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The work environment in the accountancy firm: A comparison of student expectations and trainee perceptions
British Accounting Review (1991) 23, 125132
THE WORK ENVIRONMENT IN THE ACCOUNTANCY FIRM: A COMPARISON OF STUDENT EXPECTATIONS AND TRAINEE PERCEPTIONS ELAINE University
DAVID University
FERGUSON of Edinburgh
HATHERLY of Edinburxh
This paper reports the results of a survey which investigates the degree of divergence between university student expectations of the trainee chartered accountant’s work and the perceptions of that work environment held by the trainees themselves. The survey concentrates on basic working conditions, job characteristics and career facilitation. The student and trainee respondents were all connected with the University of Edinburgh. A statistical comparison of the responses reveals significant differences between student expectations and trainee perceptions. In general, students expect the basic working conditions to be more severe than trainees perceive it to be. The results with respect to job characteristics and career facilitation are more complex with some variables exhibiting unmet student expectations while for other variables, student expectations are surpassed. These results imply that by directing attention to the management of expectations, the professional accountancy firm may be able to improve both its recruitment prospects and the motivation of its trainees.
INTRODUCTION The human resource is the life-blood of the modern chartered accountancy firm. It is imperative to manage this resource with great care, and included in this management process is a need to be aware of employees’ expectations. Employee expectations of the work environment are built up from a diversity of sources including: the needs inherent in a person which he or she strives to satisfy; information gained from past work experience; and information acquired from third parties, for example from recruitment presentations or from teachers in college. These expectations are of importance to the organisation in a number of ways. Firstly, they form the basis of the psychological contract (Schein, 1980). Moreover, they The assistance of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland m promding a list of tramccs graduating from Edinburgh University, is gratefully acknowledged. The helpful comments of an anonymous reviewer on an earlier draft of this paper are also gratefully acknowledged. Address for correspondence: Professor D. J. Hatherly, Department of Accounting and Business Method, University of Edinburgh, William Robertson Building, 50 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JY. 0890-8389/91/020123+
10 $03.00/O
(0 1991 Academic
Press Limited
124
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AND
D.
HATHERLY
feature in the ‘met expectations’ hypothesis and, as such, they contribute to the organisational reality shock experienced by individuals (particularly graduates) when entering an organisation. The psychological contract is formed between each member of an organisation and the organisation itself, and contains the unwritten expectations of how each party will relate to the other. The ‘met expectations’ hypothesis (Porter & Steers, 1973) states that an employee’s behaviour and attitudes are influenced by the degree to which his or her actual work experiences correspond to his or her expectations. If the hypothesis is correct then it suggests that the management of personnel must consider work expectations. Organisational reality shock (ORS) is the term given to the difference between an individual’s work expectations prior to joining an organisation and the individual’s perceptions after becoming a member of that organisation. Research by Dean, Ferris & Konstans (1988) on accountancy recruits suggests that organisational commitment is inversely related to the amount of reality shock experienced. The relationship between ORS and commitment was found to be asymmetrical: unmet expectations were found to be negatively correlated with organisational commitment, whereas surpassed expectations and commitment were found to be unrelated. Sorensen, Rhode & Lawler (1973) and Aranya & Ferris (1984) also provided evidence of the existence of organisational reality shock for accountancy recruits and linked ORS with subsequent job satisfaction and turnover attitudes. While the literature in general concentrates on the implications of prior expectations exceeding subsequent experience, there are also implications for recruitment if the reverse is true and subsequent experience exceeds prior expectations. Research by Yunker, Sterner & Costigan (1986) suggests that accounting students might be inclined to overestimate the severity of certain aspects of the trainees’ working environment. Thus, the importance of expectations to an organisation and the potential outcomes if such expectations are not met, are well established. The purpose of the research reported in this paper is to empirically determine the extent of any divergence between university student expectations of the work environment of trainee chartered accountants and the environment actually encountered, as perceived by trainee accountants, RESEARCH
METHOD
A questionnaire survey was conducted, with the questions developed following a review of the accountancy, personnel and psychology literatures and informal discussions with accountancy students at the University of Edinburgh. The questionnaire included basic working conditions drawn from the survey by Yunker et nl. (1986), job characteristics and career
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
THE
TABLE
I
Summary
Basic working conditions Overtime
ofsurvey
Job characteristics
ACCOUNTANCY
Career facilitation
Opportunity to use skills and abilities
Ability to choose specialisation
Holidays
Repetitiveness
Required private study time
Ability to follow job from start to finish (job closure)
Performance appraisal
Dress code
Salary-cost of living increases
Exposure to different businesses Freedom on job
Reimbursement of professional fees
Acknowledgement by supervisors
Required attendance at social functions
Opportunity to establish friendships Status accorded by public
125
item3
Travel
Comfort, noise, heat, cold
FIRM
Motivation factors Interesting Challenging
Personal development Ability to develop technical competence Allocation of responsibility Assistance with educational programmes Determinants promotion
of
Number of years to first promotion Pay progression Career advice Relevance of university degree to career
facilitation measures derived from the survey instrument used by Dean et al. (1988) and two items corresponding to motivation factors. Herzberg’s motivation factors (Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman, 1959) were used in a recent UK study by Wilson (1989). The survey items included in this study’s questionnaire are summarised in Table 1. Most of the survey items required a response on a five-point Likert scale. Basic working conditions are matters which are relatively objective in character and should therefore be relatively easy to communicate to students through recruitment literature and presentations. Job characteristics are relatively subjective and communication by recruiters and university staff is more problematic. To an extent these matters can only be absorbed through actual experience of the job. Career facilitation covers items many of which could also be identified as working conditions or job characteristics. They are, however, categorised separately by Dean et
126
E.
