Adam Larson: 00:21

Welcome back to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam Larson. Today, we have a fantastic episode lined up with Mike Strazza, a seasoned business consultant with Strazza Consulting. Mike is here to share his expertise on navigating the challenges of building strong accounting teams in today's unpredictable market. We'll delve into how to balance financial duties while supporting our team members and the importance of identifying each individual's why to align their roles with their strengths.

Adam Larson: 00:47

Mike also highlights the benefits of open communication, strategic role alignment, and the evolving office environment, including the shift towards remote work. Get ready for actionable insights and thought provoking strategies that can lead to both immediate and long term success for your organization. Let's jump right in.

Adam Larson: 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 huge struggle right now with so many different, things happening with the markets and, teams having to tighten their belts. I mean, a lot of times, you know, we have to focus on the numbers, especially in the accounting team. But understanding that the supporting supporting the people behind the numbers who are doing that for we especially with our accounting teams that are our organizations.

Adam Larson: 01:35

How do you how do we balance that? 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, a finance team and it all depends on the size of the company and how many people are running different things. You have an AP person, AR person, controller, all those, the makeup of that. And a lot of experience I've had in the past is when things are going okay. But there's stress points going on in the overall organization, in the finance department and different departments. Everyone looks at the finances like, well, cause everything starts and stops with the money coming in and out.

Mike Straza: 02:08

You have all the other parts of the business that are very important that make it go to bring in sales and everything else. But the thing is, is the heart of it is I look at as finance and looking at that is how do you support Good question. How do you support the people that are taking care of the numbers or making sure that the 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 about leading 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 might recognize 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 team members identify those strengths and kind of align their roles? Because, you know, you don't want somebody stuck in a place because if they're stuck and they feel like it doesn't align with their goals, you might see a, you know, downturn of of production because it's just not what they want to do.

Adam Larson: 03:11

And you've gotta kinda find that balance 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 to do an evaluation of each person. It's not an evaluation to get rid of somebody. It's really understanding their strengths and even also their weaknesses and the weaknesses doesn't mean you're out of here.

Mike Straza: 03:30

It's more of like, what can we build? What can we learn? What education, what other things could we do to build you up? But also too, I look at it as why are you here? We all have our why, you know, you always hear about that.

Mike Straza: 03:40

What is your why? And you're trying to look at that and understand is why am I in this position? Why do I like this? Do I like the organization? I like to pay.

Mike Straza: 03:50

There's a lot of factors that for reasons that people are in jobs that they're in. And a lot of times I've always told people that if you're not happy in this position, because for whatever reason, fill in the blank, then let's find out where you're best suited. You love the organization. Okay. Maybe there's somewhere else in the organization that would fit the type of person you are.

Mike Straza: 04:11

Personality, skillsets, things like that. So I always try to look at that and kind of break that down and put them in almost at us, not a grid system, but a thing that said, okay, you like these things, you're strong in these things. Here are the opportunities here are not the opportunities. And really being honest to say, here's how I can help you. And that's where the making sure they understand us.

Mike Straza: 04:29

Like I'm here for you. I'm I'm want to help you be a better at who you are. And I think if you're, if you make them the best person they are in that organization, then they're going to thrive. The business is going to thrive. And that's where everyone wins on this is by saying, Hey, I love this place.

Mike Straza: 04:48

I love working here. Or I maybe I should be here, but I do, I do have an evaluation. There's a lot of different types of evaluations. You can do some tasks. You can do, you know, some like string finder or something out there that basically says, Hey, this is where you, your personality, this is where you fit.

Mike Straza: 05:06

And that's what I, I do with pretty much everybody. It's like, I look through it and see, how do we do that? And then also to look at the communication maybe it's just a misunderstanding or something that they're having a hard time with. And I just helped try to help them walk them through that.

Adam Larson: 05:19

Do you ever go through that process and, and come to find out that both sides are like, Hey, this isn't the best place for me. I need to move 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 a point where like, Hey, this is, this isn't a match. And that's okay. It's not like, Hey, we're getting ready tomorrow.

Mike Straza: 05:39

What can we do to help you on your next, your next part of your journey, your next part of your life? If it's not here, if we can't find a thing in this organization, let me, I have resources out there. I had contacts. Let's find you something that is better and we're not, and we're not giving you a timeline, so you gotta be out of here, but let's, let's push for that. Let's try to find you a place to land.

