Four Ways to Stay on Track with Your 2024 Company Goals

Staying on track with your 2024 company goals supports business success. Knowing whether employees are reaching scheduled milestones increases the odds of goal achievement.

Holding employees accountable for reaching company goals encourages workers to continue to attain their milestones. These methods can help.

Four Tips to Reach Your Goals

1. Ensure Each Goal Has Milestones and Deadlines

Clarify that managers and employees have copies of their individual and team goals, milestones, and deadlines. Also, ensure managers and employees understand what should be accomplished, when each task is due, and the impact on the organization.

Remind managers and employees they are responsible for completing each of their milestones and goals according to the schedule. Also, clarify you will be periodically checking in to track employee and manager success in reaching your 2024 company goals.

2. Regularly Review Progress Toward Company Goal Attainment

Ask managers to track their individual and team progress toward your 2024 company goals. Then, regularly check in with managers to evaluate how well they and their teams are reaching their milestones.

If a manager is not staying on track with their goals, talk about the underlying reasons. Work with the manager to resolve the issues, provide additional resources and support, and get back on track. Ask managers to do the same for their employees who get off track.

3. Modify Company Goals as Needed

Regularly evaluate your 2024 company goals to determine whether they remain relevant throughout the year. If your strategic plans change, your company goals might change as well.

Communicate with the relevant manager about the changes to your company goals as quickly as possible. Let them know exactly what is being changed, why, and who is impacted. Then, ask the manager to communicate the changes to the relevant employee. Follow up to ensure the changes were implemented correctly.

4. Provide Recognition and Rewards for Company Goal Achievement

Recognize and reward employees at all levels who attain a company goal. Let these employees know how much their efforts and results are valued and appreciated. Consider providing a bonus, pay increase, or promotion to help your business grow.

Would You Like Help to Reach Company Goals?

Partner with Casey Accounting and Finance Resources to hire accounting and finance professionals who can help reach your 2024 company goals. Start the process today.

Sought-After Soft Skills in Today’s Accounting and Finance Talent

Accounting and finance talent who have sought-after soft skills are assets to your team. These skills help your employees effectively interact and complete their work.

Accounting and finance professionals who can effectively manage their time, communicate, collaborate, and solve problems provide substantial value to your organization. As a result, you should strengthen these soft skills within your team.

Look for these sought-after soft skills in today’s accounting and finance talent!

Time Management

Effective time management is required for accounting and finance talent to complete tasks by the deadlines. These activities require understanding how long processes should take and properly planning workloads.

You should work with team members who have difficulty with time management. You might make the following suggestions:

  • List each task and its due date.
  • Prioritize the tasks for each day or week.
  • Set a reminder for each task.
  • Work on each task at the scheduled time.
  • Check off each task after completion.

Communication

Your accounting and finance talent must effectively communicate to complete their work. For instance, your team members must be able to share financial information with non-financial professionals in ways they understand. Your team also should explain why the information matters, its impact on the company, and specific actions an employee could take to improve the numbers.

You might practice developing your team’s communication skills by roleplaying financial discussions where you represent an employee from a different department. You also could ask your employees to write out explanations of financial reports and how they impact specific departments within your organization.

Collaboration

Your accounting and finance team’s success depends on everyone working together. Having each member contribute helps reach common goals.

You can encourage collaboration by recognizing specific ways your team members help each other. Positive reinforcement supports the repetition of the behaviors you want to see.

Problem-Solving

Accounting and finance teams are focusing more on advisory services. Therefore, these professionals should be able to solve unique, increasingly complex problems.

Talent who can navigate unexpected challenges provides additional value for your organization. Therefore, you should encourage your employees to focus on finding solutions before coming to you with problems. These actions support critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving.

Are You Looking for Accounting and Finance Talent?

Time management, communication, problem-solving, and collaboration are among the most sought-after skills for today’s accounting and finance talent. Actively developing these skills helps your team increase their value for your organization.

If you need help with adding talent to your team, include Casey Accounting & Finance Resources in your hiring process. Get in touch with us to learn more today.

Helping Your Employees Prioritize and Set Strong Goals

Helping your accounting and finance employees prioritize and set strong goals is essential for business success. Planning what your team should achieve in 2024 helps create a foundation for success.

