To celebrate StoneTurn’s 20th Anniversary, we’re spotlighting our people. Meet Cindy Yu, a Managing Director in San Francisco.
In this Q&A, Cindy discusses how a people first attitude can impact an organization and its team’s trajectory, what skills are needed to succeed in a career in compliance, and her predictions for StoneTurn five years from now.
Culture –
What drew you to StoneTurn?
The people. Many companies stress their people first attitude, but until you’re working in an environment where you see this happen time and time again, it’s very different. Everyone is very genuine and interested in helping each other to succeed in whatever capacity they choose to follow. This has been a huge reason why I continue to succeed at StoneTurn.
What does entrepreneurship at StoneTurn mean to you?
Entrepreneurship means you can take your career as far as you want it to go or as far it makes sense to you, your schedule, and aspirations.
Anything can be helpful to your career, such as a thought leadership piece, something you may have said on LinkedIn. People do search online looking for forensic accountants with expertise all the time. When they come across my profile, I always find a way to help them. Without StoneTurn’s website and inquiries I would not have landed an opportunity which led to a full-fledged project that became one of my most significant matters by revenue. I didn’t expect the series of events to follow with this project, but it is important to keep in mind that all the big and little decisions have an impact on your career.
Business –
What are the critical skills for someone who wants to succeed in compliance?
First would have to be very detail oriented. When it comes to compliance, you’re reviewing existing policies and procedures on behalf of organizations and whether or not they are in compliance with those procedures.
Second is people skills. In order to work effectively, you need not only to be able to manage upwards and downwards within the firm, but also manage various stakeholders that are involved in the compliance project. That requires soft skills to understand where each party’s viewpoints and perspectives are.
The third would have to be patience. Monitorships can be as long as 3-5 years and things do not necessarily move as fast as you like—especially from an investigation’s mindset. It’s important to remind yourself to have patience and follow up with top-of-mind communications.
What is a common element of compliance that is overlooked or forgotten about?
Cultural sensitivity. A lot of projects are global or international in nature and we need to keep in mind that what is working in the United States might not work in other cultures. For example, I was working on a project that needed a whistleblowing hotline. We were wondering why there wasn’t a lot of activity after we set up the hotline. After investigating the country’s cultural background, we realized that in this culture, employees were accustomed to going to their manager to report issues instead of using the hotline. Being dialed into other culture’s needs allows us to come up with solutions that will work across cultures in varying scenarios.
Predictions for the Future –
Where do you hope to see StoneTurn in the next 5 years?
I see StoneTurn expanding into more regions by opening offices in strategic areas where we don’t have a footprint. Five years ago, we talked about having a presence in Asia and whether that was Hong Kong, China, or Singapore, look at us now, we have a thriving team in Singapore. I’m hopeful that the company will continue to expand in regions where we think make sense to have a presence.
In terms of service offerings, I think we’ll ask, do we need to shore up certain areas? For example, I am seeing a lot of our current projects rely on the help of Data Analytics, will we need to double down on resources to support this growth? I see the firm investing in service line growth where we see an increased need for, though given the pace of change, we need to be flexible in identifying where exactly that may be.
Reach out to Cindy Yu if you would like to discuss any of the topics above.
