Babra Laker, born and raised in Uganda and has been an auditor for most of her life. Despite initially starting with a degree in biochemistry, she discovered working in audit in 2013 and changed her career. Recently, during her master’s studies in economics she realised, “audit and accounting is still the place for me”.
Now working at Reanda Netherlands for three years as our senior manager, Babra came to the Netherlands as a student through the Erasmus program. “I worked for the Big 4 for over seven years in Uganda before I moved to the Netherlands. I also did some work in Kenya and in Nigeria and then decided it was time to try auditing in a new country.”
An international setting
Diversity and inclusion is one of Reanda’s core values. What makes that interesting is that with a diverse employee base, it holds a different meaning to everyone. “For me,” Babra explains, “diversity and inclusion means giving everyone equal opportunity in terms of the talents and knowledge they bring to the table. It’s looking at people, past where they came from and embracing different cultures in your organisation. You need to understand a person for who they are and what they are capable of. Within our international setting it’s nice to know people beyond their financial statement audit abilities. All our auditors come with different experiences from their countries and past employment. Including them makes it interesting to work here.”
“Diversity and inclusion means giving everyone equal opportunity.”
Speak out
Even in an international setting, studying and working in a new country can lead to a bit of a culture shock. “In a positive way. I come from a society where you rarely speak out when uncomfortable, especially in a school or workplace setting. And then I met the Dutch people, who are very direct in their communication. Shockingly, this directness was a perfect fit for me. I don’t know how many times I wanted to speak out in the past, but couldn’t. Here, it’s different. If you’re uncomfortable with any situation, or if you want something, you are free to speak out. And if anything doesn’t work for you, you can say it. So personally, I like this new culture!
The other thing about diversity is establishing a place where people feel equal and welcome. “Reanda is a small firm. We have lunch together and discuss our weekends and lives outside of the office. This enables us to learn more about each other and build lasting relationships. The ease with which you can talk to people in this firm drew me out from my ambivert state more towards an extrovert. I think Reanda is a very inclusive environment. Every time my Dutch colleagues have a meeting in Dutch and someone walks in, they will immediately switch to English. It makes you feel included.”
Opportunity
What jumps out in Babra’s story is the focus on opportunity and growth. Equal opportunity, no matter who you are.
“Personally, the first person who gave me the opportunity to work in finance and audit did not look at my papers, as my first undergraduate degree is in biochemistry.”
When asked what Reanda is looking for, she points out that it’s a bit of both. It’s not just about audit knowledge but also about what drives you and your life goals.
So, in short, Reanda is open to— “People,” Babra finishes the sentence without further prompting. “We are open to people. Who are willing to learn. We have the tools to train you to become the auditor you want to be. We are very focused on people’s possible development. If we see an opportunity for you to develop yourself, then we’ll ask you to take the opportunity and if necessary fund it.”
Sharing knowledge
“When I approached one of the partners on an opportunity to develop our staff members, he said, ‘yeah, that’s a good idea. I want you to implement it’. So I did. And we now have our Audit Summer Academy, which is a great success. This opportunity made me feel that Reanda is a place where I can share my knowledge and see my colleagues grow the way I’ve grown. Everyone is welcome to arrange something like this; to share new ideas and knowledge that they gain through taking courses at the university or from doing their own research.
“We are open to people. Who are willing to learn.”
“What I like is that Reanda has a more personal approach. They respect you as a person. There’s trust. And that makes it easier, because it makes you want to return the sentiment. It’s a space where your mind is free. I would say Reanda was one of the places I needed to be at some point in my career to really be happy in audit.”
