6 Effective Ways to Build Trust with Your Employees

As a manager, building trust with your employees is essential for success. You need your employees to carry out daily tasks related to their jobs. Your employees need you for guidance, support, and leadership.

Effective ways to build trust with your employees must be worked on daily. This is especially true if your employees work remotely or hybrid.

The more your employees trust you, the more engaged and productive they will be. This elevates job satisfaction, employee morale, and retention. It also increases your bottom line.

Choose among these six effective ways to build trust with your employees.

1. Openly Communicate

Build trust with your employees by initiating or joining in conversations. This may involve sharing company news and insights or answering questions. Also, be attentive to your employees’ concerns. Ongoing communication with your employees builds confidence in your leadership abilities.

2. Provide Flexibility

Although you want your employees to work full days, situations will arise when they must take care of their personal needs. Show compassion by letting your employees take care of family issues or other priorities that come up.

Your employees are likely to go above and beyond when you need them to. Being there for your employees shows they are trusted and valued team members.

3. Be Direct

Communicate with your employees in a clear, honest manner. This is especially important if you have bad news to deliver.

Calm, direct engagement in conversations lets participants be heard and understood. This supports respect and trust with your employees.

4. Delegate Responsibilities

Ask your employees to take on high-priority tasks and duties. Show that you trust them to follow through and reach deadlines with little oversight.

5. Offer Guidance

Reassure, support, or lead your employees when needed. Show that they can depend on you in good and bad times.

Help your employees move through challenges and come out stronger than before. Being there for your employees helps build trust.

6. Lead by Example

Model the behavior you want your employees to follow. This includes being authentic and vulnerable. Your employees are likely to trust you enough to be authentic and vulnerable in return.

Add Employees to Your Team

Openly communicating in a direct manner and providing flexibility help build trust with your employees. Delegating responsibilities, offering guidance, and leading by example show that your employees are valued and respected members of your team.

When you need to add employees to your team, get help from Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Learn more today.

Challenges in Recruiting for Accounting & Finance Positions and How to Conquer Them

As The Great Resignation goes on, many employees are leaving their jobs for other opportunities. Therefore, the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions continue to increase.

Many accounting and finance professionals are expected to accomplish more with fewer resources. This increases stress levels, especially during busy seasons. The inability to maintain work-life balance often leads to burnout.

As more accounting and finance professionals leave the industry or retire, fewer professionals are entering the field. This increases the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions.

Because accounting and finance professionals are needed to drive business, company leaders must find ways to increase employee attraction and retention. These tips can help.

Learn the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions and how to conquer them.

Loss of Talent

Many experienced accounting and finance professionals are leaving the industry. Job-related mental health concerns, such as anxiety and depression, are among the top reasons why.

Lack of work-life balance, especially during busy seasons, also contributes to the decision to leave. Constant exposure to work-related stress can lead to burnout.

Seasoned professionals are the hardest professionals to replace. This is especially true for mid-career professionals.

Increased Automation

Fortunately, you can support your accounting and finance team by implementing robotic process automation (RPA). This software emulates human actions and mimics how humans interact with technologies.

RPA can help with essential accounting and finance functions:

  • Analytical procedures
  • Financial statement preparation
  • Dual-purpose audit tests
  • Forecasting
  • Investment decisions
  • Cost allocation
  • Expense reimbursement
  • Accounts payable
  • Accounts receivable
  • Reconciliation
  • Tax reporting
  • Cloud-based applications

Providing access to the necessary tools, systems, and support helps accounting and finance professionals complete their work. This helps maintain work-life balance and positive mental health while reaching company goals.

Work with an Accounting and Finance Staffing Agency

You can conquer the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions by partnering with a staffing agency that specializes in the industry. The agency has a vast network of experienced professionals with the skills and qualifications needed to help you achieve your company’s goals.

You can choose from temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire workers to blend with your full-time employees. Taking advantage of this flexibility helps save money while filling your staffing needs.

Partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

The loss of talent in the accounting and finance industry requires increasing use of automation to support your workforce. Working with an accounting and finance staffing agency can help you find the qualified professionals you need to reach your business goals.

Reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources for help filling your recruiting needs. Get started today.

Why Showing Gratitude to Your Employees Can Lead to Higher Productivity

Most employees cite their income, work environment, and company culture as reasons why they enjoy their roles. However, how they feel about their positions matters as well.

Employees feel good when their employers appreciate them. These employees often share their positive emotions with colleagues and coworkers. The cycle of smiles, generosity, and random acts of kindness impacts others in the organization. This leads to greater feelings of employee appreciation.