Working with your employees on goal-setting provides steps that inspire and motivate them to attain your organization’s long-term vision. The results include increased employee engagement, productivity, and performance. These factors elevate employee morale, attraction and retention, and your bottom line.

Implement these tips to help your accounting and finance employees prioritize and set strong goals!

Develop SMART Goals

Your employees’ goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART):

  • Specify what should be achieved and why it is important.
  • Clarify what the measurements of progress and success will be.
  • Make sure each challenge can be overcome in a reasonable amount of time.
  • Focus on the benefits of each achievement for the employee and the organization.
  • Develop a sense of urgency to remain on track and reach each objective.

Create Similar Goals for Employees with Similar Jobs

Maintaining consistency in goal-setting for employees with similar job duties and responsibilities supports an environment focused on growth. Having employees work toward similar goals supports healthy competition to reach milestones and objectives. These activities help minimize employee frustration and resentment.

Monitor Employee Progress Toward Goal Attainment

Regularly check in with each employee to determine whether they are on track to reach their goals. Allow time to answer questions, provide constructive feedback, and offer support.

If an employee misses a deadline, help them determine what happened and how the issue can be resolved. Then, reset the deadline and follow up at the given time.

Reward Employee Goal Achievement

Recognize and reward each employee who reaches a goal. Include the steps taken to attain the objective and the impact on your company. Also, consider giving the employee a certificate, additional paid time off, bonus, pay increase, or promotion for their hard work.

Honoring employees who attain goals shows you value and respect their contributions and results. These actions encourage employees to continue their behaviors and increase their value to your organization.

Do You Need Help with Hiring?

Developing SMART goals provides your employees with guidance and motivation to increase their value for the organization. Also, creating similar goals for employees with similar jobs supports healthy competition to reach the objectives.

Monitoring employee progress toward goals helps your team stay on track and reach their objectives. Also, rewarding your employees for goal attainment encourages them to continuously increase their performance and elevate your company’s success.

If you need help with hiring, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can provide you with skilled professionals who can help reach your business goals. Reach out to us to learn more today.

Three Team-Building Exercises That Can Help Your Team Grow

Team-building exercises are designed to help your team grow. The games and activities are created to build teammate relationships and support a positive company culture.

The goal of team-building exercises is to help teammates get to know, respect, and trust each other as they collaborate to achieve a desired outcome. The targeted skills include motivation, creativity, communication, and problem-solving.

Regularly organizing team-building exercises helps your team develop their skill sets and strengthen their commitment to their roles. These suggested activities can help.

Choose among these three types of team-building exercises to help your team grow.

1. Communication Exercises

Help your team to develop their communication skills with any of these exercises:

  • Blind Retriever: Divide your team into small groups. Provide each group with a blindfold. Have each group blindfold one member, then guide them to an object.
  • Building Blocks: Divide your team into pairs. Provide each pair with a pack of cards that have a different question written on each. Have your employees take turns asking and answering the questions.
  • Circle of Appreciation: Have your team form a circle. Ask each employee to share one thing they appreciate about the teammate to their left.

2. Creative Thinking Exercises

Support your team in developing their creative thinking skills with any of these exercises:

  • What’s My Name?: Provide each team member with a note card that has a famous person’s name on it. Have your team members walk around and ask each other questions to figure out each other’s person.
  • Design Battle: Divide your team into small groups. Provide each group with a product or service. Ask each group to create a poster for their offering.
  • Idea Day: Ask your team to share creative ideas to update company processes and procedures, develop new products or services, or create other business ideas. Choose the most beneficial idea to develop and implement as a team.

3. Problem-Solving Exercises

Encourage your team to develop their problem-solving skills with any of these exercises:

  • Barter Puzzle: Divide your team into small groups. Provide each group with a jigsaw puzzle that has a few pieces removed and given to other teams. Have the groups find ways to barter for the pieces needed to finish their puzzles.
  • Business Simulations: Divide your team into small groups. Provide each group with the same scenario involving a business problem, resources, and a deadline. Compare the solutions after the deadline passes.
  • Solution Day: Schedule a meeting for your team to share creative solutions to problems your company is facing.

Do You Need Help with Growing Your Team?

