The ethics of reciprocity: Why people matter more than sales targets

The Big 4 firms may say they have implemented 'work-life balance' policies, but it doesn't seem to apply if you want to make partner.

Last week, a post popped up on my LinkedIn feed explaining the ten key steps that you have to follow if they have any chance of becoming a partner in the Big 4. It re-enforced everything that I knew about the Big 4 partnership track and that nothing has changed in two decades. There is no reference to the ubiquitous 'work-life balance', no mention of empathy for staff or any recognition of their role in addressing employee well-being. In fact, the opposite is true with it's talk about internal power plays, being dispensable, and employees being out of their league.

Kindness and empathy is not weakness, it's strength. ~ Lex Fridman

The Big 4 firms are notorious for being cutthroat, apathetic and promoting unhealthy working habits. I have personally witnessed, and been subject to, bullying, yelling and belittling behaviour from partners at Big 4 firms in both the UK and Australia. Partners regularly manipulate junior employees into sacrificing their personal lives to the company, to prove that the company is the most important thing.

Working hours regularly exceed 50 hours per week, ramping up to 70-90 hours during the busy season. There is no overtime pay and no 'time off in lieu'. The tragic death of a 26-year-old Indian employee is a point in question. When her mother appealed to the firm to "reflect on its work culture", the Big 4 refuted any allegations of overwork and said that "it didn't believe that work pressure could have claimed her life". Unfortunately, this is not the only example where Big 4 employees have felt they have no other choice but to take their own lives due to bullying and workload pressures.

According to the LinkedIn post, the number one skill to becoming a Big 4 partner, is to "consistently generate significant revenue". This is drilled into every new employee on starting work with the Big 4. Sales funnels are the first agenda item at team meetings and individual sales targets the first item on performance appraisals. If you can't bring in the money, you are out no matter how good you are at delivery. You can’t stay at one level, and not moving up the career ladder is not an option within the Big 4's 'up or out’ culture.

And what happens if you do make it as a partner? Is it payback time for all those long hours in the office and sacrificed family moments? Absolutely not. What they don't tell you, is that once you have been made a Big 4 partner, you are just on the bottom rung of an even bigger ladder and you get to start all over again. Remaining in the partnership is not guaranteed as was demonstrated when a former colleague in a UK Big 4 was 'let go' after only 12 months as a partner.

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. ~ Sir Winston Churchill

When we set up OpusDatum, we made the conscious decision to not follow the Big 4 model. We thought hard about what kind of company we wanted to be and about our values. We adopted the 'golden rule' of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. This applies to everyone we interact with - our employees, our contractors, our clients and our suppliers. It's rather cliché but we strongly believe that people should be kind to each other, and this includes in business too. It is a core part of our company values and implicit in everything we do.

The majority of people who work for OpusDatum have a Big 4 background. And they all have their own horror stories to tell about life there, and why they chose to leave. Hopefully, they will also tell you what a difference it made to them and their families when they chose to work with us. Employees and contractors are not expected to work overtime, but if they do, they are paid for every additional minute they work. We offer flexibility at work, both in terms of location and scheduling; we even had a team member temporarily work from New Zealand for six months with daily 'good morning-goodnight' catch ups.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Ghandi

We treat our team as adults. We don't expect them to spend two hours a day commuting into an office or have to ask for an hour off for an appointment. We do not contact them in the evenings or on weekends unless it is a real-life emergency. We trust them to make the right decisions about their workloads, priorities, and working arrangements. All we ask in return is for them to be reliable, to be flexible when needed, and help us deliver exceptional service to our clients.

Even our website reflects our values of 'people before sales'. Our get in touch page encourages potential clients to get in touch for a good chat where they can speak with a senior expert in financial crime risk and perhaps acquire a new LinkedIn connection. Our team will happily chat about their experience and relevant topics in the financial crime world. They are not salespeople so there is no 'sell' and they have no targets.