Matching Up Soft Skills with Remote Workers

With some or all of your accounting & finance teams working remotely, you need employees with the right soft skills to get the tasks done. Because you cannot monitor progress when staff members work from home, hiring candidates who work independently increases your success odds. To narrow down the qualities to look for in candidates, you must know which characteristics are most valuable for remote work.  

These are five of the top skills to look for when hiring remote workers:

Communication 

Remote workers must be excellent communicators. For instance, writing emails, participating in virtual meetings, and handling phone calls are necessary to complete the work. Also, remote workers must let coworkers know where and how to reach them. Plus, they must share information and collaborate to finish projects.   

Flexibility 

Remote workers need to be flexible. For instance, not everyone’s schedules will overlap when caring for family members and juggling other responsibilities. Meetings that normally take place in the morning at the office may need to be moved to the afternoon through videoconference. This can accommodate remote workers with children who take a nap after lunch.     

Self-Management 

Remote workers have to manage themselves. For instance, they must start work on time, complete daily objectives, and finish in time to fulfill personal responsibilities. Remote workers also must prioritize work, give and receive timely information, and finish tasks on time. Plus, they need to work with little oversight, remain engaged, and reach productivity goals. 

Adaptation  

Remote workers must embrace change. For instance, rather than communicating with coworkers in person, they may use text, voice, or video chat. Also, instead of setting up meetings, most discussions are impromptu and informal. Plus, rather than focusing on work-related issues, many interactions are about personal interests.   

Accountability 

Remote workers need to hold themselves accountable. For instance, they cannot be overwhelmed by turning part of their home into an office space or managing children who are attending school virtually. Also, remote workers should report to virtual meetings on time, prepared to share what they accomplished yesterday, what they will accomplish today, and what is personally happening with them. Plus, they need to reach out for help when needed.  

 

Hire Remote Accounting & Finance Staff 

Focusing on soft skills when hiring remote workers is important. You want employees who are self-directed, work well individually and collaboratively, and complete tasks on time with little oversight. Being able to connect with remote team members daily and monitor their progress through self-reporting is important for finishing projects and reaching company objectives.  

When you need help finding remote accounting & finance workers, reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. We believe that a diverse workforce enhances the overall performance and success of an organization. Talk with us today. 

Importance of Stay Interviews for Employee Retention

The best time to discover what your company can do to keep employees is before they plan to leave. Knowing in advance what causes staff to stay or go is one way to reduce attrition. One of the best ways to retain team members is by conducting stay interviews. Stay interviews let you measure individual job satisfaction and engagement on an ongoing basis. This helps increase employee happiness and reduce turnover. 

Here are several reasons why stay interviews are an effective way to increase employee retention.    

Determine Job Satisfaction 

Implementing stay interviews uncovers how satisfied an employee is with their job. You can find out what is going well and what needs improvement. This lets you address issues before they grow and become out of hand. If you see a similar problem among multiple staff members, you can decide whether organizational changes need to be made.   

Guide Actionable Steps 

Because stay interviews are personalized, they provide an outline of what individual employees need to stay with the company. The information is specific and forward-thinking. Having concrete ideas for how to improve the employee experience makes it easier to eliminate major frustrations and promote retention. 

Allow Time for Improvement 

Taking the time for stay interviews provides the opportunity to implement desired changes. Because employees have not yet considered leaving, there is less pressure to immediately solve the problem. If pay, a promotion, employee training, or something out of your scope comes up, be truthful in your response. For instance, mention that salaries are frozen, or a position is not open. Or discuss adding training opportunities during the next budget cycle so your team member can upskill to secure a promotion.        

Provide Metrics 

Conducting stay interviews lets you create top-level metrics. These supplement secondary and tertiary metrics like employee satisfaction surveys and exit interviews. Reviewing an employee relationship with the company, the project team, and you as their manager shows what you can do to make the relationship better. All of these metrics make up an essential part of your retention strategy.   

Strengthen Company Culture  

Engaging in stay interviews makes the company culture stronger. Staff members appreciate having the opportunity to share their input and have it acted on when possible. This is especially important when major changes are taking place, such as a reduction in force. Individual discussions about job satisfaction help air grievances, potentially keeping your remaining team.   

Hire Accounting and Finance Professionals  

Conducting stay interviews is a productive way to retain employees. Understanding what keeps them working for you or causes them to want to leave provides time to correct the issues before they lead to attrition. It is easier and more profitable to retain staff members than to hire new ones.  

When you are in the market for accounting & finance talent, turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. We are dedicated to excellence through education and investing in our staff so we can provide the highest quality of performance for our clients. Learn more today. 

 

Thankful for Friends Old and New

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.” We often have a heightened awareness of gratitude as we move into the holiday season. Grateful for friends and family, our colleagues, and our customers. We appreciate others and we spend time thanking those who are in our lives.

But what if we all cultivated an “attitude of gratitude” that extends throughout each day, month and year versus just in time for the holidays. How would you incorporate a regular practice of gratitude into your life? After all, there is plenty of scientific evidence on health benefits when practicing gratitude.

What the Experts Say

Michael Kay, founder and president of Financial life focus offers this simple yet effective way to build expressing gratitude into your life. “Ask yourself: Who am I grateful for today? Who helped add to my success or challenged my thinking? Get in the habit of expressing your thanks as you go (it’s also far easier than saving them up until the holidays). A thoughtful email or handwritten note will go a long way in showing someone you appreciate them.”

Gail Saltz, M.D., a psychoanalyst, offers this idea to feel more grateful: “list three things for which you are grateful, big and small, on a daily basis for even two weeks can make a difference in overall mood.”

Amy Collette, an award-winning author and motivational speaker, sums it up well. “Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.”

Our Best Tips on Practicing Gratitude

With that in mind, we’re sharing our best ideas, tips, exercises, and apps to help jumpstart your gratitude journey by taking a few moments to focus on all that you have.

Developing an “attitude of gratitude” is one of the simplest ways to improve your satisfaction with life.

We are forever thankful for the opportunity to serve our customers and assist our job seekers with their careers. We genuinely appreciate you and are grateful you have put your trust in us.

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” – Voltaire

May life’s good things be yours.