As a manager, you influence how your employees feel when they are at work. This is why you should be giving praise for employee achievements.

Providing autonomy and constructive feedback shows your employees they are valued and respected. This promotes engagement, productivity, and retention.

Discover how showing gratitude for your employees can increase productivity and how you can attain this objective.

Attractive Company Culture

Employees who feel appreciated often express gratitude for their colleagues and coworkers. This promotes feelings of appreciation throughout the organization. Companies that emphasize employee appreciation have an attractive culture. This encourages job seekers to apply to the organization.

Increased Employee Engagement

Employees who feel appreciated typically have high job satisfaction. They are committed to performing their best and reaching business goals. This results in strong customer satisfaction and revenue for a healthy bottom line.

Elevated Employee Performance

Expressing gratitude to your employees shows you appreciate their contributions and results. This creates a source of pride in their work. Employees who are proud of their achievements typically put in their best effort.

Stronger Employee Retention

Expressing gratitude to your employees shows they are valued and respected members of your team. This encourages your employees to perform their best. Employees who enjoy their roles are likely to remain with your organization long-term. This reduces hiring costs.

Methods to Express Employee Appreciation

  • Publicly give thanks for each employee’s specific contributions, results, and impacts on the organization.
  • Provide a donation in the employee’s name to a charity they care about.
  • Create a reward system that provides points to redeem for a gift card, remote work day, vacation day, or other awards.
  • Provide a bonus, pay increase, or promotion when appropriate.
  • Publicly give thanks for each employee’s specific contributions, results, and impacts on the organization.

Frequency of Employee Appreciation

A survey by Authentic Recognition found the following:

  • 2% Received Daily recognition
  • 11% Received Weekly recognition
  • 20% Received Quarterly recognition
  • 17% Received Annual recognition
  • 29% Received No recognition of any kind.

Source: https://authenticrecognition.com/how-frequently-should-you-give-recognition/

Want to Increase Your Team’s Productivity?

Expressing gratitude to your employees helps them feel valued and respected. This encourages your employees to remain engaged, productive, and loyal to your organization.

Many HR managers and People leaders follow the R.I.S.E. method when implementing their recognition program. This concept highlights how employee appreciation should be regular, immediate, specific, and encouraging.

If you’re looking for other ideas to express employee appreciation, or you need to add employees to your team, include Casey Accounting & Finance Resources in your hiring process. Learn more today.

 

How to Motivate Your Employees to Finish Strong in Q4

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, approximately 65% of employees are not fully engaged in their work. This percentage likely increases during the holiday season.

Maintaining focus during Q4 can be difficult for employees. Most are thinking about their holiday plans rather than their work tasks.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to motivate your employees to finish the year strong. These ideas can help.

Follow these guidelines to motivate your accounting and finance team to finish strong in Q4.

Revisit Goals

Review which goals were achieved during the year and which remain. Then, clarify the goals your employees should put in additional effort to attain. Include how the goals increase company success for the current year. This sets up a strong beginning to the new year.

Offer Incentives

Provide incentives to your employees who reach their goals for Q4. Examples include gift cards, bonuses, and additional paid time off in the new year. These incentives encourage your team to go above and beyond to increase their achievements for the year.

Encourage Autonomy

Let your employees work as independently as possible. This shows you trust, value, and respect them.

Since your team members are well-trained, they understand what to do and when to do it. Provide the necessary resources and be available for questions, then let your team work independently.

Recognize Achievements

Thank your employees for their contributions and results. Include the goals your team members reached, the steps taken to attain the goals, and the impact on the organization. This increases employee engagement and performance.

Lead by Example

Model the behavior you want to see from your employees. Examples include meeting milestones, communicating status updates and challenges, and asking for assistance. Your team is likely to follow your example as their leader.

Need Help Finishing Q4 Strong?

Revisiting goals lets your employees know what to work on during Q4. Offering incentives, encouraging autonomy, and recognizing achievements show you trust, value, and respect your team.

If you need temporary team members to help finish Q4 strong, talk with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Learn more today.

 

Becoming a Better Finance Manager: What to Do and What Not to Do

Everyone has room for improvement at work. This includes your role as a finance manager.

Becoming a better finance manager elevates your team’s performance. Your employees likely will stay engaged longer, perform better, and remain with your organization longer.

As a result, you must do what you can to become a better finance manager. The following tips can help.

Becoming a Better Finance Manager

Do: Remain Accessible

Make yourself available to your employees. Encourage them to talk with you about their needs and concerns.

Being accessible shows you value and respect your team. It also improves employee engagement, productivity, and morale.

