Window into Wipfli

Year in review: FY 2024

If there’s one thing fiscal year 2024 has taught us at Wipfli, it’s that investing in our people is the cornerstone of our success. This year has been a testament to our unwavering commitment to our people strategy, which has allowed us to set new benchmarks in the industry.

And wow, what a busy year it’s been. Our annual report for FY24 has just been released, and it’s amazing to see what Wipfli has accomplished this year. On the talent and culture side of the business, we’ve welcomed 600 new associates in the U.S. (including interns) and 115 new associates in India.

Diversity, equity and inclusion continues to expand

I’m particularly proud of our DEI journey — and our intern class is a great example of this. Over a quarter of the cohort represented ethnic minorities, and more than half identified as women. In our India offices, we expanded our inclusion efforts, creating a stronger sense of belonging and engagement among women, LGBTQ+ and military veteran associates. A great example of this in action is our Women of Wipfli India - Aparajita business resource group, which grew by 85% and hosted multiple events throughout the year. Efforts like these are critical to hiring and retaining our highly skilled team.

Growing through talent

We’ve also retooled our talent acquisition strategy to include more than filling requisitions. We’ve cultivated a robust passive sourcing approach, leveraging tools like Handshake and LinkedIn to maintain our brand presence and build a strong talent pipeline year-round. Our university outreach program expanded its footprint to 110 institutions nationwide, bringing diverse perspectives that enrich our culture.

In the midst of these changes, we’ve also celebrated growth through mergers. We’ve welcomed three firms into the Wipfli fold: Harbour Results, Clayton & McKervey and Sheshunoff. We carefully crafted our transition and onboarding processes to promote high-touch onboarding and to preserve the unique strengths each firm brings to Wipfli.

A significant milestone this year was the implementation of our Workday human capital management system for associates in both the U.S. and India. This big move improved our self-service capabilities and analytics, enhancing the experience for both associates and leaders. It’s also a great example of our growing change management skills across the company.

Learning and development

Our learning and development initiatives have taken center stage in reinforcing our performance culture. We’ve seen more than 600 additional goals added to our goal tracker, a clear indication of our associates’ commitment to growth. We’ve also provided certified coaching to 140 high-potential associates, partners and principals through a six-week program. We’ve tracked the impact of this program with the net promoter score (NPS) measure. With an NPS of 91/100, it’s wonderful to see that this program is actively improving associates' professional lives.

The impact of our internal coaching program has been nothing short of remarkable. We’ve conducted three performance coach training sessions, with 175 people actively growing their coaching skills. The results speak for themselves — improved performance, increased promotions and higher engagement levels among those who received coaching.

Benefits with real benefit

We’ve also improved associate benefit packages. We introduced 9am Health, a chronic condition management system. More than 70 of our people have enrolled during the first few months, many of whom report feeling truly seen and heard as they manage their chronic conditions. Our partnership with LetsGetChecked (home lab test kits and healthcare solutions) has facilitated 129 home health screenings while Teladoc 360 (a telehealth system) has registered 642 of our 3,200 associates, with 14% stating they would have otherwise foregone care.

Investing in people to invest in the future

As we look back on FY 2024, I'm filled with pride at everything our talent and culture team has accomplished. Our work clearly goes beyond systems and processes; we’re investing in people. Every initiative, every program and every decision is aimed at improving the associate experience. And it’s a privilege to lead a team that’s so deeply committed to our people.

Wipfli’s talent and culture team at our annual internal conference.

In the professional services industry, talent is our differentiator. We’ve laid a foundation of innovative people practices that will serve as a launchpad for our future and set new standards for what it means to value and develop talent in professional services so that, in turn, we can deliver our highest levels of service to our clients. The momentum we’ve gained this year is just the beginning of what I’m certain will be an extraordinary journey this year.

Wipfli FY 2024 Annual Report