Henderson Loggie

Independent Scottish accountancy and business advisory firm Henderson Loggie has cast its net internationally in its search for candidates with the right skills.

Six of the firm's 210 employees are from outside the UK, including an assistant manager from New Zealand, a Russian insolvency administrator, and office administrators from Africa and Germany.

"The ability to recruit and retain higher-quality individuals than competitor organisations is becoming much more of a strategic priority for business, especially within the professional services sector," explains HR director Liz Jackson. "But most employers are finding that the war for talent is getting harder every year. To ensure that we continue to attract the best candidates with the right skillset, we decided to look further afield.

"Having made that decision, we've either been directly approached by people going onto our website or seeing our adverts on recruitment websites. We tailored that process with making sure we had the correct policies and procedures in place to handle the people that came forward.

"As far as we're concerned, quality and diversity are integral to our core values. We will recruit the best talent we can get, from wherever we can get it."

The overseas recruits work in a range of professional roles covering audit, accountancy, financial preparatory work and general administration. So skills in areas such as fluency of English language, numeracy, finance, computing and client liaison are essential.

Developmental and professional training is given to all staff as necessary to allow them to fulfil their brief. Liz said staff could either come to the firm previously qualified or they could be offered support and training to allow them to study for professional exams. 

Kenneth Brooker, the assistant manager from New Zealand, joined the firm a year ago. He originally came to the UK on a working holiday visa. He subsequently transferred onto the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, which is a points-based system. It was designed to allow highly skilled people to migrate to the UK to take up employment opportunities.

"Many of the barriers to equality and diversity in the workplace are due to a lack of awareness, entrenched attitudes and even an embarrassment to discuss issues. So we have been keen to offer our managers and staff support in this area," Liz explains.

"There was also a need to recognise that New Zealand's culture (and that of a number of other countries) is so different from ours, that a bedding-in period was needed to make sure the job worked for both parties. Ken has settled in really well, and is making a very positive contribution to the firm, recently saving one of our clients in excess of £470,000."

As well as having the right skills, the international recruits are hard workers. Liz says. "We're fortunate in that all our workers have a very good work ethic and the overseas staff have been able to continue that to a very high level.

"Having them here in our firm has also raised our awareness of different cultures.We need to recognise that cultural or religious issues may arise. We also need to accept that in terms of culture, different nationalities have different attitudes to team work and different concepts of success and failure. By carrying out regular performance reviews we can identify any cultural issues which may hinder progress."

Liz believes initiatives like the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and Fresh Talent are crucial aids in the global search for talent.

She says: "From a personal and business perspective these schemes are essential, simply because the war for talent is so tight. This is due to changing demographics and work-life balance issues. Everyone's chasing the same people, the same graduates and the same high quality and calibre of recruit. But there just aren't the same number of people in the UK that there used to be.

"With persistent skill shortages now a regular occurrence, organisations need to use the skills and talents of a potential workforce irrespective of where they come from. We need to be globally competitive to remain effective and have strategies in place that proactively support the needs of a business."

Founded in 1909, Henderson Loggie took over the Dundee practices of both Ernst & Young and KPMG in the 1990s. It has expanded rapidly in the last five years, opening offices in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. It merged with Glasgow-based firm Sinclair Wood in 2006, creating a combined annual turnover of £10m.

The firm's services include: audit and accounting; corporate finance; insolvency; corporate and business tax; payroll and financial services, with specialisms including the public sector; charities; high tech and university spin-outs; property and construction. Henderson Loggie has 22 partners.

Contact

Liz Jackson
HR Director
Henderson Loggie
Royal Exchange
Panmure Street
Dundee DD1 1DZ
Tel: 01382 201234

Email: liz.jackson@hendersonloggie.co.uk
Web: www.hendersonloggie.co.uk

Read about Kenneth Brooker, who is an assistant manager at Henderson Loggie