Don’t: Micromanage

Your role is not to perform your employees’ work. This means you do not need to hover while your team members complete their tasks.

Keep in mind you hired the best talent and trust them to effectively complete their work. You are there to provide guidance, supervision, and mentorship. This includes giving your team the necessary resources, letting them work, and being available for questions and support.

Do: Provide Feedback

Regularly give each employee constructive feedback. Include what they are doing well, what they can do better, and specific ways they can improve.

Constructive feedback builds trust and respect among your employees. It also improves employee engagement, performance, and retention.

Don’t: Shame Your Employees

Publicly embarrassing your employees does not establish your authority. Rather, it undermines your credibility and turns your team against you.

Instead, privately suggest methods to improve an employee’s performance. Use the discussion to empower your team member with specific steps to more effectively perform their work.

Do: Celebrate Accomplishments

Acknowledge when your employees reach a target, finish a project, or attain a goal. Include what each team member accomplished, the steps they took, and their impact on the organization.

You may want to send your employee a congratulatory email or take your team to lunch. Also, let other managers, supervisors, and leaders know of your employee’s or team’s success. Plus, provide a bonus, raise, or promotion when appropriate.

Celebrating employee accomplishments encourages your team to repeat the behaviors that led to the results. This elevates employee engagement, performance, and job satisfaction.

Don’t: Ignore Your Employees’ Skill Development

Employee skill development is imperative for career progression. Not having opportunities for professional development means your team members cannot move up within the organization. Lack of advancement encourages your employees to look for jobs elsewhere.

Instead, delegate tasks to your employees to promote their skill development. Also, offer stretch assignments, job shadowing, and cross-training opportunities. Plus, let your team members lead meetings and represent the company at industry events. These actions promote employee longevity with your company.

Effective Leadership Means Hiring the Best

Understanding what to do and what not to do as a finance manager makes you a more effective leader. The more your employees feel valued and respected, the longer they will stay engaged, perform their best, and remain with your organization.

Free up the time needed to manage your team by making Casey Accounting & Finance Resources part of your recruiting process. Get started today.

Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace

Many people still are dealing with the psychological and emotional effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Add to this discouraging news about the economy and other world issues, employees are experiencing instability in significant areas of their professional and personal lives like never before.

The Conference Board conducted a 2022 mental health survey of over 1,100 workers. Fifty percent of the respondents reported deteriorating mental health since the coronavirus pandemic began. Only 38% of the workers felt their manager adequately addressed their mental health concerns. Merely 29% of respondents whose companies offered mental health support found the resources helpful.

In response to what employers can do to help, 82% of the workers mentioned offering managers training on how to address mental health concerns. Sixty-one percent of respondents said increased manager trust would improve their mental health.

As a result, managers must actively listen to and provide support for their employees for their teams to succeed. This involves managers advocating for their employees’ needs to create caring, empathetic work cultures.

Follow these guidelines to prioritize mental health throughout your organization.

Embrace Change

Being comfortable with change positively impacts employee engagement, morale, and leadership styles. This includes modeling behavior that is open to and accepting of the transforming work world.

  • Regularly talk with your employees about what they need to feel safe at work and excel in their roles.
  • Determine how your team members feel about their workloads.
  • Talk about potential feelings of disengagement or burnout.
  • Find out how you can more effectively support your employees.
  • Ask for constructive feedback on how you handle situations.
  • Encourage your employees to ask for what they need.

Update Work Practices

Assess the policies, processes, and systems that no longer serve your employees. Examples include set work hours, limited leave policies, and not feeling comfortable providing or receiving feedback.

  • Educate your team on the resources available for mental health support.
  • Advocate for flexible work hours, more comprehensive leave policies, and psychological safety for employees to give and receive constructive feedback.
  • Actively seek new information on employee-first work cultures.
  • Use data to support your decisions.

Advocate for Mental Health Support

Talk with your employees about your own mental health issues. Include how you seek and receive support both inside and outside the organization.

  • Share your methods for coping with workplace stress.
  • Discuss your feelings of safety when sharing your thoughts with your team or manager.
  • Be honest about how you are feeling and when you are having a bad day.
  • Encourage your employees to take time for self-care throughout the day and at night.
  • Emphasize why building a culture of mental health support matters.
  • Demonstrate how everyone needs to be invested in building a culture of mental health support.

Need More Ideas?

Embracing change, updating your work practices, and advocating for mental health support are ways to prioritize mental wellness in your workplace. Modeling these behaviors helps reduce the risk of burnout. This increases employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

If you’d like other ideas, check out our previous blog from Mental Health Awareness Month in April.

