5 Things You Need to Know About Unemployment Claims

With the recession going on because of the coronavirus pandemic, many companies are reducing their workforce in response to changes in operations. As a result, your organization’s unemployment claims may be increasing. If so, your experience ratings are being reevaluated, which can cause your state unemployment tax rates to increase. Therefore, you need to know how you can minimize the impact of unemployment claims on your business.

Discover five ways unemployment claims impact your company and what you can do about it.

Minimize Your Terminations and Reductions in Force

Reduce your number of terminations and reductions in force as much as possible. Some employees who lost a job could claim unemployment benefits if they were terminated due to financial cutbacks, because they weren’t a good fit for the job, or because of a minor incident. These numbers affect your state unemployment tax rates. To avoid termination or reduction, consider a furlough or temporary reduction in hours or pay.

Check Your Base Year Employer Forms

Pay close attention to the Notice to Base Year Employer forms you receive. These come when a former employee becomes separated from their next employer and files for unemployment benefits. The forms show the percentage of their unemployment you’ll be charged unless you respond within 30 days. Your response can limit the number of benefits your company ends up paying.

Your Account May Be Charged for an Employee Who Quits

Be aware that your state unemployment insurance account can be charged for an employee who quits because of reasons attributable to your company. For instance, a change in the worksite may increase the employee’s commute or difficulty of travel. Because the amount of money you pay in unemployment benefits is related to the number of former employees who collect payments after leaving your company, you want to keep this number to a minimum.

Protect Your Company with Documentation

Maintain detailed records on each employee. Clear documentation can prove the validity of your response to an unemployment benefits claim. Your records should include employment policies, job descriptions, contracts, offers, and other job-related information. Have the employee sign every document to show they reviewed and understood the information.

Manage Your Workforce with a Staffing Agency

One of the best ways to manage your fluctuating workforce needs is to partner with a staffing agency. Because the agency bears the liability for temporary and contract employees, it also is responsible for their unemployment benefits. You can blend temporary or contract employees with your full-time staff with no financial impact on your company when they leave.

Hire Accounting and Finance Professionals

Unemployment claims have a significant impact on your company’s bottom line. Implementing the above tips to reduce the expenses related to your unemployment insurance can help your company save money long-term.

When you need help reducing the amount of money your organization spends, get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Our staffing consultants can provide innovative and creative solutions that exceed your expectations. Get more information today.

How Soon Can You Expect the COVID Vaccine to Be Available to Your Employees?

With two COVID vaccines available in the U.S. as of February 2021, healthcare workers, nursing home residents, and other vulnerable people are already receiving them. Once these people are vaccinated, frontline essential workers, people over 65, and other select groups should be next in line. As an accounting & finance manager, you may be wondering what this could mean for your team. If you are still working remotely, odds are you want to get back to the office at least partially and resume some normalcy.

Here’s how soon your team members may be able to receive the COVID vaccine.

The Public Might Get Vaccines in Spring

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, if an estimated quarter of US residents is fully vaccinated by late Spring or early Summer 2021, then healthy members of the general public may be able to get vaccinated more quickly than originally thought. The distribution would still take place over several months.

Employer Guidance May Increase Vaccination Efforts

Employers have the right to require employees to get vaccinated as a condition of returning to the office. This may help staff overcome their reluctance to get the vaccine as soon as possible. However, making something in the workplace mandatory typically leads to less desirable results than keeping it voluntary. Employees may object for reasons related to religion, ethics, disability, pregnancy, allergic reactions to previous vaccinations, or other issues. Instead, weekly COVID testing may become common for those returning to the office.

Continue to Wear a Mask

The process of vaccinating hundreds of millions of people to develop herd immunity is expected to take months. In fact, Fauci believes that 75-85% of the U.S. would need to be vaccinated by Fall 2021 to get back to some degree of normalcy. Ideally, the majority of people would need to get vaccinated to stunt or completely stop the outbreak. With the recent reports of new COVID-19 strains occurring throughout the world, social distancing, wearing masks, and vaccinations may remain the norm for some time.

Recommendations for Your Accounting and Finance Team

Although the COVID vaccine may be available to the general public in Spring 2021, there is no guarantee that everyone will want it. Also, even though employers can make vaccination a requirement to return to the office, staff members may object for religious, ethical, or other reasons. A better solution may require regularly scheduled COVID testing along with mask-wearing, social distancing, and other health standards to stop the spread.

Whether working remotely or on-site, enhance your accounting & finance team with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources help. Our in-depth understanding of the industry’s necessary functions and competencies and a role ensures that only highly qualified candidates are presented for your review. Contact us today.

