but also trying to not sometimes
too much read the body languageor what people are saying and
not take it on personally. Andalso understanding just people
(18:04):
and stepping back.
And I think that's what it is,is trying to truly try to
understand. And sometimes you'reoff and I'm off at times, but a
lot of times it's like, okay, amI focused on truly helping them
and truly helping the companyout of why can those two
coexist? And I think that can,it takes sometimes more work,
but in the long run, it will beless work, less time. Less money
(18:27):
spent on trying to forcesomething or trying to do
something that's just it's, youknow, the employees aren't
bought into it. Management'sokay with it.
And then they get frustrated andthis whole thing you want to
make a change real quick. It'slike, you're a, you're a coach
or something like that. Andyou're trying to coach somebody
and you know, it takes time,nothing in sports or any other
(18:48):
type of thing that you'recoaching. It's like, it takes
time. You can't just say, go outthere and, do this.
I want you to be the best freethrow shooter. I need you to be
the best, you know, whatever infootball, best running back
best, whatever. It's like, theymight be nationally talented,
but it's like, if you don't helpthem instruct them, same thing
in business, if you don't helpthem instruct them how to do
their job, the best way, thenit's, it's gonna fall flat, but
(19:12):
you have to tell people thistakes time. We're developing
you. We're developing musclememory and all these other
things.
These things develop, figure outhow to look at it. How do you
see things and try to track? Andthat's where sometimes when
you're dealing with numbers,it's like there's patterns with
numbers. Can they figure outpatterns or is it something
that's just, they're not goodat? And if they're okay, what
(19:33):
can they do?
That's not this type of, youknow, piece of accounting. So
there are places you just haveto be a little bit more
creative. And sometimes I thinkwe get stuck in this box of
thinking. This is the only wayyou can do things. And I think
there's so many other optionsyou can do.
Adam Larson (19:51):
Do you have any success stories maybe that you
can share, you know, obviouslybroadly, because you can't share
to people's names, but thesesuccess stories that you can
kinda share that kind of alignwith what the, some of the
examples you've been givingtoday.
Mike Straza (20:03):
Yeah. There is, there's been several occasions
throughout the last couple ofyears where, I've come into
organizations and it's just,it's, everyone's just kinda just
worn out. And they're just, it'sjust not working. They've had
high turnover. They've had justthings that are just not
correct.
The job is being done, but it'sjust not the way it needs to be.
(20:25):
And they bring me in and there'slike, Hey, we're we need an
evaluation. We just need you tocome in and do an evaluation of
our organization. And sometimesit's mostly finances and, but it
also trickles out into all theother departments because
finance might be the heart of itas I'm looking at it. But there
are also communications ishappening outside of that.
(20:46):
They're coming in or out. Andyou have to look at that and
say, okay, what is that about?And trying to figure that out
too. So one of the groups I,like I said, as I went in there
and I was like, okay, there's acommunication problem. And it's
like, it's so simple.
We talk about it forever. I'vetalked about this all my life
and I've heard it all my life.Communication, communication,
communication. But the sad partof it is we're bad
(21:06):
communicators. We think we knowwhat we're talking about.
And that's the thing is it'salmost like a translation. It's
like a foreign language orsomething different that we're
not used to. We say it. Andwe're like, well, you know what
this means. And you expect themto say, or re you know, come
back and they're like, I don't,and they don't feel a little
hesitant of saying, I didn'tunderstand what you said, or I
thought you meant this.
So I did this. So, reallycommunicating well with the
(21:29):
groups. And that's what I do. Icome in there and help them
figure out how to communicate,like saying, Hey, there's a
translation issue here. Theyknow what they're doing.
This employee knows what they'redoing. They are just aren't
understanding what you weresaying or what you're asking. So
changing that, getting thatnarrative change and saying,
okay, how do we fix that? Soworking on that with the
different groups, so. You know,top down up, you know,
(21:51):
everything is say, okay, how dowe make this better?
And then looking at that andwhat I've done is done that and
it's improved communication islike, okay, this needs to be
communicated with this group.And this means communicate with
this group and it's worked andit's, and people are like, oh my
gosh, now we're not spendinghours and emails back and forth,
back and forth, back and forth.We're simplifying it. Or reduce
(22:12):
the amount of people on theseemails because there was way too
much where people are just like,I just I'm on this email chain
and there's like 30 responseswith several different people
and it's just, it gets lost. Sothat has been one of the
successes, turned around theirfinance area where the numbers
are correct.
