How to Utilize Automation to Better Your Hiring Process

The implementation of automation helps streamline your hiring process. The benefits include:

Time savings: You can automate tasks such as sharing job postings, sourcing candidates, scheduling interviews, and generating job offer letters. These actions free up time to build candidate relationships, conduct interviews, and fulfill other core activities.
Reduced biases: Automation in your screening process focuses on a candidate’s credentials rather than ethnicity, gender, age, and other personal identifiers. This process helps reduce unconscious biases that can influence hiring decisions.
Shorter time to hire: Automation of repetitive tasks helps speed up your hiring process. Filling jobs with the right candidates in less time helps save time and money.
Better candidate experience: Maintaining communication throughout your hiring process encourages candidate engagement. This process increases the odds of hiring the best candidates and receiving positive employer reviews.

As a result, you should start implementing automation in your hiring process today.

Discover how to utilize automation to better your hiring process.

Share Job Postings

You can use automation to share job postings with both the public and your employees. Letting your employees know which openings you are hiring for encourages them to provide referrals.

Employee referrals typically fit the job requirements and blend with your culture. As a result, you can fast-track referrals through your hiring process.

The sooner you begin onboarding and training employee referrals, the quicker they can begin producing. Even better, referrals are likely to remain long-term because they already know employees within your organization.

Streamline Your Resume Screening Process

A chatbot can evaluate resumes based on the criteria you set. Then, the bot can post on your chat platform the resumes of qualified candidates and mark them in your applicant tracking system (ATS) the rejected resumes. This process significantly reduces the time needed to screen resumes.

Schedule Interviews

Automation of the interview scheduling process lets qualified candidates decide when to meet for job interviews. The interviews get scheduled both in your ATS and on your scheduling platform.

The chatbot sends the interviewers and candidates reminders of the dates and times of the interviews. The bot also sends interviewers a link to each candidate’s profile in your ATS to prepare for the interview.

Sharing the interviewers’ availability lets candidates schedule or reschedule the times that work best for everyone. This process simplifies the ability to coordinate interviewer and candidate schedules.

Support Candidate Evaluations

Evaluating candidates soon after interviews helps provide performance feedback:

When a candidate moves to the interview stage in your ATS, a channel on your communication platform is created for the interviewers.
After the discussion, the interviewers receive a scorecard to fill out.
The responses populate the candidate’s ATS profile.
An HR chatbot schedules an interviewer videoconference to share thoughts on the candidate and determine the next step.

Deliver Job Offer Letters

Sending job offer letters soon after making hiring decisions increases the odds of candidate acceptance. Then, you can add the best candidates to your team.

The following process can create a job offer letter:

When a candidate in your ATS moves to the offer stage, a chatbot shares the offer details with the appropriate stakeholders through your communication platform.
The stakeholders approve or reject the candidate.
Approved job offer details are included in a letter created on your electronic signature platform.
A chatbot shares the job offer letter with the stakeholders to review and approve or reject it.
An approved letter is sent to the candidate through your electronic signature platform.
The signed letter is uploaded to your ATS.
The candidate’s status changes to hired.

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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.

5 Skill Tests to Make Sure Your Temp Employees Are the Right Fit

As an accounting and finance manager, there will be times when you need to add temp employees to your team. Your permanent employees may be taking a vacation, on a planned leave, out sick, or unexpectedly no longer part of your company.

Bringing aboard temp employees can help even out the workload for your team. Because these employees come from a staffing agency, you know they are vetted and skilled in their work.

Temp employees require little training to begin producing. However, you may want to conduct skills tests to make sure these employees have what it takes to succeed in a role.

The following are five skills tests you may use to make sure your temp employees fit with an open position.

1. Reading Comprehension

The tasks required of temporary employees typically involve reading comprehension, speed, and other written communication skills.

Temp employees need to receive, process, and send accurate information in emails, memos, reports, and other documents.
Temp employees must read written instructions to perform specific tasks.
Temp employees have to read reports to provide overviews to their managers.

2. Writing

Emails, memos, instructions, and related tasks require strong writing skills.

Temp employees may be asked to write an executive summary of a manager’s report.
This requires the proper tone, brevity, clarity, and precision.

3. Typing Speed and Accuracy

Because temporary employees often use computers, the employees must have typing skills.

You want temp employees who can type at high speeds.
Look for temp employees with a low error rate.

4. Word Processing

Temporary office employees need to understand your word processing software.