FERGUSON
AND
TABLE
D.
HATHERLY
2
Number of responses Student survey CA group Ufliversity year Second Third Fourth
36 38 25
Trainee survey
Non CA group Year of training First Second Third
13 1 9
48 34 36
al. (1988), and informal discussions with students revealed that many train as accountants because of the longer term career prospects. The students appeared particularly interested in the items included under the career facilitation heading. Finally, discussions with students indicated that to perform well they would need to find the job both interesting and challenging. These two items were therefore included as key motivation factors. Brief demographic details were also collected, in respect of the respondent’s year of study or training, sex, and in the case of the students, proposed career. Students definitely not intending to undertake CA training were designated to ‘non CA group’ while the ‘CA group’ covered those intending or actively considering the CA qualification. The student survey was limited to second, third and fourth year accountancy students at the University of Edinburgh. Consequently the trainee survey was limited to those Scottish Institute trainees (mostly accounting graduates) who had graduated from Edinburgh University. Thus both students and trainees in the survey had a common educational background. Response rates were high being virtually 100% for the student survey and 58% for the survey of trainees. The number of responses are detailed in Table 2. The Mann-Whitney test was applied to each variable in the questionnaire in order to identify any statistically significant differences between the expectations of the ‘CA group’ of students and the perceptions of trainees and the expectations of the ‘non CA group’ of students and the perceptions of trainees. RESULTS
AND
DISCUSSION
Those variables for which there is a significant difference between students and trainees are shown in Table 3 with the inequality showing the direction of the difference. For example, the extent of overtime expected by the
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
THE
ACCOUNTANCY
FIRM
127
non CA and CA student groups exceeded trainee perceptions. Some variables exhibit significant differences between each student group and trainees. However some variables give significant differences between trainees and students in one group but not the other. It therefore seems appropriate to isolate three types of divergence: (1) between trainees and both student groups; (2) between trainees and the non CA group only and (3) between trainees and the CA group only. A comparative analysis of categories (2) and (3) serves to highlight differences between the ‘non CA’ and ‘CA’ student groups. No clear pattern of items could be observed explaining these differences between the two student groups. Future research could be directed towards testing of the various possible explanations some ofwhich are outlined later. Each of the three types of divergence are now discussed in turn. Divergence between trainees and both student groups There are a number of working conditions with respect to which student expectations and trainee perceptions are significantly different. In certain respects the students appear to envisage a working environment which is too severe. For instance, they have too high an expectation of the requirement for private study, of the amount of overtime worked and of the required attendance at office social functions. On the other hand, students expectations that salary will automaticahy be adjusted for cost of Iiving are too high. It should be noted that many of the trainees commented on the variability of working conditions from client to client, whereas students did not appear to anticipate this variability. It ought to be possible to ‘correct’ student expectations of basic working conditions through fair presentation of those conditions in CA firms’ recruitment literature and job interviews. The job characteristic for which there is divergence between both student groups and the trainees is the repetitiveness of the work in the second and third years. Both student groups expect the work to be more repetitive than trainees perceive it to be. If, as Dean et al. (1988) suggest, there is no relationship between surpassed expectations and commitment, then there is no advantage to the CA firm in allowing student expectations to continue below the level of trainee perceptions in respect of work repetitiveness. The question is how to bring student expectations into line with trainee perceptions. This is not necessarily achieved by students doing vacation work or a placement since this work experience is likely to have more in common with the trainee’s first year work rather than the trainee’s second or third year. The problem might, however, be helped by a suitable work shadow scheme where the student was able to observe a second or third year trainee. There are a number of aspects relevant to career facilitation where
128
E.
