Accounting Jobs Chicago Archives

What Alternate Benefits Can Employers Offer to Combat the Year-End Bonus Request

Many candidates look for employers who provide bonuses at the end of the year. Receiving additional income during the holiday season can be a great reward for employee contributions and results during the year. However, your company may not have the budget right now to provide an end-of-year bonus. As a result, you should add other enticements to encourage candidates to accept your job offers.

Choose among these benefits and perks to increase the acceptance rates of your job offers.

Paid Sick Days

Almost all candidates want paid time off to rest and recuperate when they are ill. The ability to maintain their income encourages them to stay home and avoid spreading germs in the office. This shows you care about the health of your employees. You want them to come to work rested and ready to produce. It also reduces the number of absences due to contamination among sick coworkers.

Flexible Spending Account

Many candidates appreciate the ability to put aside pre-tax money to pay for the year’s out-of-pocket healthcare costs. These may include over-the-counter medications, co-pays for doctor visits, medical devices such as crutches or blood sugar tests, or vision needs like glasses or contacts. Consider contributing $500 to each employee’s flexible spending account (FSA) to make it even more attractive.

Tuition Reimbursement

Recent college graduates are among the candidates looking for help to pay off their student loans. Many candidates finish school in debt and want to begin making loan payments. This can help them put away money to purchase a home, save for retirement, or reach other financial goals.

Employee Development Plans

A significant number of candidates want to work for employers who provide customized education and training opportunities. This offers employees additional ways to more effectively perform their work. The skills and experience gained through employee development plans promote professional growth. This helps the employee achieve their career goals and advance both inside and outside the organization.

Performance Bonuses

The majority of candidates appreciate bonuses based on their performance. This provides motivation to stay engaged and productive. Tying the reward to employee results provides a sense of ownership and control. It also helps reach individual and business goals.

Need Accounting & Finance Employees?

If your budget does not allow for year-end bonuses, consider including other benefits and perks with your job offers. Paid sick days, an FSA, and tuition reimbursement are in high demand. Employee development plans and performance bonuses can entice candidates to accept your job offers as well.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can provide you with qualified professionals when you need them. Find out more today.

10 Items to Evaluate on LinkedIn Recommendations for Financial Candidates

LinkedIn recommendations are a nice way to learn more about financial candidates before you bring them in for an interview. On top of the resume and cover letter, a LinkedIn profile is increasing in importance during the job selection process. More quality feedback that you can acquire will provide you with a better chance of hiring the best fit for your company.

However, they can also be a little misleading because they are generated by individuals who may not have a lot of direct interaction with these candidates. How can you evaluate LinkedIn recommendations left by people on a financial candidate’s profile? Here are the top 10 items to critique.

What is the top-rated recommendation?
Are the LinkedIn recommendations relevant to the industry?
Who submitted the recommendations?
Do the recommendations appear to be real? (This is very important. Be aware of generic recommendations that appear fluffy and have no substance)
Is the candidate writing recommendations for others?
How many recommendations are recent?
Do the recommendations relate to the job itself?
Has the candidate proven the skills stated?
Are there recommendations that the candidate is lacking?
How closely do the LinkedIn recommendations match the candidate’s achievements? (Seeing actual numbers in the recommendation that show the impact made by the candidate are a great sign.)

When evaluating a candidate for a financial position within your company, it’s important that the recommendations are relevant for the job itself. For example, does the candidate have recommendations that indicate they have specific financial software skills? Or does the candidate’s recommendations show that there is an understanding of the industry, such as legal and ethical considerations? These are all things you will want to consider.

A good financial candidate will have strong recommendations, both in their skills section and the written testimonials left by others. Look for past employers who have taken the time to write positive reviews of a candidate’s performance. Also learn what you can about the candidate’s career direction, which should be evident from any work history provided. See a progression of added responsibilities and projects? These are good signs.

What really takes a LinkedIn recommendation to the next level is confirmation of accomplishments by the job candidates – the more details the recommendations provide, the better. If it’s a generic assessment, then it provides no real context. A job candidate that has a number of recommendations from different employers or varying perspectives is another great sign.

If you need support with finding a strong financial candidate to hire for your company, Casey Accounting and Finance Resources has the recruitment solutions for your organization. We have access to the best financial candidates in the greater Chicago area. Contact us today!

Employee Retention: Best Practices to Keep Your Employees Engaged

Employee retention is a big talking point at companies in every industry, with HR managers and other department heads trying to find new ways to keep employees – especially their most talented ones – from jumping ship. Part of employee retention is keeping employees engaged in what they are doing. If you are perplexed by poor employee retention and grumbling unhappy workers, your organization could be in trouble without prompt action.

