Within our firm, we are proud to offer the opportunity for staff to work across the Crowe Global network. Secondments, as they’re known, allow for Crowe Global member firms to share resources during their busy seasons ensuring all Crowe clients receive exceptional care and service.
Fred Deschenes, a Partner in our Yellowknife office, provides more insight into how Crowe MacKay LLP implements secondment opportunities year-over-year and how we work with our global network to mutually benefit.
Our Yellowknife Office
Our Yellowknife office has been organizing secondment opportunities for quite a while.
In 2010, we used a mix of contractors and people from the firm who would come and help us during peak season. We’d do audits and other engagements that have a March 31 year-end and a June/July reporting deadline. Our workload would soar close to 40% higher in May and June compared to the rest of the year. As a result, we required temporary staff to meet the higher work demand.
Secondment opportunities were the solution to our workload’s ebb and flow. Secondments benefit the firm by providing experience to all staff that participate and, as a result, every office that is involved is able to obtain hours, recruit, and deliver exceptional client service.
Some of our staff have joined our office specifically because these opportunities are available to them!
Internal Opportunities
Opportunities within the Crowe MacKay Network
Internally within Crowe MacKay – the process is simple.
In the fall, we communicate our forecasted needs for our busy season: staff hours, staff levels, and staff availability. Our offices then looks at their staffing requirements and determines if they can offer staffing to our office.
Once complete, we allocate staff to specific engagements in the busy season and start booking flights. There is even a memo circulated to these individuals as to what to expect work-wise, weather-wise, and travel-wise.
It’s a unique opportunity to visit and travel to parts of Canada very few individuals will ever get to see and experience — especially when you get to “live like a local.”
External Opportunities
Since we’ve joined Crowe we have had access to others in the Crowe network in Canada and Australia. We provide resources when they need help and they complement our service by making staff available in our busy season.
Secondments in Canada
We’ve had staff and seniors come to our office from Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto and some of our staff have had the opportunity to go to these locations to assist as well.
International Opportunities
Much like with Canadian firms, Australian contacts reach out to us for assistance. In 2015, we started this exchange with Australia finding success at a client service level and recruiting level.
So far we have sent six people for secondments in Australia.
Read more about Jonathan and Alissa’s experience here.
Our Inclination to Mobilize Staff
With Crowe MacKay’s move towards a one firm vision, we have seen more help coming in from other offices providing anywhere from 400 hours up to 900 hours in May and June. We’ve been fortunate to have assistance and training when we do other engagements where the capacity in our office is not available.
The Yellowknife office is committed to the continuation of our secondment program and we are excited to see it develop even further across our Crowe network.
Fred Deschenes
Partner, Yellowknife