The goal of team-building exercises is to help your team grow. Depending on your goals, you might choose communication, creative thinking, or problem-solving exercises to enhance your team’s skill sets.

If you need help with growing your accounting and finance team, include Casey Accounting & Finance Resources in your hiring process. Get in touch with us to learn more today.

The Important Role Feedback Can Play for Employee Engagement

Feedback plays an important role in employee engagement. Sharing concrete examples of what an employee does well, how they could do better, and specific steps for improvement helps elevate performance.

Employees who implement feedback given understand exactly what they are working toward. As a result, these employees are likely to stay engaged as they finish their tasks. The results elevate your bottom line.

Discover the important role feedback can play in employee engagement.

Ongoing Communication

Feedback requires regular communication with your employees. Sharing ideas, perspectives, and suggestions to approach tasks helps minimize conflict and elevate performance.

Ongoing communication helps your employees feel heard and respected. As a result, your employees should effectively collaborate and remain engaged as they work toward their goals.

Employee Motivation

Sharing feedback shows you want the best for your employees. Therefore, your employees should feel valued and appreciated. They also should be motivated to stay engaged in their work as they improve their performance.

Minimal Errors

Sharing feedback helps ensure tasks are completed correctly. Not having to go back and fix mistakes saves significant time and money. The results include greater performance and productivity.

Stronger Leadership

The implementation of feedback helps your employees become more focused leaders. Leadership development is an effective method to increase employee engagement, performance, and retention.

Employees who consistently receive feedback can elevate their performance. As a result, these employees can take on additional responsibilities, grow into more senior roles, and provide additional value for your organization.

Tips to Provide Feedback

Implement these tips to properly provide feedback to your employees:

  • Provide specific examples of what your employee does well and what areas they could improve.
  • Include as many details as possible.
  • Remain nonjudgmental.
  • Focus on coaching to improve performance.
  • Show you have the employee’s best interest in mind.
  • Encourage your employees to engage during feedback conversations.

Do You Need to Hire Accounting and Finance Employees?

Feedback can play an important role in employee engagement. For instance, implementing feedback supports ongoing communication and provides motivation to improve performance. Also, regular feedback provides guidance to minimize mistakes and a strong foundation for leadership. These results help strengthen your bottom line.

If you need help with hiring accounting and finance employees, include Casey Accounting & Finance Resources in your process. Reach out to us to learn more today.

Interview Red Flags to Be Mindful of When Hiring

Being mindful of red flags when interviewing helps you make effective hiring decisions. Adding the right candidates to your accounting and finance team helps reduce hiring, onboarding, and training costs.

Discovering red flags during the interview process decreases the number of candidates who advance to the next step. Narrowing down your candidate pool helps you make more informed hiring decisions.

Be mindful of these four interview red flags when hiring.

1. Disinterest in the Job

A lack of interest in the role indicates the candidate likely does not anticipate remaining with your organization long-term. The candidate might just want an income source until they can find a position that better fits their interests.

If the candidate cannot provide a clear source of motivation to work for your company, they likely do not care enough to stay for an extended time. Therefore, you should focus on other candidates instead.

2. Speaking Negatively of Previous Employers

A candidate who shares negative opinions of previous managers, colleagues, or coworkers might be difficult to work with. The candidate could have a poor work ethic, lack accountability for their actions, or have difficulty getting along with others. As a result, you should continue to look for a different candidate.

3. Lack of Questions During the Interview

A candidate who asks questions during an interview is interested in the job and company. They want to learn as much as they can to determine whether the role and organization are a good fit for their goals and qualifications.

As a result, a candidate who asks no questions likely is not invested in working for your company. Therefore, you should find other candidates to interview.

4. Questionable References

An inability to reach any of the references a candidate provided suggests the references might be fictional. Because professional references are highly responsive, you should be able to get a hold of them within a reasonable amount of time.

Listing questionable references implies the candidate might have poor interpersonal skills and be difficult to work with. As a result, you should focus on other candidates instead.

Would You Like Help with Interviewing?

Be mindful of interview red flags such as disinterest in the job, speaking negatively of previous employers, a lack of questions during the interview, and providing questionable references. Candidates who display any of these issues might not be a good fit with your organization. Therefore, you should look for other candidates who could provide more value to your company.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources is available to help you interview accounting and finance professionals. Contact us today to get started.