Management Tips to Ensure Your Team is Actively Engaged

The level of engagement an employee has demonstrated how committed they are to your company and its success. It also shows how motivated and emotionally invested they are in their work. An employee must be motivated to work toward a goal in line with its vision and committed to the same values as the organization to remain engaged. As a result, the higher employee engagement is, the greater your company’s success. This is why you must work to maintain engagement among your team members.

Implement these tips to ensure your accounting and finance team remains engaged in their work.

Get to Know Your Employees

Learn all you can about your team members. For instance, find out about their families, hobbies, and interests. Also, discover what motivates them to perform their best. Additionally, ask what keeps them invested in the company’s future. Plus, uncover how they’d like to expand the business and increase its success. Use this knowledge to create a positive, productive work environment.

Set Goals

Create individual and team goals that are both challenging and realistic. This provides a sense of direction for what needs to be done and where your team members should focus their energy. Be sure to include milestones along the way to measure both progress and success.

Offer Growth Opportunities

Provide opportunities for professional growth. For instance, create stretch assignments that increase team members’ skill sets. Also, encourage your staff to develop and implement ideas to increase efficiency within the department. Plus, offer additional training and coaching in line with promotions.

Maintain Communication

Keep the lines of communication open with your team. For instance, encourage open discussion about problems as they come up. Work together to find solutions. Also, ask for employee feedback to improve your performance. Additionally, keep your staff updated on company news and developments.

Promote Autonomy

Let your teamwork as independently as possible. This shows you trust them to complete their tasks without being watched over. Ensure you clearly communicate what needs to be done and make yourself available to answer questions. Also, regularly check in on your team’s progress to see how they’re doing and provide feedback. Plus, encourage them to learn from their mistakes and do better next time.

Recognize Achievements

Acknowledge individual and team accomplishments. For instance, thank your team members for their efforts. Also, point out how individual contributions led up to a finished product. Provide monetary rewards for major achievements.

Hire Engaged Accounting & Finance Professionals

The promotion of employee engagement is one key to your accounting and finance team’s success. Engaged team members produce at higher levels and remain with your company longer. Setting goals, maintaining communication, and promoting autonomy are three ways to encourage engagement.

When you need to add engaged professionals to your team, partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources, we provide high-performance candidates who will make strong contributions to your company. Find out more today.

Is the 9-5 Work Week Outdated?

The 9-5 workday was created by American labor unions in the 1800s. It was made popular in the 1920s by Henry Ford, who wanted to attract auto workers used to 12-hour shifts. Because today’s employees are accustomed to working 8-hour days, many still accept the setup. However, every aspect of working life has changed in the past century. With an increasing emphasis on organizing lives for greater work-life balance, it is time to replace a set workday with flexible hours.

Here are three reasons to modify your company’s work week with flexible hours.

Desire for Flexibility

Millennials, who make up the largest percentage of the workforce, want jobs that provide flexibility. Because work-life balance is a priority, they prefer the ability to set their own hours and work remotely more than have steady work or the highest possible pay. Allowing staff to take care of personal responsibilities while finishing their work tasks provides an increased sense of control over their lives. Employers who offer flextime typically have higher performance, increased job satisfaction, and lower turnover than employers who do not. This results in greater customer satisfaction and higher revenue.

Working at Peak Hours

Companies have automated most of the rote elements of work that used to comprise the 9- 5 workday. Because calculations, factory work, and typing jobs that were common in the 20th century have been automated, employees have more time for problem-solving activities. Although drowsy workers still could accurately put together parts on an assembly line, distracted workers in the creative sector cannot solve problems very well. They need to use their individual mental energy rhythms to find creative solutions. As a result, employees should be allowed to work when they are at peak performance. Whether early in the morning or late at night, staff should have wide parameters with minimal rules to complete their work in.

Greater Productivity

Research performed by businesses, industry associations, and academic institutions shows that average workers do not get more done in a 10-hour day than an 8-hour day. In fact, every hour worked beyond 40 per week reduces productivity and output both short- and long-term. As a result, productivity should be measured by the quality of output rather than hours put in.

Add Flexible Staff

Providing a flexible schedule for staff means changing your work culture. Allowing for increased work-life balance attracts and retains top-performing workers who remain engaged and productive throughout the day. Your company benefits from increased retention, customer service, and profits.

When your accounting & finance team needs to add members, get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. As a recipient of the Best of Staffing Client Satisfaction award every year from 2016 to 2020, our team can provide you with the highest caliber of professionals in the field. Learn more today.

