56 | Beyond the Balance Sheet: Revolutionizing Accountancy Culture at Cooper Parry | April Homer

Building Better Cultures

Inspiring change in a field like accountancy might seem like an insurmountable task. We often think of accountants as boring individuals who prefer to work in gray-walled basements, refusing to interact with anyone unless they have to. But Cooper Parry’s chief people officer, April Bembridge, thinks differently, and so does Cooper Perry.

On this episode of the Inspiring Change podcast, Scott talks with April all about how Cooper Parry, a Midlands- based accountancy firm, is disrupting the industry, in the best way. Throughout their conversation, April hits on how Cooper Parry’s culture has evolved in recent years to accommodate and promote diversity of thought and values, create a more creative and flexible work environment for their people, and get away from the idea that all UK companies have to be based in London to be considered relevant.

The episode concludes with an in-depth look at some of Coop Parry’s company values—how these values were collaboratively created with employees over a series of months, and why living out those values is a shared experience that not only enriches the lives of Cooper Parry’s clients, but also the lives of those who work in the firm’s offices. For April, culture is about those shared values, not having employees who are robots and simply exist to produce a product and think the same way. The way Cooper Parry has promoted a change in the field of accountancy is inspiring, and a trend we hope to see lived out in other companies across a variety of fields.

Key Takeaways:

- A healthy company culture is good for people and good for business

- “Color” in accountancy adds humanity to all relationships involved

- It’s not about location, it’s about the people you have

- Healthy culture lets people be themselves and celebrate those differences

- Disruption and shaking things up creates positive change in the world

- The value of “making life count” involves spending time in service and playing to individual’s strengths

- Asking questions of your people leads to being able to serve and know them better

- Lived out values make them stick in your company

- The value of “keep learning” is about becoming more self-aware as a person

- Lived out values are self-policing when they’re not actually lived out

- Culture is about shared values, not being a robot

Links:

CooperParry.com