2.133 How to Build a High-Performance Culture: Lessons from the 1% Accountant

What does it take to build a truly high-performance culture? 

In this episode of Find Grow Keep, Karen Kirton sits down with Peter Ristevski, also known as The 1% Accountant, to explore the mindset, hiring practices, and leadership principles that have helped him grow his firm across Australia and internationally. 

Peter shares how he’s built a world-class team by focusing on mindset over skills, empowering his people to take ownership, and maintaining a strong culture across multiple countries. 

You’ll hear about: 
👉 Why hiring for hunger and accountability matters more than experience 
👉 How to keep your team connected across different locations 
👉 The leadership lessons that drive high performance (and loyalty) 
👉 Why culture is the real competitive advantage for every business 

“You get the team you deserve. If you tolerate mediocrity, that’s what you’ll get.” — Peter Ristevski 

If you’re a business owner or leader looking to attract, grow, and keep great people, this episode is packed with insight and inspiration to help you raise your game and your culture. 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases on Mondays!
 
Visit https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/ for more insights and resources.  

Connect with Peter: Phone 0488 927 927 or https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ristevski-6677b018/  

Get our free eBook packed with practical strategies to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Perfect for business owners and leaders focused on building a thriving team. Download it at amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/find-grow-keep

Transcript

Karen Kirton   0:03 
welcome to episode 133. And today I'm joined by the 1% accountant, Peter Ristevski, to discuss his experience And lessons in hiring and culture. So welcome, Peter.  

Peter Ristevski   0:33 
Thank you for the invitation.  

Karen Kirton   0:35 
You're welcome. And you know, I've just referred to you as the 1% accountant. So perhaps we should start there. Could you share what that means and why you chose that brand for yourself and for your business?  

Peter Ristevski   0:50 
So when I say the 1% accountant, it's it's really not about the ego to be honest with you, it's probably more about mindsets. Now, most accountants, we know them as just doing a tax return. 
But I get that one step further. I hope clients try and keep more of their money after tax, protect their assets and really build their wealth. So when you talk about the 1%? 
The 1% or the rich 1% don't play by the same rules is it's pretty much the rest of the state. They structure a lot smarter than what we do. So I built the 1%, ran pretty much to give everyday Australians access to those same strategies. 
That the rich have used probably for decades. So that's where the branding comes from. It's providing everyone an opportunity to get the same information and advice as the rich 1%.  

Karen Kirton   1:50  
I love that because financial advice is one of those things that can feel very unattainable to many people, and there aren't a lot of financial advisors in Australia anyway, and trying to get the right advice and not just having someone who, you know, there's a feeling that people are just after the trailer Commission. 
For example, so so trying to get that that right person can be difficult. So I think your brand speaks really well to actually be much more holistic on that. And speaking about that, you know you've grown across Australia and internationally, so. 
What's your journey been like and what role has your team made in making that possible?  

Peter Ristevski   2:34 
Well, it's been a it's been a quite an incredible journey. I've I've been in public practise for over 25 years now. So we started off with one offices banks down in Southwest Sydney and now we have offices pretty much across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai and. 
It probably hasn't been by luck. It's been by a lot of, excuse me, a lot of work and effort which requires discipline. I know people talk about that, but you've got to be obsessed with getting the results and more importantly, surrounding you yourself and me in particular, with people who believe in in the mission. 
I'm trying to create some and without my team. None of these would have been possible. So when I talk about my team, in my opinion they're world class and I told them we don't work for the clients. We work for outcomes. 
That's the difference between us. So every problem in my firm has a solution, except the health problem. We cannot be with that one.  

Karen Kirton   3:39 
And and you touched on it a little bit there and then you know when we connected prior to this episode, you know you talked about how you hire for mindset first and not technical skills. So can you tell us a bit about that? What does the right mindset look like to you?  

Peter Ristevski   3:55 
Well, yeah, that's right. 
When do I hire someone? I I pretty much don't even look at the the resume. 
To me, it's a lot of the time you've gut feel and when you've been in business that long, you rely on your gut and they say your guts, your second mind. And if you can't rely on your instinct, you're not going to succeed in business. Now I say to my staff, after I hire them.I can teach anyone about tax law and and and and how to be a great accountant, but I can't teach them hunger, so I kind of hire people that are, that are obsessed with winning, people who want to be the best versions of themselves. 

Now the right mindset puts things like accountability. See, I want people that take accountability for their work that take ownership for their work. If there's an error so much like they come to me with the problem, come to me with the problem and your solution, then we can. 
Dissect that if that works and and basically take pride in your work because you're representing your your your own brand, your family name. I want people who do much walk into the room and and want to raise the standards. So anything that I know I teach my staff and. 
We have a no ****** policy in the in the firm, so all my staff are great people because how many firms are hired on resume and then they find out that the person doesn't fit actually because you can't teach that. 