Mike Straza: 06:00

That's going to be better for you. And that's what I do is I reach out to people I know or help them put things together, almost like an HR type thing, working with them. Redo their resume and things like that. And I 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 out of here right this second, but you're, you're giving me X amount of time to find something and that's, and I think that's better for everybody.

Mike Straza: 06:23

And, it just depends on the personality, how people take that. And I think that's where it's just trying to really make them understand that like, Hey, what I'm doing here is for the betterment of you, We will find our replacement, but first we're going to find you a place to be so 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, I would never think my boss would have that conversation with me. And also, you know, a lot of times when you're when it comes to terms like, hey, this is no longer right fit for you. They just kinda say, okay. Bye bye. And Yeah.

Adam Larson: 06:54

You go out the door. So what you're saying is very it's a very radical move, which not a lot 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, we always have the, you know, the, the unnatural or the weird, like we're going to cut this off as a relationship it's, you know, relationship and personal relationship to business relationship. A lot of times people just don't know what to do. So like you're fired, you're out of here.

Mike Straza: 07:17

And then some people are like, well, I'm, if I'm heading out, then I'm not going to work as hard or I'm not going to do the work and

Adam Larson: 07:25

kind

Mike Straza: 07:25

of things. That's saying they're intentionally doing anything wrong. They're just not putting in the, they're not staying in the rhythm of what'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.

Mike Straza: 07:41

How do we keep ourselves both focused? Because we at times will then be less. You won't be as patient with people. We will be a little bit more quick to be on them. And I think it was both ways.

Mike Straza: 07:50

So it's trying to have that more open discussion and really looking as a, what is the best. And I think that truly will help people both the organization and the person to continue without having these big drops in productivity and issues and then having to find someone else to retrain. Cause it does cost money to retrain somebody or get somebody else in that position. So, yeah, it's, you're trying to figure out what the limit, the amount of stress on either person. 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 of where the next part of the conversation talking about motivation, you know, helping motivate your employees. Because it's a very difficult time. We we live in tumultuous times.

Adam Larson: 08:31

Everybody's kind of unsure about a lot of things. And how do you kinda help your employees stay motivated, especially, you know, if they do feel stuck or even if they feel good in their current role, but they're unsure about everything

Mike Straza: 08:42

else. Well, a lot of it is you have to, I mean, this day and age that we have social media, we have all these things that are clouding our minds. We have family, we have all these things. There's always stuff going on in our lives. And sometimes we don't know what that is.

Mike Straza: 08:54

Each of us don't know each other's what's going on and we have to be, you know, step back a little bit and say, okay, something's going on here. We don't know what it is, but trying to, it's, it's trying to get them, everyone motivated. Everyone has their inspiration on 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 or they're just, they're, you know, they have depression or anxiety or something that's causing them to seem like, well, they must not be motivated. It's like, no, there's something else going on. So not getting into the psychology of things or trying to dive into somebody's mind, what they're thinking every minute is trying to say, okay, how do you make steps as a leader in your company to say, making sure you're, you're acknowledging their hard work, making sure they know that, you know, things are going well. People are pleased. How do we keep on investing in you?

Mike Straza: 09:42

As the employee, how do we invest? How do we continue to have you grow and hopefully grow and stay with the company. But if it's not then grow and be something else. But I look at it as you keep on paying it forward and getting people to do something, it's gonna be contagious to, or through the whole organization. And also for future people, because people talk like, well, how, how do you like working for so and so?

Mike Straza: 10:03

Or how do you like working for this organization? And if they're saying, well, wow, they really want to prepare you to be the best you can be in your, in your role and, and be part of this company, or they're going to send you on to something else in, you know, it's just, again, I think it's, we all want people to work hard to do well. And companies are looking at bottom line, of course. But I think there's a little bit, you're not sacrificing by being kind into actually helping people. Just increase their knowledge or be better at their jobs.

Mike Straza: 10:36

I just think that's, it's just trying to look at how each person's motivated is the key thing.

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 they make me kind to somebody else and it kind of pays it forward over time. It's it's something that you kind of see in life. And if we're not kind in our workplaces, even though, you know, workplaces can be cutthroat, it can be really hard to work in the high pressure of situations.