Here, we will discuss the best practices to keep your employees engaged so they stick with your company and stay productive.

Commit to Open Communication

Let employees know what their jobs require and why their jobs are important to the success of the company. Make sure employees know that collaboration is welcome, especially when it comes to completing projects. Your company’s leaders must also encourage employee feedback and listen to it. Treat your temporary employees the same way and respect their ideas and contribution to the company goals.

Take Advantage of Social Media

Your company can create a safe place for employees to discuss issues within the industry with their co-workers by taking part in debates and other discussions. You could also create a Facebook page for new additions to your company where they can interact with each other prior to their first day on the job. They can also use the group to discuss how their first couple of months have gone at the company.

Create a Culture That’s Intentional

Creating an intentional culture is actually a good way to make sure that employees know how they are expected to act at the office and how the company wants them to fit in with others when it comes to their values. There is no reason to hide the corporate culture from employees. Hang posters, send newsletters, discuss it in meetings and write emails that explain the culture and the company’s values.

Support Employee Career Development

Employees want to know that they can climb the corporate ladder without having to switch employers multiple times. They do not want to get stuck in a dead-end job. If you want to keep your employees engaged, and in-house, make sure they have a defined career development path. Create learning opportunities and have a mentoring system in place for skills transfer.

Take one or two of the tips outlined above and put them to work for your company so you can keep employees engaged. The effort will be well worth it because of higher productivity and employees who will be more loyal to your company.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources is a trusted staffing firm that provides innovative and creative solutions. Contact us today and see how we will exceed your expectations as one of the top finance recruiters in Chicago.

Hire Fast! Great Accounting & Finance Candidates Land Quickly!

In the job market, finance and accounting candidates are easy to come by, but the really great ones are few and far between. This means the top companies are competing for high-performing finance and accounting candidates, before others can snatch them up. They do this using smart recruitment practices.

How can your company attract and hire great accounting and finance candidates fast before they land at other companies? Start with these tips.

Offer something the other companies don’t.

Do your research to find out what finance and accounting candidates are looking for. First, conduct a salary and compensation survey using the most recent data for your region and type of industry. PayScale is a good place to start, and you can also search at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational data or Salary.com. Find out what the best finance and accounting employees are earning, what benefits they enjoy, and what the market trends point to, in terms of career opportunities. Make this the foundation of your recruitment offering.

Become an employer of choice for finance and accounting pros.

Finance and accounting professionals are very much like other working people – they want to work for a well-respected company in the industry. Therefore, if you want to land the best candidates, your efforts should be about making your workplace the best in the market. Provide excellent compensation packages, highly ethical work practices, and proactive ways of getting people to that place they dream about.

Provide flexible work arrangements and career growth.

Working in the accounting and finance fields can be exhausting. Accounting and finance pros often find themselves working grueling hours on time-sensitive projects that drain them. This is why a company should offer flexible scheduling that allows for generous amounts of time off when needed. On top of that, career growth is a big need for many who work in this area of business. Offering training and advancement opportunities speaks loudly to top candidates.

Don’t forget about passive finance candidates.

When trying to obtain the best finance and accounting candidates possible, think outside of recruiting active job seekers. Look further and start connecting with passive candidates who may be seeking something better in the future. Building relationships with passive finance and accounting candidates gives you a chance to attract those who are highly valued in the market, so when they are ready for a new job, they will consider your company first.

Hire on a temporary basis.

One of the best ways to attract and hire the top accounting professionals in the market is via temporary staffing agencies. Many accounting and finance pros are looking for better opportunities, and they will seek out temp projects going this route. This also works well for seasonal peaks in your business and those that demand specialists in finance and accounting topics.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources, a winner of Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Client Award for the second consecutive year, can help your company meet all of its financial staffing needs. Contact our award-winning team today to get started!

2015 Salary Survey

Happy New Year! 2015 is upon us, and with that, there are updates to salaries in finance and accounting. The compensation trends change every year and with the fluctuating economy, you need to be on top of your game when negotiating salary numbers.

Looking to learn more about what salary expectations should be? Casey Accounting and Finance Resources can help! We have compiled our salary survey list with updated facts and figures including job descriptions for Finance and Accounting positions for the Chicago metropolitan area.

Contact us today and we will be happy to share this with you. In the “YOUR MESSAGE” section, please enter “2015 Finance Salary Survey”. Best wishes to you in 2015!