 
Karen Kirton   5:14
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. And I was reading this morning, actually an article. It was American. But I I think Australian business owners are feeling the same thing, which is that the rise of AI in resumes means that a lot of resumes actually aren't worth anything because AI is padding out the person.
Skills and so a lot of hiring managers are reporting that they're hiring people that actually don't have what they thought they had in the resume. So you know, that whole idea of hiring for mindsets, becoming more and more crucial, and also your values, which you know you're you're hiring.
You've gotta be a good person, you know, it's one of the the values that you're doing. So what's the process that you take? I know you said you rely on gut feel, but how do you know that they're gonna be the right person for you? Or do you have quite a structured onboarding? How do you make sure that that happens? 

Peter Ristevski   6:22 
I'm very old school. I don't do zoom. You want an interview. You come and see me face to face. And we have a chat like the old days and we just talk and we talk about various things. The most important thing is I got the qualifications to firstly get the interview but I'm more fussed about that experience.  

They may have learned bad habits and other firms and the things that we do, they don't teach at university. I work for a Union. Not once. They teach us about structures and and all the things that I'm doing. I was lucky enough to have good mentors like Mark Bouris and Ed Chan that that showed me these structures that. Yeah. And I teach you in university books because they don't want you to to know that. But it's pretty much just a conversation, like you're having a coffee. I I tend to do that in a relaxed environment, not in the boardroom. And we talk about life, family ambitions. 

I'll try and get a sense of their work ethic, their pride. I mean, look, I don't work my staff to the bone. I don't want it to be exhausted, but I just want efficiency when they're here for the until 5:30 and I don't believe in the lurking around to 8:00 to pretend that you're working working hard. 

So for me it's all about the conversation over a coffee. 

 
Karen Kirton   7:38
Yeah. Excellent. And you know you you mentioned this a little bit just there in terms of experience and and potential. So someone might have a qualification. So let's say that they're, you know, a graduate, yeah, how do you decide between hiring someone who's got more?
Experience along with that qualification and someone who's brand new out of uni. Or do you hire graduates at all? 

Peter Ristevski   8:03
I'm a big fan of graduates. Yes, experience gives you knowledge, but potential gives you that fire. That's what I want. I want that fire. If I see someone with ambition with fire, I'll back them every single time and I'll build my firm.
By giving young people a chance that no one else would give them an opportunity, they come to me and I can see the hunger in them. I train them and I pretty much turn them into leaders. Now a lot of my guys that have that have been with me have started off as graduates now they're managers, senior managers, client managers.
So we we put the right people in the right position pretty much like I I I sort of look at my fan like the Melbourne Storm, why the Melbourne Storm, so successful that they've always been in the semi final for 20 years, they've never missed one right because everyone has a role to play.
And you've just got to define the roles your role is. To do this you do this good. We're great. And then the other person might have a different role in the firm. They need to do that great. And it all fits in together and it basically creates the right culture. And like you said. Fancy CVS with AI? You're not going to see that. 

Karen Kirton   9:18
Yeah. And those that have been listening to this podcast for a while know that I'm a crazy Parramatta Eels fan, so I'm not going to comment on Melbourne Storm, particularly 2009. We're going to move on from that. But you talked about your training just then. So what? What does training look like in your organisation and and how do you go about doing the training of these graduates? 

Peter Ristevski   9:43
Pretty much I I throw them into the deep end, but I do teach you how to swim. So that's what I meant to the deep end. To drown from day from the first day. I actually give them real cases to work on.
Real clients with a mentor within the firm, they can attach themselves to. So I'm not. I'm not interested in paper pushes. I want my guys to some problem solvers.
And in my industry, it's all that problems. Everyone has a financial problem, a tax problem or whatnot. I need to teach my staff how to come up with a solution, and then we will test that solution. So within a year, our graduates.
And start working with me handle.
What say, for example, the big four accounting firms would take three to four years to teach them, but within the first 12 months, they're probably already four years ahead of someone working for the Deloitte or or whatnot. 

Karen Kirton   10:49
Yeah. Excellent. And you mentioned the business you've got across different locations. So how many employees in total do you have now, do you know? 

Peter Ristevski   10:56 
We've got about 15 employees in total, so I know you want to sort of look at the culture in terms of different locations. How do you, how do you keep the culture consistent? So I don't. I don't put slogans on the wall, you know, for me, it's all about the energy and and and every office, whether it's in Sydney or Singapore, we have the same DNA. High performance. Loyalty is very important. 

And results is also very important. So when we have staff in Dubai and and other locations, you know we we pretty much fly everyone in and have a session at Adelaide. Do that once a year we we celebrate all our wins and pretty much everyone's sort of to the same standard. So I I can I can see when a firm that has a fake culture. 
One that has a a real culture and we we pretty much live it. I I I I teach my staff to become the problem solver and come to me with the solution. I empower them. That's important. 