Adam Larson: 11:03

We still try to be kind to each other.

Mike Straza: 11:06

Yeah. And that's the thing is we all are motivated. Like I said, we're all motivated. I think some of us are very competitive. We want, you know, if you have a sales team or something like that, they're like, well, I wanna make I want to be the top salesperson.

Mike Straza: 11:15

I want this. And so there's this aggressiveness 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 are you? Who's your character and how do you treat others around you?

Mike Straza: 11:30

You can still do the things. You can still hit the numbers. You can still be able to do what your hopes and dreams are, but you don't have to degrade or to do something that would be not appropriate in a work setting. So again, it's just trying to say, how do we, activate that thing that says, this is, I'm going to be an amazing, whatever it is in your.

Adam Larson: 11:54

Yeah. As a lot of organizations are tightening their belts, you know, and and they're restructuring or restructuring, a lot of employees are getting additional responsibilities. And sometimes they might get a little bit of financial incentive. Sometimes they may not. A lot a lot of companies aren't able to do that.

Adam Larson: 12:08

You know, what advice do you have for managers, especially when they're trying to help their employees navigate these scenarios? Because that can cause lack of motivation, that can cause burnout. So there's a lot 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 going well 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.

Mike Straza: 12:38

And we're going to say, by the way, we removed these people, but you have to take it over. We'll flatten management or we'll flatten this area. And then we're going to add, everyone's going to have all these extra responsibilities and change is hard. And it's like, okay, are they, are they equipped to take on those extra roles? Is that, you know, do they have the time?

Mike Straza: 12:54

Do they have the knowledge? Because sometimes you're like, Hey, we're going to combine everything, but they don't have the skillsets to do it. And that's the thing is, is like, you're hurting yourself as a company is like, you're saving money on a, line item. But then is it really saving you because it's, there's some unforeseen costs. You're not seeing, that's not out right there that you notice.

Mike Straza: 13:16

And you're like, oh, well, this is costing us over time. Money people could people leave because we're like, I'm not doing this because, you know, I'm do have too much responsibility. So I think that's where you have to look at it as like, what is the true benefit? And I know we've seen it recently in the last so many years of this up and down where people are moving because they can, they have opportunities. So employees are leaving.

Mike Straza: 13:39

Companies are cutting back because they're either have to deal with the bottom line because they have board members to answer to, they have stockholders to answer to. There's so many reasons why. And I think it's more of trying to understand how do you communicate that? And then also too, is like truly understanding who are the people you need to make sure that you're getting the full, you know, what they're able to do in a daily basis. And sometimes the evaluation, I don't, I'm not sure.

Mike Straza: 14:10

I mean, I think a lot of times people evaluate based off, oh, I like that person. They don't really do it. They're not really good at their job, but I really like them. So I'm going to keep them versus really good. It's like, ah, I don't get along.

Mike Straza: 14:19

We don't hang out. We don't talk, tell stories. So I'm gonna get rid of that person. And it's like, okay, you really kind of mess the dynamic of what really needs to happen for the business. So it's not as so cut and drive this looking at a name and a position and, dollar amounts.

Mike Straza: 14:35

It's sometimes you've got to look at all those things and determine what that matrix looks like to determine are you going to adjust? And that's kind of what I've been doing with some of the clients I have is really looking at some other departments and saying, okay, how do we re rethink the finance department? How do we look at who we have right now, who we need. And then do we change some roles? Not just saying, Hey, you get everything now.

Mike Straza: 14:58

We're going to say, how do we, maybe you take this and this that someone else did, and we're going to bring someone else in and say, we're going to hire a person for this area only because this is what we need the most. And you're great at this, but we need someone else to do these things. So that's trying to be just open to the employees, but also to telling the C level people, like here's why we're doing it. And this is what's going to be most effective. Long term not short term.

Mike Straza: 15:22

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 the different, the different views. And, and, and speaking of communication, communication is super important, especially when you're in a change management here, which you're just discussing. How do you balance the, Hey, hey, we're gonna do this new thing and this is the way you do it with the resistance from people saying, hey, wait, but I've done this for twenty years. Why are you changing my because why are you changing what I'm doing?