Four Ways You Can Support Your Employees and Their Mental Health

Increasing sources of stress at work and at home are adversely impacting employees’ mental health. As a result, many employees are struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns. Ongoing exposure to stress can lead to burnout.

As an accounting and finance manager, you must take steps to support your employees and their mental health. These suggestions can help.

Choose among these four ways to support your employees and their mental health:

1. Model Healthy Behaviors

Demonstrate healthy behaviors you would like to see in your employees. Examples include prioritizing self-care and maintaining boundaries.

For instance, you might share that you are taking a walk to clear your head, engaging in a therapy appointment after work, or planning a staycation for the following week. These behaviors support mental health and help prevent burnout.

2. Offer Flexibility

Provide your employees with the flexibility required to fill their changing personal needs. Examples include working remotely, having a flexible schedule, and taking additional time off as needed.

Regularly talk with your employees as they go through transition points. Find out whether your employees require additional support and how you can help them out.

3. Support Employee Connections

Regularly check in with your employees to see how they are doing. For instance, find out how your employees are handling their workloads, whether they have any questions or concerns, and whether they have any issues to address. Also, ask whether your employees require additional support and how you could best provide it.

Actively listen to your employees. Also, ask follow-up questions to gather more information. Additionally, repeat what you heard to check your understanding. Plus, respond with empathy.

4. Normalize Mental Health Discussions

Talk with your employees about mental health concerns. Because virtually everyone experiences problems with their mental health at some point, open discussions help reduce the stigma.

Be honest about your own mental health struggles. Include your methods for gaining support, such as taking antidepressants and seeing a therapist twice weekly.

Create a safe space for your employees to share their own mental health issues. Provide as much support as possible.

Discuss employee benefits that provide mental health support. Examples include employee resource groups (ERCs), meditation groups, and counseling services.

Do You Need Hiring Support?

Modeling healthy behaviors, offering flexibility, supporting employee connections, and normalizing mental health discussions help support your employees and their mental health. These actions increase employee engagement, performance, and productivity. The results include greater job satisfaction, employee morale, and attraction and retention rates.

If you are struggling to hire qualified accounting and finance professionals, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can provide support. Reach out to us today.

Tactics to Become a Stronger Active Listener with Your Workforce

Becoming a stronger active listener with your workforce is essential for business success. The rise of remote and hybrid work makes this skill more important than ever.

Your ability to read, interpret, and respond to verbal and nonverbal cues supports employee engagement, job satisfaction, and performance. These skills also increase employee productivity and attraction and retention rates.

As a result, you should take steps to develop your active listening skills. These suggestions can help.

Choose among these tactics to become a stronger active listener with your workforce.

Minimize Distractions

Reduce noise, interruptions, and other external distractions as much as possible. Also, put aside anything you may have been thinking about so you can focus on what your employee has to say.

Maintain Appropriate Body Language

Make appropriate eye contact and keep an open posture during the conversation. Also, nod your head to show you are actively listening.

Focus on Nonverbal Cues

Pay attention to the explicit and implicit information you receive. The employee’s tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language indicate the motivation and emotions behind the words expressed.

Repeat What You Heard

Show you are listening by sharing the last few words you heard. This action helps keep you focused during the conversation. It also lets you pause to collect your thoughts before replying.

Ask Follow-Up Questions

Gather more information by asking for more details about the topic. Asking additional questions ensures you have the complete picture and understand the message.

Wait for Your Turn to Respond

Focus on what your employee is saying before you respond. Ensure you have sufficient information and understand the situation before you reply.

Monitor Your Emotions

If you feel your emotions rising, slow the pace of the conversation. Also, focus on measured breathing to calm your reaction.

Avoid saying something that might cause your employee to disengage, you to tune them out, or an argument to begin. Instead, ask to pause the conversation so you have time to think about the topic. Then, set a time to calmly pick up where you left off.

Do You Need to Add to Your Accounting and Finance Team?

Minimizing distractions, maintaining open body language, and focusing on nonverbal cues help you become a stronger active listener. Repeating what you heard, asking follow-up questions, and waiting to respond help you pay attention to the message and appropriately answer.

If you want help with finding qualified accounting and finance employees, turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Get in touch today.