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AND
TABLE
D.
HATHERLY
3
Statistically signl$cant dtfirences between student expectations and trainee perceptions Questionnaire
variable
Basic working conditions Extent of overtime Extent of travel Extent of holidays Required private study Strictness of dress code Level of noise Extent to which salary is subject to cost of living adjustments Extent to which attendance at officerelated social functions is required Job characteristics Opportunity to use skills and abilities: -in 2nd year of training -in 3rd year of training Repetitiveness of work: -in 1st year of training -in 2nd year of training -in 3rd year of training Ability to follow job from start to finish Exposure to different businesses Amount of freedom on job Opportunity to establish friendships Status accorded by public Career facilitation Ability to choose area of specialisation Extent of formal performance appraisal Ability to develop technical competence Allocation of responsibility Extent of educational assistance programmes Determinants of promotion: -importance of keeping within budget -importance of willingness to travel -importance of willingness to attend office-related social functions
Expectations of non CA group of students (non CA) versus perceptions of trainees CT)
NonCA>T
NonCA>T
Expectations of CA group of students (CA) versus perceptions of trainees (T)
CA>T CA>T CAT CA > T CA > T
NonCA>T
CA > T
NonCA>T
CA>T
NonCA
NonCA>T NonCA>T
CA>T CA>T CA>T
NonCAT NonCA>T
CA > T CA>T
NonCA
CAT
NonCA>T
CAT
NonCA>T
CA>T
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
TABLE
THE
ACCOUNTANCY
FIRM
129
3-continued
Statistically significant dt@wnces between student expectations and fruinee perceptions
Questionnaire
Expectations of non CA group of students (non CA) versus perceptions of trainees CT)
variable
Number of years to first promotion Level of bonus for passing examinations Extent of career advice provided by CA firm Relevance of university education to career Motivation factors Interest of the work: -in 1st year of training --in 2nd year of training m-in 3rd year of training (two tailed test: 5”/ significance
under consideration]
CT) CA>T
NonCA
CA
NonCA>T
CA > T
NonCA>T
CA>T
NonCA
CA
level.)
Inequalities should be read: [Non CA/CA] student group’s expectations [Variable
Expectations of CA group of students (CA) versus perceptions of trainees
> exceed
< less than
of trainee’s perceptions.
student expectations and trainee perceptions diverge. Notably the students appear too optimistic in terms of their ability to choose a specialist area, and they are also over-optimistic in respect of the career advice received from the firm. In view of the importance students appear to attach to their longer term career when deciding to train as an accountant, firms may be advised to improve the elements of choice and career advice rather than to dampen down student expectations. The finding that, compared to trainees, students have a high expectation of the relevance of their degree is difficult to interpret. There are alternative explanations. It could be a criticism of the degree, a function of the comparatively low intellectual content of the trainee accountant’s work or a reflection of an anti-intellectual ethos in the CA firms. It is certainly an issue worthy of further investigation. Finally, both student groups fail to appreciate the extent to which they will be allocated responsibility. This finding, coupled with the student expectations with regard to the repetitiveness of the work in the second and third year, could help to account for the finding that students underanticipate the interest of the work in the second and third year.
130 Divergence
E.
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between trainees and the non CA group only
The results show that compared to trainees’ perceptions, those students who are definitely set against CA training, but only those students, hold significantly pessimistic expectations on the job characteristics of (1) opportunity to use skills and abilities during the second and third years of training, (2) the opportunity to see a job through from start to finish, (3) exposure to different businesses, and (4) the opportunity to establish friendships. Th ese findings only relate to the non CA student group, and these are the students who have decided against the CA training. It is therefore possible that one or more of these four variables have been influential in determining the student’s decision not to undergo CA training. Further research is necessary to examine the extent of their influence. Another interesting question for further research is why only the non CA students hold these expectations. Have they, for instance, been exposed to different influences than those students in the CA group, or do they possess different personality traits which cause them to react differently to the same influences? Have students in the non CA group been less motivated than their counterparts in the CA group to discover what working in the CA office is like?