Proper use of the layout and typography features is needed to format documents in line with your company’s style and brand.
The temporary employees should be able to create fillable forms and modify templates for communications where the format is fixed, but the information varies, such as a monthly report.

5. Spreadsheets

Many tasks that temporary employees perform involve spreadsheets.

Temp employees may need to create spreadsheets to perform important functions.
Examples include tracking customer contacts or updating information in an existing spreadsheet, such as adding monthly sales for each sales professional.

Looking for Temporary Accounting & Finance Professionals?

Adding temp employees to your team can help ease the workload. You may want to provide skills tests to make sure the temp employees are able to complete the tasks that are expected of them. Our recruiters have access to hundreds of behavioral and skill tests to predict candidate workplace performance. We also offer interactive training modules for candidates who might need a refresher or to improve their skills.

When you need to temporarily fill accounting and finance roles, turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Find out more about how we can fill your temporary staffing needs today.

4 Ways to Build a Culture of Accountability

Having a culture of accountability means that results are communicated and understood by everyone. When mistakes are made, employees work to solve the problem and learn how to do better. They feel a sense of ownership in company results and do what it takes to attain their goals. Because top professionals want themselves, and others, to be held accountable, here are four ways to build a culture of accountability.

Hire Accountable People

How individuals perform affects how the team performs. Because accountability comes from the top, you want solid, consistent leaders who demonstrate and reward accountable behaviors in themselves and others. When interviewing, look for candidates who take responsibility. Because past behavior is the greatest predictor of future behavior, look for each candidate’s previous actions and their results to determine how they may perform under similar circumstances. For instance, which types of roles did the candidate hold in the past? Did they seek out leadership positions in school, personal pursuits or previous jobs? Ask for specific situations where the candidate showed accountable behaviors, such as when they failed at something despite careful planning. Find out what they learned, how they resolved the situation, and what they would do differently in a similar situation. Or, ask about a time when the candidate honored a commitment or did the right thing despite the fact that the action resulted in personal hardship. Listen to determine whether the candidate blamed someone else, made excuses, or took responsibility for the outcome.

Set Clear Expectations and Goals

Clarify your company’s expectations and goals so employees know exactly what they are working toward. Include measurable milestones to determine whether those expectations are being met. Let employees have a say in goal-setting to provide a sense of buy-in for the results. Ensure the goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-constrained. Make sure progress and results are regularly measured, tracked and reviewed with employees, such as at weekly or monthly meetings, to determine whether each employee and the team are on track or changes need to be implemented. Delegate a proper amount of authority to employees whose key decisions will affect team results.

Fix Issues Rather Than People

When issues arise, focus on resolving them rather than placing blame. People initially may feel vulnerable and become defensive knowing they’re being held accountable for their results. Help them feel safe by addressing the issue rather than who caused it. If an expectation isn’t met, talk with employees about how they can perform better. Help them create an action plan to address the deficiency. Provide coaching as needed.

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Are Your Job Descriptions Attracting the Right Accounting Talent? Let’s Review.

When was the last time you looked over your job descriptions? The best ones combine required skills and experience, company culture and other pertinent details. Ask yourself whether you have the right combination of the following elements to attract the right accounting talent.

Is the Job Title Clear?

Although unique titles such as “Financial Guru” may indicate a laid-back culture, they probably will not attract the type of professionals you are looking for. Because most candidates search for roles that match their skills and experience, using terms such as “guru” may cause your description to not show up or turn off candidates from applying. Instead, use industry-standard language that candidates search under to achieve more favorable results.

What Are the Duties?

You can determine the top five to seven requirements by interviewing employees and their supervisors, observing employees as they perform their work or referencing outside sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. Make sure you focus on how those requirements promote growth and development within the company and how an employee’s achievements can contribute to career progression.

What Are the Relevant Details?

Be sure you mention whether the position is exempt or nonexempt, how much travel is required, what the work environment is like, and whether the employee may telecommute. Candidates need enough information to determine whether they may excel in a role and want to apply.

Did You Mention Company Culture?

Candidates need to know whether they agree with your mission, values and beliefs and will enjoy working for your organization. For instance, along with mentioning benefits, perks, and bonuses, share whether you have an on-site gym, free food, flexible schedules, remote work opportunities or other unique offerings. When possible, include photos, graphics, videos or other multimedia that shows a diverse range of employees in your company.

Did an Employee Review the Job Description?

The employee can clarify the duties and responsibilities. The supervisor can ensure the description contains accurate information about the skills and qualifications.

When Was the Job Description Reviewed?