3 Important Business Lessons COVID-19 Taught Us

The scope of the coronavirus pandemic caught everyone by surprise. The impact has been felt by companies of all sizes in all industries. Tough decisions continue to be made regarding layoffs, policy changes, hiring, and how to keep the doors open. Fortunate companies have been able to use creativity, planning, and help from outside sources to maintain operations. The lessons we learned from coping with the unexpected can be used to navigate through other crises.

Here are three significant lessons businesses learned from the coronavirus pandemic.

Act Fast

When the COVID-19 pandemic began hitting countries, we had to go on lockdown for an extended period of time. The hospitality industry was shut down. International travel was forbidden. A significant part of the economy stopped. Companies had to make quick decisions with little information. Because employee safety was a top priority, leadership came up with remote working programs. Since business operations and revenue generation had to continue, leadership assessed their organization’s strengths and weaknesses, changed procedures and processes, created new products and services, and altered the business as quickly as possible. Overall, employers learned to be prepared for the unexpected. Contingency and crisis plans need to be top priorities going forward.

Prioritize Needs

During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, employers put the health and safety of their employees first. For millions, this meant transitioning in-office staff to work from home. Companies that had to provide employees with laptops, webcams, and headphones or increase their subscription to a videoconferencing platform faced a substantial impact on their bottom line. Employers’ second priority was survival of the business. Leadership had to discover which products and services were more profitable, which channels attracted more customers, and which campaigns resulted in more leads. The rest was put on hold. Leadership also assessed and pursued the development plans that offered a quick advantage over the competition. They learned that focus and resources needed to be shifted to the most resilient areas with revenue potential.

Reinvent the Company

A substantial number of companies had to reinvent themselves after the coronavirus hit. Leadership found new channels to interact with customers, new market opportunities, and new products to address emerging needs. They also modified manufacturing facilities, discovered new selling channels, and imagined new campaigns and promotions to promote sales. For instance, many companies that sold cleaning services, which were no longer in demand, began offering sanitation services for retail and healthcare clients. Companies had to evolve with changing customer needs to stay relevant.

Partner with a Top Recruiting Firm

The COVID-19 pandemic taught us to act fast when a crisis hits. Company needs must be prioritized, beginning with employee health and safety. Leadership must reinvent the business in order to continue filling customer needs.

Because these actions all require substantial resources, many companies turned to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources for help. Our dedicated team of professionals provided them with superior value through innovation, creativity, and initiative. Find out how our team can help your organization as well.\

Top Accounting & Finance Trends to Watch in 2021

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, accounting and finance professionals have dealt with significant changes to the way they work. One of the biggest was the sudden shift to working from in the office to the safety of home. This meant increased use of technology to communicate with coworkers, manage projects, and finish work. Another big change was the increased use of flexible staffing. Many employees took off work to care for dependents when schools and daycares closed. Others were unable to work because they contracted the virus. Bringing aboard interim professionals let business operations continue. Because of the efficiency that technology and flexible staffing provided, they will continue to be used on a wider scale in the new year.

Look for these four accounting and finance trends in 2021.

Cloud-Based Technology

The increasing number of remote accounting and finance professionals means more employers will implement cloud-based technology. This provides a flexible, secure way to store, share, and access real-time information among coworkers. Cloud-based technology allows organizations to efficiently operate without geographic constraints. This enhances project management functions and improves organizational communication. Accounting and finance professionals can more effectively manage large datasets to create sophisticated data analytics, detailed financial reporting, and more.

Blockchain  

More accounting professionals will have blockchain technology involved in their work. This distributed ledger uses a network of independent computers to record, share, and synchronize transactions into an unchangeable ledger—the technology strings together a transparent, fully trackable chain of events into a trustworthy, unalterable database. Accounting professionals use the blockchain to track ownership of assets, maximize internal workflows, and remain within budget. This technology aids in conducting in-depth audits and improves the traceability of events, resulting in greater accuracy of information.

Data Analytics

The use of data analytics is on the rise. They help accounting and finance professionals gain valuable financial insights, track client progress, and create accurate forecasting models. Data analytics also uncover operational inefficiencies and help make more informed decisions. This lets companies differentiate themselves from competitors.

Flexible Staffing 

More companies will have a mix of full-time and interim accounting and finance professionals. This provides both specialized expertise and the ability to scale their team without overworking permanent staff. Bringing aboard interim professionals lets businesses remain agile as they navigate economic uncertainty.

Source Top Accounting & Finance Professionals

The year 2021 will bring a multitude of changes to the accounting and finance industry. The rise of cloud-based technology, blockchain, and data analytics means greater accuracy and more informed business decisions. The use of flexible staffing lets organizations stay nimble and adapt to changing economic conditions.