between trainees and the CA group only Only the CA students’ expectations significantly exceed trainee perceptions of the strictness of the dress code, the extent of formal performance appraisal, the extent of educational assistance and the number of years to the first promotion. Furthermore, only the CA students’ expectations are significantly lower than trainee perceptions in respect of holidays, freedom on the job and the ability to develop technical competence. Finally, the trainees perceive the ability to keep within budget as being a significantly more important determinant of promotion than the CA group of students expect, indicating a possible lack of commercial awareness on the part of those students. Overall, these results suggest that compared to trainees’ perceptions, the CA student group, more than the non CA group, regard the trainees’ work environment as formal, organised and (possibly) lacking in commercial pressures. The expected environment, however, has not dissuaded the CA group of students from CA training and it can therefore be assumed that the CA group of students do not reject the idea of a formal, organised, relatively non-commercial work environment, at least for the training stage of their career. Further research is required to investigate how the CA group of students would react if their expectations were brought into line with trainee perceptions. Divergence
THE
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ENVIRONMENT
IN
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ACCOUNTANCY
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131
CONCLUSIONS The research provides clear evidence of an expectation-perception gap relating to students/trainees from the University of Edinburgh. However, the generalisability of the results is limited in two respects. First, the students and trainees associated with Edinburgh University are possibly not representative of the underlying student and trainee populations as a whole. In addition, only accountancy students were examined. Second, it was assumed that the expectations held by trainees prior to joining their firm can be approximated by the expectations held by current students. The studies by Wilson (1989) and Dean et al. (1988) were longitudinal studies and therefore did not suffer from the second of the above limitations. However both studies were limited to students recruited to a single professional firm [Dean et al. (1988) also studied accountancy students joining an industrial firm] and in the Wilson (1989) study, being based in England, most of the recruits were non accounting graduates. Dean et 61. provided evidence of unmet expectations, especially with respect to job satisfaction and career facilitation. Wilson (1989) found evidence of unmet expectations with respect to the occupation of accounting, the characteristics of accountants and the job content of accounting. Both of these studies’ findings are consistent with the results reported in this paper. This paper’s results are also consistent with those of Yunker et al. (1986) who found that students tend to overestimate the severity of the basic working conditions of the trainee accountant. The nature of the expectation-perception gap varies in significant respects as between students intending (or actively considering) CA training and those who have decided against CA training. Future research should examine the reasons for this difference. Do the differing perceptions of the two student groups arise because they have been exposed to different influences? Are those differing perceptions influential in causing the two groups to make opposite decisions with respect to CA training? Do the two groups have differing personality traits which cause them to value different aspects of the work environment? Thus, in addition to confirming the existence of the gap, future research is needed to determine the specific areas of the work environment which have the potential to impinge upon an individual’s career choice and job related behaviour. As a result it should then be possible to predict the impact which closing the expectationperception gap might have on students’ career choice as well as its impact on subsequent work attitudes and behaviour. Where the divergence between the work environment expectations held by students and perceptions held by trainees is shown to exist and to influence student and trainee behaviour, the implications for the accountancy firms are profound. Hopefully the research reported in this paper will
132
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D. HATHERLY
provide an impetus for accountancy firms to place still greater emphasis on the management of expectations. REFERENCES Aranya, N. 81 Ferris, K. R. (1984). ‘A re-examination of accountants’ organizationalprofessional conflict’, The Accotrnting Review, January, pp. l-15. Dean, R. A., Ferris, K. R. & Konstans, C. (1988). ‘Occupational reality shock and organizational commitment: Evidence from the accounting profession’, Accotrnting, Organisations and Society, pp. 235-50. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. 81 Snyderman, B. (1959). The Motivation to Work, New York: Wiley. Porter, L. W. 81 Steers, R. M. (1973). ‘Organizational, work and personal factors in employee turnover and absenteeism‘, Psychological Bulletin, pp. 161-176. Schein, E. H. (1980). Organisational Psychology, 3rd edn, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, pp. 22-24. Sorensen, J. E., Rhode, J. G. & Lawler, E. E. (1973). ‘The generation gap in public accounting’,]ournal of Accotmtancy, December, pp. 42-50. Wilson, R. (1989). ‘How great expectations founder at the end of the recruitment trail’, Arco~ntancy Age, 19 October, pp. 18-19. Yunker, P. J., Sterner, J. A. 81 Costigan, M. (1986). ‘Employment in accounting: A comparison of recruiter perceptions with student expectations’, journal of Accounting Education, Spring, pp. 95-112.
