Tips for CA Employers--How to treat CA Articleship Trainee

Dear Friends and Professional Colleagues,

This write-up is dedicated to the CA Articles and their employers. Through this write-up an attempt has been made to communicate with CA Employers and suggest few tips and suggestions as far as handling and overall development of an article is concerned. I sincerely hope that observation of the suggestions mentioned below during articleship period surely improve the performance of article assistant and increase his/her confidence towards work and organisation. These tips also help the CA employer to understand their article in a much better way and surely pave way for an improved work environment and understanding.

Please find below some of my useful tips and suggestions for the training of article assistance during CA articleship:

v  Provision for good work station is must for an article. A good work station is really helpful for an article to develop his interest in the work and help him/her to communicate with the other staff in a better and effective way.

v  Proper communication with article is must to explore his/her interest and capabilities. An article must be briefed about the initial responsibilities, values and time lines, if any. Work must be assigned as per his/her interest. We must understand that an effective communication is the key for any successful relationship. A smooth communication between two persons attracts new ideas and initiatives which in turn may become or led to the personal as well as professional growth.  

v  To convert him as an asset for the organisation it is important to treat him as a fresher and assume that he/she has no prior knowledge about the work and mould them as per the requirement of organisation. Also let them understand the importance of doing the work in a particular manner and keep discussing with them the latest developments. Use specific language to assign responsibility. 

v  This point is very important to fully explore the potential of an article and to avoid wastage of his energy. At the time of assignment of task it is must to explain or demonstrate the method to perform the assigned task in a particular and correct way.

v  First understand him/her the importance of time lines and then allow the article to take reasonable time to perform the assigned task and keep him under supervision. For long term it is important to let him practice the skills he/she learns.

v  It is also important to check article’s work regularly or as per mutual understanding between the employer and article. This practice will help to trace the mistakes early and provide time for rectification. Also provide regular feedback to the article about his work performance to ensure quick learning process.

v  As per my understanding main aim of articleship is to develop and flourish the skills of an article. So it is the duty of a principal to do everything to achieve the above aim and the Make sure that the article or trainee is aware of the usefulness and importance of the skills learned. Another piece of advice is be patient when things don’t go well....as they will.

v  Another important aspect of good training is regular feedback. An honest feedback from article surely helps the employer to take corrective steps, if required. A good feedback process involves the discussion with articleship trainee about the training they are receiving at work along with their on the work problems. Corrective steps should be taken by the employer if suggested by the article.  

v  To improve the overall work environment and to enhance the confidence of an article it is very important to attend the problems of articles and provide them timely solution. Simply have a chat with staff members and identify and resolve their problems before they adversely affect the work flow and working relationships.

v  As per my observation and experience maintenance of various records and audit paper is quite indispensible for an audit firm. So brief the article about the importance of working papers and other records along with record keeping system and ensure the adherence of same system. Instruct the articles about the filing system of the firm and ask them to follow the same and maintain all record regularly and accurately in order to avoid any future inconvenience.

v  According to me there is no need to follow an inflexible and strict work plan. Proper freedom should be given to the articles particularly to maintain their initiative taken ability. In fact articles should be encouraged to take initiative and it is very important to consider and implement their suggestion in a proper manner. To achieve all this there should be some flexibility in the training plan. All an employer need to do is to harness the enthusiasm of articles and convert this into one unique skill. A review of training plan is must at regular intervals to make sure it is still relevant and working fine.

v  To fully utilize the potential of an article it is really important to explore his interest. Work should be distributed among articles according to their interest in the assigned task. Try and always provide variety of work which is relevant to the articleship training. The whole idea behind this exercise is to prevent the work environment become and maintain proper interaction and interest towards the assigned task. 

v  It is very essential to recognize and appraise the efforts of an article at suitable times. Here recognition might include a special mention for his/her achievements at a staff meeting or an article may be published in the firm newsletter. It is my humble request to all CA employers to consider this point very crucial for the encouragement of an article. A small reorganization from a senior employer can change the entire motivation level of an article and positively enhance his confidence level thousand times.

v  Last but certainly not the least it is also very essential to take all necessary measures for the safety of female articles. Their working hours should be managed accordingly. The principal should lay down a Code of Conduct for all articles and senior staff along with all the employees across the organisation. The Code of Conduct must contain a clause that the female article shall promptly report any concern or breach of rules and regulations. There should not be any hesitation or fear in reporting a violation to the concerned superior.

Sincerely hope that the readers of this write up would endorse my views in a positive and supportive way as the sole object behind this article is to improve and establish generous relationship between CA employer/principal and CA Article. The same is also very essential for the individual improvement as well as overall betterment of the profession. According to me points above are quite easily adaptable keeping in view the social and professional responsibility towards the esteemed profession of Chartered Accountancy.

All CA articles are also requested to refer my article “CA Articleship: How to perform well and succeed” available at the link mentioned below to understand the true meaning of CA Articleship:

                 CA ARTICLESHIP: HOW TO PERFORM WELL AND SUCCEED

In the end you all are requested to please share your thoughts about the write up and share your guidance/suggestion to improve my efforts towards the community.

With Warm Regards,

Ankur Garg

https://ankurgarg.caclubindia.com