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LLT

Financial Services 1 – 50 employees Jan 7, 2025 5:52:52 PM Topgrading %

LLT, LLP is an accounting firm based in Chilliwack, located in the beautiful Fraser Valley close to Vancouver. They provide advisory services to assist business owners and non-profits in achieving their goals through sound financial reporting and planning in the areas of accounting, taxation, succession, and strategy.

""The bottom line and cash flow have improved because of Topgrading. During economic downturns we stick with our Topgrading disciplines."
"

Casey Langbroek, Senior Partner

Number of Employees : 45

Industry : Accounting

Highlights :

  • 95% of Employees are A Players
  • Improved bottom line and cash flow
  • HR given credit for Topgrading
  • Topgrading in down markets gives LLT an advantage

Challenges

As an accounting firm, LLT undergoes a hiring surge every year in preparation for tax season. Hiring many people, quickly, using standard hiring methods led to too many seasonal employees turning out to be disappointments. Ultimately this caused extra work for LLT's full time employees and partners.

Prior to using Topgrading, about 70 to 80% of LLT's employees, both full time and seasonal, performed at expected levels. And after one particularly catastrophic hire, which caused the firm to scramble to avoid harm to their reputation, they knew a change was necessary.

Solutions

Casey Langbroek, LLT's Senior Partner, and Gayle Brunt, Office Manager (with HR responsibility), attended a Topgrading Workshop at the recommendation of a Gazelles Executive Coach. There they were introduced to the Tandem Topgrading Interview which Gayle now conducts, along with an Accounting Manager, for each new hire.

Brunt uses Topgrading hiring methods to hire both full-time and seasonal employees. Topgrading Interview questions and methods work for all jobs, so when assessing recent college graduates who have no previous full-time experience, they are easily simplified for summer and part time jobs, and LLT learns everything they need to know about entry candidates' abilities and culture fit.

The Results

Today, 95% of LLT employees are considered A Players, and those who fall short are recent hires who are given a great deal of assistance so that they can become A Players.

According to Langbroek, “The bottom line and cash flow have improved because of Topgrading." He states the methodology has improved "not just assessing skills, but assessing the likely culture fit of candidates.”

Langbroek has been a Certified Gravitas Coach since 2009 and has very deliberately spread the word about Topgrading to help other company leaders achieve their goals.