Adam Larson: 15:47

Like, how do you balance that? Like, how do you get that in transparency communication to help 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 at possibly doing changes and working with the management directors, C level board members, if there's board members 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 as you're talking to the employees is really saying, you know, Hey, you've been here for twenty some years.

Mike Straza: 16:17

And you obviously like being here. 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 of interviewing, basically as I'm coming in and they're inter I'm interviewing them is like, you really like this area and you don't like this area. Here's some opportunities that we're looking to actually grow this area. And it's like, this seems like something you'd be interested in.

Mike Straza: 16:40

Here's the job description. Here's what the range is, pay range. Here's everything. And it's like, what do you think? I mean, just kind of get a feel for that.

Mike Straza: 16:47

It's like, here's how we are going to divide these things up. And we want you since you've been here the longest, we'd like you to know what is the area that you see. And then usually it's pretty much on with what I've already evaluated and said, okay, this is something. This is really where they're going to their sweet spot, where they're going to thrive. And generally that's what they pick.

Mike Straza: 17:06

And then you are now looking for people to take over the things they were doing and adding another job or a different description. And I think that's where you just have to know that you're, they have to know that you're really trying to work with them and trying to figure out where where it's best for them and where it's best for the company and why. And other than it's a cost savings, I don't like you. You know, one of those things like those are good things that like start off with that, that does not go well. Yeah.

Mike Straza: 17:34

So, yeah.

Adam Larson: 17:36

How like, how do you balance, balance those types of conversations, especially yeah. Yeah.

Mike Straza: 17:42

A lot of it is the balances. It's for me, it's stepping back away from my own self is, like, I have these perceptions. I have these things I'm thinking about or assumptions. Let them play out, but also trying to not sometimes too much read the body language or what people are saying and not take it on personally. And also understanding just people and stepping back.

Mike Straza: 18:05

And I think that's what it is, is trying to truly try to understand. And sometimes you're off and I'm off at times, but a lot of times it's like, okay, am I focused on truly helping them and truly helping the company out of why can those two coexist? And I think that can, it takes sometimes more work, but in the long run, it will be less work, less time. Less money spent on trying to force something or trying to do something that's just it's, you know, the employees aren't bought into it. Management's okay with it.

Mike Straza: 18:37

And then they get frustrated and this whole thing you want to make a change real quick. It's like, you're a, you're a coach or something like that. And you're trying to coach somebody and you know, it takes time, nothing in sports or any other type of thing that you're coaching. It's like, it takes time. You can't just say, go out there and, do this.

Mike Straza: 18:54

I want you to be the best free throw shooter. I need you to be the best, you know, whatever in football, best running back best, whatever. It's like, they might be nationally talented, but it's like, if you don't help them instruct them, same thing in business, if you don't help them instruct them how to do their job, the best way, then it's, it's gonna fall flat, but you have to tell people this takes time. We're developing you. We're developing muscle memory and all these other things.

Mike Straza: 19:19

These things develop, figure out how to look at it. How do you see things and try to track? And that's where sometimes when you're dealing with numbers, it's like there's patterns with numbers. Can they figure out patterns or is it something that's just, they're not good at? And if they're okay, what can they do?

Mike Straza: 19:33

That's not this type of, you know, piece of accounting. So there are places you just have to be a little bit more creative. And sometimes I think we get stuck in this box of thinking. This is the only way you can do things. And I think there's so many other options you can do.

Adam Larson: 19:51

Do you have any success stories maybe that you can share, you know, obviously broadly, because you can't share to people's names, but these success stories that you can kinda share that kind of align with what the, some of the examples you've been giving today.

Mike Straza: 20:03

Yeah. There is, there's been several occasions throughout the last couple of years where, I've come into organizations and it's just, it's, everyone's just kinda just worn out. And they're just, it's just not working. They've had high turnover. They've had just things that are just not correct.

Mike Straza: 20:21

The job is being done, but it's just not the way it needs to be. And they bring me in and there's like, Hey, we're we need an evaluation. We just need you to come in and do an evaluation of our organization. And sometimes it's mostly finances and, but it also trickles out into all the other departments because finance might be the heart of it as I'm looking at it. But there are also communications is happening outside of that.

Mike Straza: 20:46

They're coming in or out. And you 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 a communication problem. And it's like, it's so simple.