They're they're confident intheir numbers. They're able to
(22:33):
then take that and say, okay,now we can look at the future
and our vision of what we reallywant to do here. And we can do
so much more. We can, we canhelp more people. And that was
one area that I've worked withsome nonprofits where I can help
more people and what theirservices are doing.
And also I've helped in groupswhere it's a for profit where
they're like, we can expand andtruly scale our company in a way
(22:58):
that we haven't before, becausewe actually are. Have a handle
on our finances. We have ahandle on how we are
communicating back and forthbetween departments. And I've
seen that. And this happenedmultiple times in the last five
plus years for me, working withgroups, that have been around
for a long time.
These aren't like just startups.These are people that have been
(23:18):
doing this for, you know,twenty, fifty years. Of been in
business. And it's like, youwould think by then fifty years,
like you gotta have it allfigured out. You're still in
business because most people areout by five to seven.
If they're starting a newbusiness. That is, some of the
success for me has been, I'veseen that in two organizations,
(23:38):
for profit and a nonprofit whereI've come in there and really
help them focus and really helpeducate the people and have them
learn more about their area. Andthat's even not just the, you
know, it's middle management onup too. It's not just saying,
oh, it's the day to day workerthat's doing AP or AR or this
(23:59):
it's like, no, it's C level islike, you're doing a great job.
You've been doing this.
You're an expert. That's whyyou're hired here. But here are
some things that will help youas a leader to be better, to
empower the people that you haveworking for you and to help them
understand where you're comingfrom.
Adam Larson (24:17):
Yeah. I mean, that's, that's an amazing story
and it's got to feel good seeingthose successes because you go
and put it in the work and thenit's like, Hey, they're, they're
doing well after that.
Mike Straza (24:26):
Yeah. It's, it's exciting. That's the thing I
love about it is I love helpingpeople. I love helping
companies, organizations thrive.And it's just like, yeah,
there's times that it's just,it's a struggle, but it's like,
I love when I'm done there andI'm like, this is great.
They are able to move forwardand continue and grow. You know,
next so many years. And theyhave a plan, they have a
(24:48):
strategic plan to get them towhere they need to go. And I
think that's what excites me isI can walk away from it or come
back later and say, how'severything going? And it's just
like, people have grown anddone.
They've, you you know, you loveto see, you know, companies just
doing amazing things.
Adam Larson (25:02):
Yeah. One thing we've mentioned a few times as
you've been talking, you know,just how there's a shifting
attitude toward careerlongevity, being able to swift
job, switch jobs thicker. Andhow how has that influenced the
way organizations try to retaintheir talent? Because, you know,
even if things are going reallywell, sometimes places have high
turnover, and you're like,what's going on? Like, how do we
(25:24):
how do we balance that,especially in in this market?
Mike Straza (25:27):
It is tough. This market has really changed in the
last, you know, four or fiveyears. It's just there's because
of the digital age andeverything like that, we can
transfer for one job the other,or I've seen it where I've
helped people try to enter, youknow, companies interview people
and they like, yep, I'm gonna,you know, this person's coming
in and like, they know shitwhere, where did they go? And
(25:48):
they had already found anotherjob or they, they come for the
first couple of interviews andwe're thinking we're gonna hire
them. We're like, oh no, I foundsomething else.
Or you have people that havebeen with you long term and
they're like, yeah, I foundsomething I like. Cause it fits
my, you know, my work skin, youknow, my work life balance. And
that's trying to figure thatout. And sometimes you can do
well, to retain, but thenthere's also two, it's just like
(26:12):
knowing that there is any timeyou're going to have to possibly
find someone else. And that'swhere I go the point of making
sure whoever leaves, no matterwhose job it is, you have all
the information about what theydo and how they do it and make
sure it's in a, in a, basicallyin a playbook that basically
you're saying if this person,unfortunately doesn't come back
(26:34):
to work because of someunfortunate circumstances or
they decided to leave in ontheir own.
We have something that says,this gives us a pretty close
idea, everything they do, theircontext, their how they do these
functions, that type of thing.And a lot you'd be surprised how
many companies don't have that.And I think that saves you time.
(26:55):
So it does help prevent ifpeople do leave, you do have
this thing that you, you can sayfor each, each area has this
playbook to say, this is how yourun, do this job to one to cover
it in that short time. A lot ofit is again, relooking at the
way businesses are, how we dobusiness.