THE WORK ENVIRONMENT IN THE ACCOUNTANCY FIRM: A COMPARISON OF STUDENT EXPECTATIONS AND TRAINEE PERCEPTIONS ELAINE University
DAVID University
FERGUSON of Edinburgh
HATHERLY of Edinburxh
This paper reports the results of a survey which investigates the degree of divergence between university student expectations of the trainee chartered accountant’s work and the perceptions of that work environment held by the trainees themselves. The survey concentrates on basic working conditions, job characteristics and career facilitation. The student and trainee respondents were all connected with the University of Edinburgh. A statistical comparison of the responses reveals significant differences between student expectations and trainee perceptions. In general, students expect the basic working conditions to be more severe than trainees perceive it to be. The results with respect to job characteristics and career facilitation are more complex with some variables exhibiting unmet student expectations while for other variables, student expectations are surpassed. These results imply that by directing attention to the management of expectations, the professional accountancy firm may be able to improve both its recruitment prospects and the motivation of its trainees.
INTRODUCTION The human resource is the life-blood of the modern chartered accountancy firm. It is imperative to manage this resource with great care, and included in this management process is a need to be aware of employees’ expectations. Employee expectations of the work environment are built up from a diversity of sources including: the needs inherent in a person which he or she strives to satisfy; information gained from past work experience; and information acquired from third parties, for example from recruitment presentations or from teachers in college. These expectations are of importance to the organisation in a number of ways. Firstly, they form the basis of the psychological contract (Schein, 1980). Moreover, they The assistance of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland m promding a list of tramccs graduating from Edinburgh University, is gratefully acknowledged. The helpful comments of an anonymous reviewer on an earlier draft of this paper are also gratefully acknowledged. Address for correspondence: Professor D. J. Hatherly, Department of Accounting and Business Method, University of Edinburgh, William Robertson Building, 50 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JY. 0890-8389/91/020123+
10 $03.00/O
(0 1991 Academic
Press Limited
124
E.
FERGUSON
AND
D.
HATHERLY
feature in the ‘met expectations’ hypothesis and, as such, they contribute to the organisational reality shock experienced by individuals (particularly graduates) when entering an organisation. The psychological contract is formed between each member of an organisation and the organisation itself, and contains the unwritten expectations of how each party will relate to the other. The ‘met expectations’ hypothesis (Porter & Steers, 1973) states that an employee’s behaviour and attitudes are influenced by the degree to which his or her actual work experiences correspond to his or her expectations. If the hypothesis is correct then it suggests that the management of personnel must consider work expectations. Organisational reality shock (ORS) is the term given to the difference between an individual’s work expectations prior to joining an organisation and the individual’s perceptions after becoming a member of that organisation. Research by Dean, Ferris & Konstans (1988) on accountancy recruits suggests that organisational commitment is inversely related to the amount of reality shock experienced. The relationship between ORS and commitment was found to be asymmetrical: unmet expectations were found to be negatively correlated with organisational commitment, whereas surpassed expectations and commitment were found to be unrelated. Sorensen, Rhode & Lawler (1973) and Aranya & Ferris (1984) also provided evidence of the existence of organisational reality shock for accountancy recruits and linked ORS with subsequent job satisfaction and turnover attitudes. While the literature in general concentrates on the implications of prior expectations exceeding subsequent experience, there are also implications for recruitment if the reverse is true and subsequent experience exceeds prior expectations. Research by Yunker, Sterner & Costigan (1986) suggests that accounting students might be inclined to overestimate the severity of certain aspects of the trainees’ working environment. Thus, the importance of expectations to an organisation and the potential outcomes if such expectations are not met, are well established. The purpose of the research reported in this paper is to empirically determine the extent of any divergence between university student expectations of the work environment of trainee chartered accountants and the environment actually encountered, as perceived by trainee accountants, RESEARCH
METHOD
A questionnaire survey was conducted, with the questions developed following a review of the accountancy, personnel and psychology literatures and informal discussions with accountancy students at the University of Edinburgh. The questionnaire included basic working conditions drawn from the survey by Yunker et nl. (1986), job characteristics and career
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
THE
TABLE
I
Summary
Basic working conditions Overtime
ofsurvey
Job characteristics
ACCOUNTANCY
Career facilitation
Opportunity to use skills and abilities
Ability to choose specialisation
Holidays
Repetitiveness
Required private study time
Ability to follow job from start to finish (job closure)
Performance appraisal
Dress code
Salary-cost of living increases
Exposure to different businesses Freedom on job
Reimbursement of professional fees
Acknowledgement by supervisors
Required attendance at social functions
Opportunity to establish friendships Status accorded by public
125
item3
Travel
Comfort, noise, heat, cold
FIRM
Motivation factors Interesting Challenging
Personal development Ability to develop technical competence Allocation of responsibility Assistance with educational programmes Determinants promotion
of
Number of years to first promotion Pay progression Career advice Relevance of university degree to career
facilitation measures derived from the survey instrument used by Dean et al. (1988) and two items corresponding to motivation factors. Herzberg’s motivation factors (Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman, 1959) were used in a recent UK study by Wilson (1989). The survey items included in this study’s questionnaire are summarised in Table 1. Most of the survey items required a response on a five-point Likert scale. Basic working conditions are matters which are relatively objective in character and should therefore be relatively easy to communicate to students through recruitment literature and presentations. Job characteristics are relatively subjective and communication by recruiters and university staff is more problematic. To an extent these matters can only be absorbed through actual experience of the job. Career facilitation covers items many of which could also be identified as working conditions or job characteristics. They are, however, categorised separately by Dean et
126
E.
