“They provide specialist training to the staff member so that they can provide the services of the firm, so this allows [the staff member] to become a little bit more niche and specialist from the training rather than [receiving] the standard training that all accountants get,” said Mr Knight.

Smaller firms can also enjoy an advantage over larger ones since the training can be more “personalised and more closely tied to the aspirations of the staff member” and the workplace can offer greater flexibility, according to Mr Knight.

“If a staff member has children in school and they need to have time off to go to canteen duty or sports carnivals and things like that, I know that large firms struggle to give some of that flexibility,” he said.

Kim Payne, managing director of 9rok Consulting, said practice principals can sometimes mistakenly gain the impression that money is the only motivator.

“People typically don’t move just because of money, unless it’s an absolutely absurd difference in the amount they’re going to earn,” said Ms Payne.

“If you’ve got staff that are looked after, they’re invested in, they’ve got a chance to do meaningful work and a future career in front of them, and it’s meeting all their emotional and psychological needs, then even if someone came to them with a better financial deal, they’re typically not going to accept it.”

Ms Payne said practice principals need to spend time considering exactly why their staff get out of bed every morning to come to the office.