Accounting Employer Expectations and the Psychological Contract

Abstract

When firms recruit new graduates, the employer has expectations regarding the contribution a new employee will make to the organisation. These expectations, for both employee and employer, may involve matters such as the duties to be performed within the position, the skills and knowledge to be applied, and forms of remuneration. The theory known as the psychological contract, which looks at the unwritten agreements made between employee and employer, provides a basis for investigation into this area. The following paper presents an investigation into the expectations of employers within the accounting industry. Applying similar methods to studies on the employment of graduates – and research within the psychological contract – the researcher gathered data on the pre-employment expectations of employers to find that employers rank (in order) ‘teamwork skills’, ‘oral and written communication skills’, ‘ability to work independently’, ‘ability to think critically’ and ‘analytical skills’ as the 5 most important Knowledge Skills Abilities (KSAs).