We’re here to offer more support to your team. Make Casey Accounting & Finance Resources part of your talent acquisition process. Find out more today.

 

Interview Skills You Should Brush Up On to Succeed!

As companies move forward during The Great Resignation, they need to hire the right employees. This requires effective interview skills.

It takes a significant amount of time for a hiring manager and HR to discuss the job requirements, source and screen candidates, and conduct interviews. It also takes time to conduct background checks, finalize the candidate selections, and wait for candidates to accept offers and begin working.

As a result, hiring managers should participate in training now to refresh their interview skills. This helps build candidate pipelines for current and future hiring needs.

Discover some benefits of hiring managers brushing up on their interview skills and topics to discuss during training.

Advantages of Refreshing Interview Skills

Proving a refresher for hiring managers’ interview skills training lets them practice in a safe environment. Because these managers may not have conducted interviews for a significant time, a mini session would be advantageous.

Refresher training ensures hiring managers and HR are on the same page regarding interviewing. This increases success in hiring the best candidates.

Topics to Discuss When Refreshing Interview Skills

Intake meeting: Talk about the meeting between the hiring manager and HR to discuss the job requirements and sourcing strategy. For instance, emphasize the importance of the candidate experience throughout the hiring process. Also, discuss specific ways to show commitment to diversity and inclusion so candidates feel they are welcome and can be themselves at work.

Discussing the intake meeting ensures the hiring manager and HR are following the same policies and procedures for interviewing. This speeds up the hiring process, increasing the likelihood of hiring top candidates.

Interview questions: Emphasize the importance of asking effective, compliant behavioral interview questions. These questions provide insight into a candidate’s experience.

You may want to use the STAR method to create interview questions. This involves asking a candidate about a situation they encountered, the task they needed to accomplish, the action they took, and the results they attained.

Ensure the hiring manager asks follow-up questions to gather enough detail for a complete picture of the situation, task, action, and result. This helps provide the necessary information to make a hiring decision.

Candidate selection: Remind hiring managers to look past their unconscious biases when choosing the best candidate. This can be accomplished through an online training program that may be included in your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Need Help with Hiring?

Refreshing hiring managers’ interview skills ensures managers and HR are on the same page throughout the hiring process. Sharing details about the intake meeting, interview questions, and the candidate selection process increases the likelihood of hiring the most qualified candidates.

For additional help with hiring, partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Get started today.

What Employers Can Do to Better Support Their Working Parents

Employers always are looking for ways to support their employees. This improves productivity, performance, and retention.

One key area of support is for working parents. Because most employees have families, they make up a significant part of the workforce.

Working parents often deal with issues that affect their professional performance. Examples include taking time off to care for a sick child and needing to finish work early to handle family responsibilities.

As a result, employers who provide accommodations for working parents are more attractive to employees and job seekers. Taking small steps can result in a substantial impact on your organization with little impact on the bottom line.

Choose among these methods to provide support for your working parents.

Talk About Working Parents’ Needs

Find out more about what your working parents want help with most. You may want to begin with a survey to understand their issues, concerns, and suggestions for help. Then, you can use this information to begin discussions between working parents and management about methods to increase support.

You may want to identify a specific issue that many working parents face. Then, you could encourage managers to speak with their employees for more details. The managers could meet with HR and leadership to share feedback and discuss implementation methods.

Create a Parents’ Network

Encourage working parents to share ideas, provide support, and organize family-friendly activities. This may include creating an email chain for parents to swap out gently used children’s clothing. Or, parents might provide tips to ease the stress of raising children while working full-time.

Having this network helps fill working parents’ wants and needs by connecting them with the right individuals at the right time. You may want to create a dedicated intranet page or Slack channel to encourage working parents to join the network.

Provide Flexibility

Offer employees a flexible schedule and options for how they work. Examples include working remotely, hybrid, flextime, part-time, or having a compressed workweek.

You may want to make accommodations for when working parents’ children start school or change their childcare routines. This reduces the stress of fitting in work around childcare. It also increases productivity and retention.

Looking for Additional Advice?

Working parents appreciate help supporting their personal and professional needs. Talking about and accommodating working parents’ needs, creating a working parents’ network, and providing flexibility are effective methods to provide this support. This increases employee engagement, productivity, and performance. It also increases employee attraction and retention.

For additional advice to better support your team’s working parents, reach out to the professionals at Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Contact us today.

 

Struggling to Get Applicants? Why You Need to Examine Your Hiring Process and How Long It Takes to Hear Back

Like many employers, you may be having difficulty filling your job openings. One of the reasons may be that you take too long to respond to candidates.