FERGUSON
AND
TABLE
D.
HATHERLY
2
Number of responses Student survey CA group Ufliversity year Second Third Fourth
36 38 25
Trainee survey
Non CA group Year of training First Second Third
13 1 9
48 34 36
al. (1988), and informal discussions with students revealed that many train as accountants because of the longer term career prospects. The students appeared particularly interested in the items included under the career facilitation heading. Finally, discussions with students indicated that to perform well they would need to find the job both interesting and challenging. These two items were therefore included as key motivation factors. Brief demographic details were also collected, in respect of the respondent’s year of study or training, sex, and in the case of the students, proposed career. Students definitely not intending to undertake CA training were designated to ‘non CA group’ while the ‘CA group’ covered those intending or actively considering the CA qualification. The student survey was limited to second, third and fourth year accountancy students at the University of Edinburgh. Consequently the trainee survey was limited to those Scottish Institute trainees (mostly accounting graduates) who had graduated from Edinburgh University. Thus both students and trainees in the survey had a common educational background. Response rates were high being virtually 100% for the student survey and 58% for the survey of trainees. The number of responses are detailed in Table 2. The Mann-Whitney test was applied to each variable in the questionnaire in order to identify any statistically significant differences between the expectations of the ‘CA group’ of students and the perceptions of trainees and the expectations of the ‘non CA group’ of students and the perceptions of trainees. RESULTS
AND
DISCUSSION
Those variables for which there is a significant difference between students and trainees are shown in Table 3 with the inequality showing the direction of the difference. For example, the extent of overtime expected by the
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
THE
ACCOUNTANCY
FIRM
127
non CA and CA student groups exceeded trainee perceptions. Some variables exhibit significant differences between each student group and trainees. However some variables give significant differences between trainees and students in one group but not the other. It therefore seems appropriate to isolate three types of divergence: (1) between trainees and both student groups; (2) between trainees and the non CA group only and (3) between trainees and the CA group only. A comparative analysis of categories (2) and (3) serves to highlight differences between the ‘non CA’ and ‘CA’ student groups. No clear pattern of items could be observed explaining these differences between the two student groups. Future research could be directed towards testing of the various possible explanations some ofwhich are outlined later. Each of the three types of divergence are now discussed in turn. Divergence between trainees and both student groups There are a number of working conditions with respect to which student expectations and trainee perceptions are significantly different. In certain respects the students appear to envisage a working environment which is too severe. For instance, they have too high an expectation of the requirement for private study, of the amount of overtime worked and of the required attendance at office social functions. On the other hand, students expectations that salary will automaticahy be adjusted for cost of Iiving are too high. It should be noted that many of the trainees commented on the variability of working conditions from client to client, whereas students did not appear to anticipate this variability. It ought to be possible to ‘correct’ student expectations of basic working conditions through fair presentation of those conditions in CA firms’ recruitment literature and job interviews. The job characteristic for which there is divergence between both student groups and the trainees is the repetitiveness of the work in the second and third years. Both student groups expect the work to be more repetitive than trainees perceive it to be. If, as Dean et al. (1988) suggest, there is no relationship between surpassed expectations and commitment, then there is no advantage to the CA firm in allowing student expectations to continue below the level of trainee perceptions in respect of work repetitiveness. The question is how to bring student expectations into line with trainee perceptions. This is not necessarily achieved by students doing vacation work or a placement since this work experience is likely to have more in common with the trainee’s first year work rather than the trainee’s second or third year. The problem might, however, be helped by a suitable work shadow scheme where the student was able to observe a second or third year trainee. There are a number of aspects relevant to career facilitation where
128
E.