 
Karen Kirton   12:13
So how do you stay connected? Because sometimes being across different countries particularly can dilute the culture, I don't know. You know, you mentioned that that face to face connection is really important when you're hiring people. So how do you keep the team connected other than that, you know, sort of once a year coming together, do you use technology to do that or what's what's your process?
 
Peter Ristevski   12:33
Yeah, definitely. So, yeah, I've got one stuff in Dubai. All they do set up companies and bank accounts and handling the visas. So their role is pretty much defined and all the accounting work that relates to Dubai operations, we're on the phone every day I go to Dubai quite regularly.
So technology is important when it comes to that New Zealand, even that's a different country. It's only two hours away. We go there quite regularly. I'm there again next month. Singapore and Hong Kong, same process. I do make a trip there once or twice a year.
But it's technology, telephones, emails, talking to each other, and sometimes the staff in my office here in Bankstown, they're sitting there in downstairs, but I don't see them, but we do talk via an email or a text message or a phone call. So it's the same process and we have daily meetings, daily hustles. 

Karen Kirton   13:28
Excellent. I've met so many people over time that are huge advocates of the daily meetings. You know, the 15 minute stand ups. And then I've also met maybe just as many people that say, oh, gosh, imagine having a daily meeting, but it obviously works for you, right? Like, that's your way of keeping connected and and how else do you use that? Do you share wins in those daily meetings or is it more just, you know, this is what I've got on today or these are the outcomes I'm looking for today? 

Peter Ristevski   13:56
Look, I'm a big fan of daily meetings. One on one, not in a group, because you tend to lose a lot. You might have someone that's just in a Group One I hear as often as someone that's a little more loud. I I want to hear from everyone individually, so my daily meetings are one on one. And we have a WhatsApp group. If anything that needs to be known, we share it on that. But it's important that I meet with everyone on one rather than as a group. 

Karen Kirton   14:12
Yeah, lovely. So what advice would you give to other business leaders that want to attract and and keep great people in, you know, what's still a competitive market at the moment? 

Peter Ristevski   14:35
Look, remember, people don't leave their jobs, right? They go from one job to another. It's pretty much the same job. They they tend to leave a boring mission per SE. If they're just doing the same daily grind, then out and the county can be boring.
Every day is different from my guys. If everyone in the team is a part of something special, I'll pretty much all fight together. When you do have to play the role and but more importantly, you have to challenge them.
And give them reasons to grow. Everyone wants to grow. Everyone wants to be doing the same job the next five years. So you you, you've got to basically allow them to make mistakes. You know you can't manage the few.
You've got to lead with purpose and empower them and and give them the the support when they do make a mistake, because that's how they learn. They learn from their mistakes more than anything else. 

Karen Kirton   15:36
So what's the biggest mistake that you've learnt from? 

Peter Ristevski   15:41
personally? 

Karen Kirton   15:42
Yeah. 

Peter Ristevski   15:43
Well, I looked a long time ago. Don't rely on the resume.   

Karen Kirton   15:49
Well before ChatGPT. 

Peter Ristevski   15:51
Yes, yes, exactly. So that was a mistake. I learned to hire just based on the resume. I threw that out and I've I've adapted something different and it's worked for me. 

Karen Kirton   15:58
Yeah. And if I had to boil it down for you to say, you know, here's one lesson that you've learnt from building a team. What would that be? 

Peter Ristevski   16:16
Well, you, you get the team that you deserve. If you tolerate mediocrity, then that's what you'll get. And I'll come back to the Melbourne Storm and they train harder than any other team. And then when many people wonder why they're so successful because they don't accept.
Mediocrity. I mean, if you demand excellence staff, and which I do, you also need to reward loyalty. We do bonuses twice a year to build an army, and that's what you want. You know, I believe the culture.
Mirrors your leadership, so if I raise my game pretty much, the team raises their game as well. 

Karen Kirton   16:55
Yeah. Excellent. Well, thank you, Peter, for joining me today. What's the best way for people to get in touch with you? 

Peter Ristevski   17:03
Look, my phone number's always the best. I I'm not afraid to give out my mobile number, 0488927927. You can text me. You can call me and then that's the start of a conversation which could progress into something else. 

Karen Kirton   17:17 
Awesome. Thank you. And if you've missed it through recording because you're jogging or you're on a train or doing something else, don't worry. We'll put that phone number into the show notes as well. So thank you, Peter. And for those listening, if you've received value from this episode, I would love it if you could leave a rating or a review over Apple Podcasts or Spotify so someone else can find their episodes to help with their business episodes released on Mondays. So click subscribe and be notified of when it's available. As always, if you have any feedback, questions or ideas for future episodes, head on over to amplifyhr.com.au or connect with me on LinkedIn and we can start a conversation.