Mike Straza: 20:58

We talk about it forever. I've talked about this all my life and I've heard it all my life. Communication, communication, communication. But the sad part of it is we're bad communicators. We think we know what we're talking about.

Mike Straza: 21:09

And that's the thing is it's almost like a translation. It's like a foreign language or something different that we're not used to. We say it. And we're like, well, you know what this means. And you expect them to 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't understand what you said, or I thought you meant this.

Mike Straza: 21:25

So I did this. So, really communicating well with the groups. And that's what I do. I come in there and help them figure out how to communicate, like saying, Hey, there's a translation issue here. They know what they're doing.

Mike Straza: 21:36

This employee knows what they're doing. They are just aren't understanding what you were saying or what you're asking. So changing that, getting that narrative change and saying, okay, how do we fix that? So working on that with the different groups, so. You know, top down up, you know, everything is say, okay, how do we make this better?

Mike Straza: 21:54

And then looking at that and what I've done is done that and it's improved communication is like, okay, this needs to be communicated with this group. And this means communicate with this group and it's worked and it's, and people are like, oh my gosh, now we're not spending hours and emails back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. We're simplifying it. Or reduce the amount of people on these emails because there was way too much where people are just like, I just I'm on this email chain and there's like 30 responses with several different people and it's just, it gets lost. So that has been one of the successes, turned around their finance area where the numbers are correct.

Mike Straza: 22:30

They're they're confident in their numbers. They're able to then take that and say, okay, now we can look at the future and our vision of what we really want to do here. And we can do so much more. We can, we can help more people. And that was one area that I've worked with some nonprofits where I can help more people and what their services are doing.

Mike Straza: 22:49

And also I've helped in groups where it's a for profit where they're like, we can expand and truly scale our company in a way that we haven't before, because we actually are. Have a handle on our finances. We have a handle on how we are communicating back and forth between departments. And I've seen that. And this happened multiple times in the last five plus years for me, working with groups, that have been around for a long time.

Mike Straza: 23:16

These aren't like just startups. These are people that have been doing this for, you know, twenty, fifty years. Of been in business. And it's like, you would think by then fifty years, like you gotta have it all figured out. You're still in business because most people are out by five to seven.

Mike Straza: 23:31

If they're starting a new business. That is, some of the success for me has been, I've seen that in two organizations, for profit and a nonprofit where I've come in there and really help them focus and really help educate the people and have them learn more about their area. And that's even not just the, you know, it's middle management on up too. It's not just saying, oh, it's the day to day worker that's doing AP or AR or this it's like, no, it's C level is like, you're doing a great job. You've been doing this.

Mike Straza: 24:03

You're an expert. That's why you're hired here. But here are some things that will help you as a leader to be better, to empower the people that you have working for you and to help them understand where you're coming from.

Adam Larson: 24:17

Yeah. I mean, that's, that's an amazing story and it's got to feel good seeing those successes because you go and put it in the work and then it'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 helping people. 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 and I'm like, this is great.

Mike Straza: 24:39

They are able to move forward and continue and grow. You know, next so many years. And they have a plan, they have a strategic plan to get them to where they need to go. And I think that's what excites me is I can walk away from it or come back later and say, how's everything going? And it's just like, people have grown and done.

Mike Straza: 24:58

They've, you you know, you love to 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 career longevity, being able to swift job, switch jobs thicker. And how how has that influenced the way organizations try to retain their talent? Because, you know, even if things are going really well, sometimes places have high turnover, and you're like, what's going on? Like, how do we 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 five years. It's just there's because of the digital age and everything like that, we can transfer for one job the other, or I've seen it where I've helped people try to enter, you know, companies interview people and they like, yep, I'm gonna, you know, this person's coming in and like, they know shit where, where did they go? And they had already found another job or they, they come for the first couple of interviews and we're thinking we're gonna hire them. We're like, oh no, I found something else.

Mike Straza: 25:55

Or you have people that have been with you long term and they're like, yeah, I found something I like. Cause it fits my, you know, my work skin, you know, my work life balance. And that's trying to figure that out. And sometimes you can do well, to retain, but then there's also two, it's just like knowing that there is any time you're going to have to possibly find someone else. And that's where I go the point of making sure whoever leaves, no matter whose job it is, you have all the information about what they do and how they do it and make sure it's in a, in a, basically in a playbook that basically you're saying if this person, unfortunately doesn't come back to work because of some unfortunate circumstances or they decided to leave in on their own.