Salary Trends to Be Mindful of as 2023 Concludes

Heading into the last few months of the year, you should continue to be mindful of salary trends in the accounting and finance industry. You can use Casey Accounting & Finance Resources’ July 2023 salary data as a guide.

Using our salary survey list with updated facts, figures, and job descriptions for accounting and finance positions in the Chicago metropolitan area can help you understand what salary expectations should be. Being mindful as these salary trends continue to change helps employers present the best offer to job applicants.

What trends should you monitor?

Expectations of Higher Salaries and More

Inflation is one factor driving higher salaries for accounting and finance professionals. Because additional income is required to keep up with the increasing cost of living, these professionals want their employers to provide support.

Back in 2021 when there were so many job openings, demand for higher salaries was a key trend in recruiting accounting and finance professionals along with many other positions. Today companies might find jobs are harder to fill because candidates are not as willing to make a move right now as a result of a slower economy and accelerated inflation rates. So it is not that the talent isn’t there, it just has to be a perfect storm for them to make a move.

Increasing workloads are an additional factor elevating the desire for higher accounting and finance salaries. Rising turnover means the remaining employees must take on additional tasks until a replacement is hired. These employees want to be compensated accordingly, too.

Employers are re-evaluating their benefits package to encourage skilled talent to work for them long-term.

Generational Expectations and Technology Change the Recruitment Landscape

Communication, adaptation, and continuous learning are among the most in-demand skills in the industry. Also, treasury and accountancy support are among the roles that require skilled professionals. Monitoring applicant needs by generation can help you develop a robust and diverse workforce. Boomers have different needs and expectations from their employers than Gen-Z workers. The days of “one-size-fits-all” employment packages are long gone.

The rise of blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and reliance on technology means many accounting and finance tasks are now automated to increase productivity. Therefore, considering candidates with skills that complement these tasks will most likely negotiate higher salaries that blend their accounting and finance acumen with their technology expertise.

Do You Need Additional Guidance on Salary Trends?

Accounting and finance professionals in 2023 expect higher salaries due to inflation, increasing workloads, and the specialized skills businesses need for growth.

If you need additional help with salary information or negotiations, reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Get in touch today.

Interview Questions That Can Help You Unearth Chicago’s Top Talent

Asking interview questions that generate thought-provoking answers helps you unearth Chicago’s top talent. Posing outside-the-box queries helps a candidate share distinctive answers that provide unique insight into their personality, instincts, and soft skills.

A candidate’s ability to think on their feet and manage unexpected challenges is essential for success in a role. Asking these unusual interview questions helps determine a candidate’s ability to excel.

Choose among these interview questions to help you unearth Chicago’s top talent:

How would you describe yourself in one word?

Asking a candidate to summarize herself or himself with one adjective is challenging. This activity is especially difficult when the candidate is put on the spot.

The goal of this question is to see how well a candidate thinks on their feet and outside their comfort zone. You may want to follow up by asking the candidate to describe herself or himself with a negative adjective. The candidate’s ability to admit a flaw demonstrates self-awareness and the desire to improve.

Tell me about an interesting experience you recently had.

The candidate’s answer provides insight into what they like, dislike, and value. Creative thinking inspires engagement in conversation and analysis to determine what is possible.

Look for curiosity and creativity in the candidate’s answer. These traits show the candidate can make ongoing contributions to your organization.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Find out what irritates the candidate and how they handle minor frustrations. Focus on whether the candidate is easily upset and whether their pet peeves often show up within the role. Use this information to determine what working with the candidate would be like and whether they would be effective in the position.

What is your definition of success?

Uncover the candidate’s personal vision and what they could add to your company’s culture. Look for a well-defined sense of purpose and how it blends with your organization’s mission, vision, and values.

Include whether the candidate is motivated by personal gain or collective causes. Also, focus on whether their perspective aligns with your team. Use your findings to determine whether the candidate would be right for the role.

Are You Ready to Unearth Chicago’s Top Accounting and Finance Talent?

Asking out-of-the-box interview questions helps you uncover unique insight into a candidate’s personality, instincts, and soft skills. A candidate’s ability to think on their feet and manage unexpected challenges is essential for success in a role.

If you need help recruiting Chicago’s top accounting and finance talent, turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Find out more today.