FERGUSON
AND
TABLE
D.
HATHERLY
3
Statistically signl$cant dtfirences between student expectations and trainee perceptions Questionnaire
variable
Basic working conditions Extent of overtime Extent of travel Extent of holidays Required private study Strictness of dress code Level of noise Extent to which salary is subject to cost of living adjustments Extent to which attendance at officerelated social functions is required Job characteristics Opportunity to use skills and abilities: -in 2nd year of training -in 3rd year of training Repetitiveness of work: -in 1st year of training -in 2nd year of training -in 3rd year of training Ability to follow job from start to finish Exposure to different businesses Amount of freedom on job Opportunity to establish friendships Status accorded by public Career facilitation Ability to choose area of specialisation Extent of formal performance appraisal Ability to develop technical competence Allocation of responsibility Extent of educational assistance programmes Determinants of promotion: -importance of keeping within budget -importance of willingness to travel -importance of willingness to attend office-related social functions
Expectations of non CA group of students (non CA) versus perceptions of trainees CT)
NonCA>T
NonCA>T
Expectations of CA group of students (CA) versus perceptions of trainees (T)
CA>T CA>T CA
NonCA>T
CA > T
NonCA>T
CA>T
NonCA
NonCA>T NonCA>T
CA>T CA>T CA>T
NonCA
CA > T CA>T
NonCA
CA
NonCA>T
CA
NonCA>T
CA>T
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
TABLE
THE
ACCOUNTANCY
FIRM
129
3-continued
Statistically significant dt@wnces between student expectations and fruinee perceptions
Questionnaire
Expectations of non CA group of students (non CA) versus perceptions of trainees CT)
variable
Number of years to first promotion Level of bonus for passing examinations Extent of career advice provided by CA firm Relevance of university education to career Motivation factors Interest of the work: -in 1st year of training --in 2nd year of training m-in 3rd year of training (two tailed test: 5”/ significance
under consideration]
CT) CA>T
NonCA
CA
NonCA>T
CA > T
NonCA>T
CA>T
NonCA
CA
level.)
Inequalities should be read: [Non CA/CA] student group’s expectations [Variable
Expectations of CA group of students (CA) versus perceptions of trainees
> exceed
< less than
of trainee’s perceptions.
student expectations and trainee perceptions diverge. Notably the students appear too optimistic in terms of their ability to choose a specialist area, and they are also over-optimistic in respect of the career advice received from the firm. In view of the importance students appear to attach to their longer term career when deciding to train as an accountant, firms may be advised to improve the elements of choice and career advice rather than to dampen down student expectations. The finding that, compared to trainees, students have a high expectation of the relevance of their degree is difficult to interpret. There are alternative explanations. It could be a criticism of the degree, a function of the comparatively low intellectual content of the trainee accountant’s work or a reflection of an anti-intellectual ethos in the CA firms. It is certainly an issue worthy of further investigation. Finally, both student groups fail to appreciate the extent to which they will be allocated responsibility. This finding, coupled with the student expectations with regard to the repetitiveness of the work in the second and third year, could help to account for the finding that students underanticipate the interest of the work in the second and third year.
130 Divergence
E.
FERGUSON
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D.
HATHERLY
between trainees and the non CA group only
The results show that compared to trainees’ perceptions, those students who are definitely set against CA training, but only those students, hold significantly pessimistic expectations on the job characteristics of (1) opportunity to use skills and abilities during the second and third years of training, (2) the opportunity to see a job through from start to finish, (3) exposure to different businesses, and (4) the opportunity to establish friendships. Th ese findings only relate to the non CA student group, and these are the students who have decided against the CA training. It is therefore possible that one or more of these four variables have been influential in determining the student’s decision not to undergo CA training. Further research is necessary to examine the extent of their influence. Another interesting question for further research is why only the non CA students hold these expectations. Have they, for instance, been exposed to different influences than those students in the CA group, or do they possess different personality traits which cause them to react differently to the same influences? Have students in the non CA group been less motivated than their counterparts in the CA group to discover what working in the CA office is like?