I mean, you know, I've been, orbeen doing, this work for twenty
(27:15):
five plus years and way peoplework internally, externally, it
couple of years because theyfigure, Hey, there's something
better. Or now I can work fromhome and I can have a job that's
somewhere not in the place Ilive in my city. I can work from
anywhere and it's fine. And somepeople are like, I like doing
(27:38):
that. And it's just like, okay,so knowing you have those
possibilities, but, and also tosome of your companies, like you
have to be here.
So that makes people, you know,so it is a, it's a balancing
act. I think what it all comesdown to is it's a balancing act
and sometimes you'll have itright. Then sometimes just not.
And just knowing that now we'rein that age of, you know, people
(28:00):
can change jobs at a moment'snotice and knowing that you're
going to, when you, the peopleyou have treat them well as much
as you can and be, you know,communicate well. And then the
ones that's the decide to moveon, just like, okay, learn from
it, figure out why.
And then from there, try toimprove that.
Adam Larson (28:18):
Well, yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, we we you can
read the headlines and majororganizations are saying
everybody has to be back in theoffice. And Yeah. For people who
are the last four years havebeen figuring out, have been
working from home most or halfthe time.
And they've got kids things, andtheir their lives are pretty
much set in a certain way. Andif you say to your employees,
you all have to come to theoffice every day, you know,
(28:40):
you're gonna have some turnover.It's gonna cause some turmoil in
the organization. And and how doyou how do you keep that? Say,
Hey, we, we think work lifebalance is important, but yet
we're changing all this time.
You all have to say, Yeah.
Mike Straza (28:53):
And that's the thing is, is like, yeah, you
have those companies and somecompanies have decided that,
Hey, it's just not, it's notgonna work, bringing everyone
back. There are certain thingsthat they have to be in the
office just because the thingsare doing, but most people like,
okay, how do we make this work?How do, and I think what
happens, unfortunately, withsome companies they put that
pressure and people are like,I'm out. So were they really in,
in the first place? Or, I mean,yeah, it's just, it's, it's a
(29:16):
generation, all generations havebeen affected by this.
It's not just the youngergeneration everyone's talking
about. I was like, oh, they justdon't wanna go to work. And it's
like, no, it's all thegenerations. I've talked to
people at different stages oftheir life. And like, oh man, I
really like working from home.
I don't have to get ready rightaway. I don't have to drive X
amount of time or take the trainor do what all these things. And
(29:38):
then I can be more responsive tomy kids if they're in that age
range of kids. So that's thetough thing is like, it's now
not the standard that it used tobe that I grew up in where it's
like, you go into work at acertain time you leave and it's
just like, you do that and yourepeat that for the next thirty,
forty years. It's like, it has,it has changed a lot.
(29:59):
And I think that's where youhave to figure out, okay, what
type of business do you have?What does it require? The thing
I always think is sacrificing istruly the dynamics about
learning and from your men,your, your having mentors,
having people that you'relearning from when you're you're
in an office space. Yeah. Timeis wasted by talking about who
(30:19):
knows what.
But that's part of life, but thehow you watch people learn and
understand things. And I thinkthat's, I think it's helpful to
be around somebody. Yes. You canwatch it on YouTube or do
whatever. Learn from it.
Talk to someone on zoom orwhatever the platform you're
using, but you still are missingout on something, not being
connected in an officesituation. But yeah, it's, it's
(30:42):
a new age. It's not changing.It's some things where we
adjust, but not everyone's goingback to not as supposed to go
into a physical office anymore.It's just not going to, so we
have to figure it out.
So that's why I always tellpeople, well, we just got to
figure it out. And when thingsgo a certain way, it's like,
well, some people are gonna riseout of it and some people are
just gonna fall flat. And it'sjust, you just gotta continue to
figure out what's gonna workbest for your company.
Adam Larson (31:05):
Like, I feel like this has been a wonderful
conversation. I just reallywanna thank you again for coming
on. Count me in today. It's beengreat.
Mike Straza (31:12):
Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Announcer (31:16):
This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast providing
you with the latest perspectivesof thought leaders from the
accounting and financeprofession. If you like what you
heard and you'd like to becounted in for more relevant
accounting and financeeducation, visit IMA's website
at www.imanet.org.
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