When you need full-time or interim accounting and finance staff, turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Our consultants provide exceptional value while easing your workload, saving you time, and increasing profitability. Get in touch with us today.

The Impact of Employer Brand on Recruiting

Your employer brand plays a significant role in the types of employees you hire. When you clearly display your culture, staff, office, job openings, and other relevant information, candidates are better able to determine whether they see themselves working for you. In order to attract and retain the best talent, you must align your recruitment marketing plans with the professionals you want to hire. Currently, this includes millennials and Generation Z, as they comprise the majority of the workforce.

Here are three key strategies to focus your employer brand on recruiting millennials and Generation Z.

Revitalize Job Descriptions

Turn your job descriptions into compelling stories that engage your brand. Begin with a paragraph on how your company is changing the world. Then, create a paragraph about your team. Next, share how the open role contributes to the team and helps the company make an impact. Then, include details about the culture and location. Finally, link to your values, team site, video testimonials, and other supporting evidence showing why candidates want to work for your organization.

Involve Social Media  

Use social media to promote your brand. Since younger job seekers actively use social platforms when looking for work, be sure to advertise your openings on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These are the sites most commonly used by millennials, and Generation Z. Posting on social media validates the messages you send into the world. For instance, if you say your company values innovation, you can back it up with tweets about the tools you are developing, Instagram photos of your innovations, and video case studies on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Make Over Your Career Site

Overhaul your career site, so it is engaging, compelling, and mobile-friendly. Because younger job seekers go straight to the companies that are hiring, you need an authentic narrative to draw them in. For instance, include employee stories, photos, and videos of your office space. Also, share your company’s origin, story, mission, vision, and values. Plus, detail how you support staff with competitive compensation, benefits, and growth opportunities. Additionally, make your career site the hub of your social platforms, video content, job postings, company news, and other relevant information.

Targeting Young Accounting & Finance Professionals

Your employer brand has a significant impact on the employees you bring aboard. Because millennials and Generation Z make up the majority of the workforce, you want to cater to their interests when promoting your brand. This includes using social media to advertise openings, revamping job descriptions to make them more enticing, and overhauling your career site, so candidates want to work for you. When job seekers visualize themselves as part of your team, they are more likely to apply for a role.

When the time comes to hire accounting and finance professionals, partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. We are dedicated to excellence through education and investing in our staff, so we provide the highest quality of performance for our clients. Learn more today.

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. 

 

5 Ways Video Can Improve Your Recruitment Process

Continuously reviewing your company’s recruitment process is important; including more effective recruiting activities draws top talent to your organization. One way to enhance your recruitment process is by including videos. People are more likely to engage with a website or email if video is involved. Not only does content including video rank higher in search engines, but it also increases a viewer’s attention span. In the case of a job search, video increases the odds of a candidate engaging with your company and wanting to join your recruitment process. You gain greater access to qualified candidates then.

Increase your competitive advantage by incorporating video into your recruitment process in these five ways.

Feature Videos on Your Website

Include videos on your career page to increase candidate engagement. People visit your website to learn more about your brand and what it’s like to work for you. Use video to display company culture and employee testimonials. Give insight into office aesthetics and job responsibilities. Provide a true representation of your organization to connect with qualified candidates more effectively.

Include Videos in Job Postings

Put videos in job ads to demonstrate your expectations. Videos increase your search engine optimization (SEO), increasing the odds that your job postings show up in search results. The video may highlight a day at the office, including the work environment and job responsibilities. Candidates who view the videos can more effectively determine whether they are a good fit for the position and company culture.

Share Videos on Social Media

Create videos for your company’s social media platforms. This expands your recruitment efforts on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other channels. Your company’s followers can share videos with their networks. This increases your reach and widens candidate pools.

Create Video for Candidate Communication

Include a link to an employment video with your emails to candidates. Whether sending a response or confirmation email, your message will stand out. Your video might include a message from the CEO, instruction on next steps of the hiring process, or something else that improves communication with candidates and better clarifies your expectations. This enhances your pitch, further encouraging candidates to move forward with your recruitment process.

Include Videos for Onboarding

Use videos in your onboarding process. Customize training videos to help new hires better understand your company’s mission, vision, values, and processes. This increases engagement, performance, and longevity with your organization.

Involve Video in Your Recruitment Process

Video in your recruitment process enhances engagement with your organization. You present your brand in a compelling manner, capture candidates’ attention, enhance their experience with your company, and increase your number of applicants for a role. This provides more options when deciding which candidate to bring aboard to fill a role.

When it is time to find top accounting and finance professionals, reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. As a National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) accredited firm, we are bound to a high code of ethics while serving our clients. Learn more about how we can help you today.