between trainees and the CA group only Only the CA students’ expectations significantly exceed trainee perceptions of the strictness of the dress code, the extent of formal performance appraisal, the extent of educational assistance and the number of years to the first promotion. Furthermore, only the CA students’ expectations are significantly lower than trainee perceptions in respect of holidays, freedom on the job and the ability to develop technical competence. Finally, the trainees perceive the ability to keep within budget as being a significantly more important determinant of promotion than the CA group of students expect, indicating a possible lack of commercial awareness on the part of those students. Overall, these results suggest that compared to trainees’ perceptions, the CA student group, more than the non CA group, regard the trainees’ work environment as formal, organised and (possibly) lacking in commercial pressures. The expected environment, however, has not dissuaded the CA group of students from CA training and it can therefore be assumed that the CA group of students do not reject the idea of a formal, organised, relatively non-commercial work environment, at least for the training stage of their career. Further research is required to investigate how the CA group of students would react if their expectations were brought into line with trainee perceptions. Divergence
THE
WORK
ENVIRONMENT
IN
THE
ACCOUNTANCY
FIRM
131
CONCLUSIONS The research provides clear evidence of an expectation-perception gap relating to students/trainees from the University of Edinburgh. However, the generalisability of the results is limited in two respects. First, the students and trainees associated with Edinburgh University are possibly not representative of the underlying student and trainee populations as a whole. In addition, only accountancy students were examined. Second, it was assumed that the expectations held by trainees prior to joining their firm can be approximated by the expectations held by current students. The studies by Wilson (1989) and Dean et al. (1988) were longitudinal studies and therefore did not suffer from the second of the above limitations. However both studies were limited to students recruited to a single professional firm [Dean et al. (1988) also studied accountancy students joining an industrial firm] and in the Wilson (1989) study, being based in England, most of the recruits were non accounting graduates. Dean et 61. provided evidence of unmet expectations, especially with respect to job satisfaction and career facilitation. Wilson (1989) found evidence of unmet expectations with respect to the occupation of accounting, the characteristics of accountants and the job content of accounting. Both of these studies’ findings are consistent with the results reported in this paper. This paper’s results are also consistent with those of Yunker et al. (1986) who found that students tend to overestimate the severity of the basic working conditions of the trainee accountant. The nature of the expectation-perception gap varies in significant respects as between students intending (or actively considering) CA training and those who have decided against CA training. Future research should examine the reasons for this difference. Do the differing perceptions of the two student groups arise because they have been exposed to different influences? Are those differing perceptions influential in causing the two groups to make opposite decisions with respect to CA training? Do the two groups have differing personality traits which cause them to value different aspects of the work environment? Thus, in addition to confirming the existence of the gap, future research is needed to determine the specific areas of the work environment which have the potential to impinge upon an individual’s career choice and job related behaviour. As a result it should then be possible to predict the impact which closing the expectationperception gap might have on students’ career choice as well as its impact on subsequent work attitudes and behaviour. Where the divergence between the work environment expectations held by students and perceptions held by trainees is shown to exist and to influence student and trainee behaviour, the implications for the accountancy firms are profound. Hopefully the research reported in this paper will
132
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provide an impetus for accountancy firms to place still greater emphasis on the management of expectations. REFERENCES Aranya, N. 81 Ferris, K. R. (1984). ‘A re-examination of accountants’ organizationalprofessional conflict’, The Accotrnting Review, January, pp. l-15. Dean, R. A., Ferris, K. R. & Konstans, C. (1988). ‘Occupational reality shock and organizational commitment: Evidence from the accounting profession’, Accotrnting, Organisations and Society, pp. 235-50. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. 81 Snyderman, B. (1959). The Motivation to Work, New York: Wiley. Porter, L. W. 81 Steers, R. M. (1973). ‘Organizational, work and personal factors in employee turnover and absenteeism‘, Psychological Bulletin, pp. 161-176. Schein, E. H. (1980). Organisational Psychology, 3rd edn, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, pp. 22-24. Sorensen, J. E., Rhode, J. G. & Lawler, E. E. (1973). ‘The generation gap in public accounting’,]ournal of Accotmtancy, December, pp. 42-50. Wilson, R. (1989). ‘How great expectations founder at the end of the recruitment trail’, Arco~ntancy Age, 19 October, pp. 18-19. Yunker, P. J., Sterner, J. A. 81 Costigan, M. (1986). ‘Employment in accounting: A comparison of recruiter perceptions with student expectations’, journal of Accounting Education, Spring, pp. 95-112.