Regular follow-up throughout your hiring process is important. This may include letting candidates know you received their application, would like to schedule an interview or are considering offering them a job. It also involves what the next steps in the process are and when the candidate should expect to hear from you.

Discover why regular communication throughout your hiring process is an effective way to hire the best applicants.

Respect

Responding to each candidate shows you respect their time. Applying for a job takes a significant amount of research and decision-making. Expressing interest in working for your company says a great deal about your organization. Showing appreciation is important.

Realistically, you may be unable to personally respond to each candidate. As a result, you might want to automate your responses with your applicant tracking system (ATS). This helps provide a positive candidate experience.

Candidate Engagement

Top candidates have many employment options. Following up with them throughout your hiring process helps keep them engaged. This increases the odds that your best candidates will accept potential job offers from you.

Be sure to let each candidate know when they should expect to hear from you. Also, fulfill these expectations as much as possible. If you need to extend a timeframe, let each candidate know as soon as possible.

Candidate Experience

Effectively following up throughout your hiring process improves the candidate experience. This helps set your company apart from the competition. It also helps you hire more high-quality candidates.

Even if you’re not ready to provide a job offer, share with your most desirable candidates feedback on their interviews. This encourages them to want to work for your organization.

Talent Pipelines

The more you keep in contact with candidates, the more your talent pipelines remain filled. A candidate who has a positive experience with your company but isn’t offered a job may apply for a role in the future. They also might refer other candidates to your organization.

Employer Brand

Regular follow-up with each candidate enhances your employer brand. The more you communicate with candidates, the more positive your company’s reputation remains.

Many candidates post reviews on Glassdoor and other employer review sites. They’re likely to share positive reviews when you follow up on an ongoing basis. This encourages other candidates to apply to your organization.

Want Help Hiring?

If you’re not regularly following up with candidates, you may be having trouble filling your jobs. Ongoing communication with candidates promotes respect for their time, engagement in the hiring process, and a positive candidate experience. It also helps keep your talent pipeline full and your employer brand positive.

If you need help hiring, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can match you with qualified candidates to fill your business needs. Learn more today.

What College Graduates Are Looking for in Their Job Search

It’s the time of year again for college graduations! This means more accounting and finance candidates are entering the workforce.

You want to take advantage of the knowledge, skills, and ideas this new group of talent has to offer. One of the best ways to attract these job seekers is through your benefits and perks. The more your benefits and perks fill these graduates’ needs, the more likely the graduates are to want to work for you.

Offering any of the following can encourage new college graduates to apply for your jobs.

Diversity and Inclusion

New college graduates prioritize joining a company that celebrates and values the differences among its employees. These companies tend to excel at innovation and problem-solving, making them highly attractive to job seekers.

Make sure your company has employees of different cultures, ethnicities, genders, ages, and backgrounds at all levels. Showcase your employee resource groups (ERGs), cultural holiday celebrations, and other commitments to diversity and inclusion as well.

Work-Life Balance

The ability to control their time is important for recent college graduates. This is especially important for stress relief as these graduates transition from an academic setting into a professional setting.

Ensure you emphasize whether your company offers remote or hybrid work, a flexible schedule, generous paid time off, and mental health services. These benefits and perks help make your organization attractive to job seekers.

Tailored Benefits Package

Recent college graduates seek benefits that fit their current career and personal interests. These benefits may include student loan repayment, paid family or personal leave, or financial planning education.

Consider offering one or more of these benefits. The more you cater to recent graduates’ needs, the more inclined they will be to apply for your jobs.

Professional Development Opportunities

Recent college graduates want to work for an employer that provides opportunities for professional development. Because their first job serves as a stepping stone for their career, these graduates want to know what the future within an organization may hold for them.

Consider offering opportunities for mentorship, skill-building, and leadership development. The more opportunities for professional development new graduates see, the more likely they are to want to work for you.

Attractive Company Culture

New college graduates seek a company culture that blends with their personality and interests. The more these graduates feel that the culture is a good fit, the more likely they are to remain long-term.

Be sure your culture actively supports learning and growth. This should include ongoing employee recognition for their contributions and results.

Need Help Adding to Your Accounting and Finance Team?

New college graduates typically look for diversity and inclusion, work-life balance, tailored benefits, professional development opportunities, and attractive company culture when deciding where they want to work. Offering these increases the number of new graduates who apply to work for your company.

If you need help adding members to your Chicagoland accounting and finance team, turn to the experts at Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Learn more today.