Mike Straza: 26:40

We have something that says, this gives us a pretty close idea, everything they do, their context, 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. So it does help prevent if people do leave, you do have this thing that you, you can say for each, each area has this playbook to say, this is how you run, do this job to one to cover it in that short time. A lot of it is again, relooking at the way businesses are, how we do business.

Mike Straza: 27:12

I mean, you know, I've been, or been doing, this work for twenty five plus years and way people work internally, externally, it couple of years because they figure, Hey, there's something better. Or now I can work from home and I can have a job that's somewhere not in the place I live in my city. I can work from anywhere and it's fine. And some people are like, I like doing that. And it's just like, okay, so knowing you have those possibilities, but, and also to some of your companies, like you have to be here.

Mike Straza: 27:45

So that makes people, you know, so it is a, it's a balancing act. I think what it all comes down to is it's a balancing act and sometimes you'll have it right. Then sometimes just not. And just knowing that now we're in that age of, you know, people can change jobs at a moment's notice and knowing that you're going to, when you, the people you have treat them well as much as you can and be, you know, communicate well. And then the ones that's the decide to move on, just like, okay, learn from it, figure out why.

Mike Straza: 28:15

And then from there, try to improve that.

Adam Larson: 28:18

Well, yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, we we you can read the headlines and major organizations are saying everybody has to be back in the office. And Yeah. For people who are the last four years have been figuring out, have been working from home most or half the time.

Adam Larson: 28:32

And they've got kids things, and their their lives are pretty much set in a certain way. And if you say to your employees, you all have to come to the office every day, you know, you're gonna have some turnover. It's gonna cause some turmoil in the organization. And and how do you how do you keep that? Say, Hey, we, we think work life balance is important, but yet we're changing all this time.

Adam Larson: 28:50

You all have to say, Yeah.

Mike Straza: 28:53

And that's the thing is, is like, yeah, you have those companies and some companies have decided that, Hey, it's just not, it's not gonna work, bringing everyone back. There are certain things that they have to be in the office just because the things are doing, but most people like, okay, how do we make this work? How do, and I think what happens, unfortunately, with some 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 generation, all generations have been affected by this.

Mike Straza: 29:19

It's not just the younger generation everyone's talking about. I was like, oh, they just don't wanna go to work. And it's like, no, it's all the generations. I've talked to people at different stages of their life. And like, oh man, I really like working from home.

Mike Straza: 29:30

I don't have to get ready right away. I don't have to drive X amount of time or take the train or do what all these things. And then I can be more responsive to my kids if they're in that age range of kids. So that's the tough thing is like, it's now not the standard that it used to be that I grew up in where it's like, you go into work at a certain time you leave and it's just like, you do that and you repeat that for the next thirty, forty years. It's like, it has, it has changed a lot.

Mike Straza: 29:59

And I think that's where you have to figure out, okay, what type of business do you have? What does it require? The thing I always think is sacrificing is truly the dynamics about learning and from your men, your, your having mentors, having people that you're learning from when you're you're in an office space. Yeah. Time is wasted by talking about who knows what.

Mike Straza: 30:19

But that's part of life, but the how you watch people learn and understand things. And I think that's, I think it's helpful to be around somebody. Yes. You can watch it on YouTube or do whatever. Learn from it.

Mike Straza: 30:32

Talk to someone on zoom or whatever the platform you're using, but you still are missing out on something, not being connected in an office situation. But yeah, it's, it's a new age. It's not changing. It's some things where we adjust, but not everyone's going back to not as supposed to go into a physical office anymore. It's just not going to, so we have to figure it out.

Mike Straza: 30:51

So that's why I always tell people, well, we just got to figure it out. And when things go a certain way, it's like, well, some people are gonna rise out of it and some people are just gonna fall flat. And it's just, you just gotta continue to figure out what's gonna work best for your company.

Adam Larson: 31:05

Like, I feel like this has been a wonderful conversation. I just really wanna thank you again for coming on. Count me in today. It's been great.

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 perspectives of thought leaders from the accounting and finance profession. If you like what you heard and you'd like to be counted in for more relevant accounting and finance education, visit IMA's website at www.imanet.org.