Read the description over annually to accurately describe the job as it is being performed. Duties and responsibilities may change, along with the skills and experience required to fulfill them. The best time to update a job description is when requirements change.

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5 of the Biggest Misconceptions About Working in the Finance Industry

Finance is one of the most misunderstood industries. Information conveyed through movies, news reports, online articles and other sources do not always contain facts or convey the entire story. For this reason, we are setting the record straight about some of the biggest misconceptions about working in the finance industry.

You Need a Finance Degree

Although education is important, many workers come from IT, art, or other non-finance backgrounds. Being able to understand and explain complex subjects is only one core requirement for working in the industry. As long as you have or can acquire financial skills, along with emotional intelligence and people skills, you can transfer other skills to a variety of finance positions. You also can participate in training opportunities and continuing education to enhance your skill set.

You Need an Extensive Network

Your network does not have to include connections from Ivy League schools or powerful people in the finance industry. What matters more are your education, credentials, strengths, skills, experience level, and networking ability. For instance, you can use your professional and networking skills to gain an internship that may lead to a full-time job. Once you have a job, you can begin networking with your peers and later move to professionals at higher levels and ask them to mentor you.

You Have to Work for a Bank or on Wall Street

The finance industry covers a variety of geographic locations, work environments and company culture. You could work for a large or small firm, long-established company or startup, or other range of organizations. For instance, if you work in fin-tech, you may be employed by early-stage disruptors, mid-sized companies or large corporations. The businesses may include tech lenders like OnDeck or payment companies like Square. Also, as an investment banker, you could work in almost any state. Although higher-paying jobs may be near financial hubs like New York or London, many banks are moving to remote locations such as Tampa, FL, or Providence, RI, to provide employees with a different lifestyle.

You Lack Work-Life Balance

Any career will be demanding and time-consuming when starting out. You may decide to be a banker, trader, portfolio manager, compliance analyst, research specialist or other professional and still have a life away from the office. Your level of work-life balance will depend on the profession you choose and the financial institution or organization you work for.

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5 Influential Technologies Affecting Recruiting This Year

Like most industries, recruiting is constantly changing. As new technology is introduced, the field continues to become more efficient and effective. Watch for these five influential technologies affecting recruiting in 2019.

1. Marketplaces

Marketplaces serve as a platform for employers to connect with recruiters. Due to reduced administrative requirements, vendor management and competitive placement fees, marketplaces are cost-effective. Also, having a centralized platform increases recruiter productivity and reach. Since marketplaces collect and store information on candidates’ resumes, skills, websites, LinkedIn profiles and more, hiring is more transparent and efficient. Plus, recruiters see candidates’ goals and learn more about them and what they want in their next role, which facilitates conversation and aids in proper placement.

2. Gig Economy

Recruiters face an even greater need to adopt new mobile and socially integrated communication technologies and platforms, such as Skype interviews or virtual reality video conferencing, to attract and place gig workers. Also, more HR technologies focused on worker onboarding, engagement, learning and career planning will develop.

3. Social Recruitment

Social recruitment involves clearly defined objectives and a target audience to determine which platforms are most effective in sharing a company’s job openings. For instance, visual platforms like Instagram are more suited for graphic designers and other creatives, whereas Twitter is more populated by IT and tech professionals. Also, social recruitment lets a company leverage social data to determine a candidate’s fit. For instance, Google Alerts and Radian6 let employers monitor candidates to see whether they fit with an opportunity. Additionally, many professionals engage on sites that fill both social and professional needs. For instance, Dribble is a community for designers, whereas GitHub is a platform for software developers.

4. Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics uses historical data to make predictions about the future. For instance, predictive analytics can consider industry, location, occupation and other elements to provide customized recommendations and get better responses to job postings. Also, predictive analytics can automate resume ranking, and shortlist and prescreen candidates, which increases the quality and diversity of new hires.

5. Artificial Intelligence

AI software programs and tools lower costs, reduce inherent biases and improve the quality of hires. Recruiters have more time to invest in fostering relationships with talent. For instance, chatbots can speed up the hiring process and enhance the candidate experience by assessing a candidate’s resume, online presence and fit with the role. Also, AI recruiting video interview platforms can evaluate the quality of a candidate’s voice, voice energy, pace of speech, use of fillers, answers, facial micro-expressions and body language. Plus, AI can determine whether a remote worker will be honest and ethical and appropriately represent the company if hired.

