According to Jim Lindell, CPA, innovation is what drives all value in any organization. As companies grow, the ideas and dreams that once existed start fading away and become less important. How can accounting firms and organizations cultivate innovation and stay true to their culture?

Preform a SWOT Analysis

A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis should take place during the strategic planning process. During the analysis, the opportunity aspect is where senior level management team will understand where there is room for improvement–what aspects of the organization’s culture can be altered and where the company is going to innovate. Even though this is an essential piece of the process, many small firms don’t have the time or patience to go through it, which is why they fail at cultivating innovation.

Hire the Right People

In order to have an innovative firm, you have to hire innovative workers is the first step. This might seem like a challenging task during the interview process, bust asking the right interview questions and taking a look at the background of candidates can determine the way they will perform within the company and its culture.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Even though work is an important factor in everyone’s life, it is no longer a priority that influences every aspect of life. Nowadays, other interests are just as important and having managers that understand and respect the needs of workers will go along to keeping them interested in the business.
A common mistake accounting firms make is forgetting the internal aspect of organization. Even when companies grow and become well known, innovation should be cultivated on a daily basis. From listening to employees to making constant changes to keep up with the industry, it is important to keep in mind that the way a company sees itself, will determine the way clients see the company.

This article was sourced from the Journal of Accountancy.