Contact the Seasoned Recruiters at a Leading Chicago Employment Agency

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5 Accounting Workforce Trends We’ll See in 2019

With the ongoing evolution in technology, the accounting industry will continue to change as well. Accountants will complete their work even more efficiently and effectively, adding additional value to their clients and employer. Here are five accounting workforce trends to look for in 2019.

Cloud Accounting

Using software and services stored on a network of remote servers strengthens security, allows for remote work, and improves disaster recovery. It also increases quality control and reduces costs. For instance, because cloud-based software can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, accountants have the real-time data they need to make educated business decisions. Also, since the data is stored in the cloud, there is no downtime in case of a natural disaster.

Cybersecurity

Because accountants deal with confidential financial information, they need to protect clients’ privacy. As malware, phishing and other criminal attacks continue to increase in intensity, so must security plans to block them. For instance, accountants will implement greater security protocols, receive more detailed training on security measures, and use more advanced security systems that anticipate risks.

Automation

Machine-driven algorithms will accomplish simple, routine work such as invoicing, processing payroll and tracking inventory more efficiently and effectively than humans. Automation also will increase accuracy and lower costs while freeing up time for humans to accomplish more complex activities. Accountants can leverage information, predict interactions, generate insights and provide a more valuable impact for their clients.

Blockchain

Blockchain technology will provide a continuously updated and verified accounting ledger that cannot be altered or corrupted. The technology will allow accountants to share and access data to more efficiently complete their work. For instance, Big Four accounting firms will continue to use blockchain research for accepting Bitcoin as a payment method, identify new applications and use cases for blockchain, and explore initial coin offerings that are similar to initial public offerings (IPOs) but use a cryptocurrency instead of a stock.

New Payment Structures

Cost-plus pricing will allow firms to charge the cost of performing a service plus a markup or profit margin. Fixed pricing will involve charging a fixed cost for a specific service. Value billing will consist of the firm charging for its perceived value of a service after the work has been finished. Value pricing will involve the firm charging for the client’s perceived value of a service. The price will be set before starting the work.

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Why Remote Options Can Boost Your Employee Morale

Remote work options may be one key to boosting your employee morale. Having more control over one’s work schedule and location increases work satisfaction, engagement and productivity. Engaged, productive employees are happy employees, which leads to greater morale.

Increased Job Satisfaction

Because employees avoid the commute, they experience lower stress levels and less work exhaustion. This results in a higher positive attitude, lower absenteeism and greater employee retention. Also, as baby boomers head into retirement, they want remote work options to complement their desired preretirement lifestyle. Generation X may be done raising their kids and want to be in the workforce but still want to spend time with their families. Millennials may be looking for life experiences that broaden their horizons and expand their networks. Plus, Generation Z may desire remote work options to refine their career growth.

Stronger Manager and Employee Relationships

Because management is even more critical when working remotely, managers need to be proactive leaders who are intentional in their style. They need to create standards and expectations for remote collaboration and model successful behaviors for remote work to be successful. With increased methods of communication and virtual connections, managers and employees can virtually connect face-to-face, through email or instant messaging, or over the phone when needed, resulting in greater connections.

Better Health

Since stress and burnout are lower, employees feel physically and emotionally healthy. Also, work flexibility stimulates the brain, leading to happier, more creative employees. It also builds relationships among different generations of workers, which increases feelings of happiness and well-being, improves communication and reduces conflicts. Additionally, remote work options allow for more sleep, so employees feel refreshed and productive the next day. Plus, employees who are ill may be able to complete their work without infecting co-workers.

Greater Work-Life Balance

Working from home allows employees to take care of personal responsibilities while still completing their tasks. They can tend to family needs, run errands, exercise and engage in other interests while fulfilling their professional responsibilities. Employees can also attend meetings through video conferencing and ask questions through instant messaging tools, ensuring they fulfill their duties while working remotely.

Hire Top Candidates With a Leading Chicago Employment Agency

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4 Ways to Understand Introverted Candidates

Introverts are natural leaders. Their persistence, diligence, and focus on work let them stand out from the competition. Because you want to hire introverts due to the benefits they provide, you need to understand them to better communicate and decide whether they fit with a role.

1. Learn About Introverts

Learn all you can about introverts. For instance, they dislike small talk. Although it is designed to put candidates at ease, small talk may cause additional stress for introverts. Also, introverts do not like talking about themselves. Their lack of self-promotion may come off as a lack of enthusiasm for the job, when just the opposite is true. Additionally, introverts may take longer to answer questions. They enjoy taking time to reflect before speaking, and may appear less confident with their answers than other candidates.

2. Adjust the Interview Process

Adjust the interview process to accommodate introverts. For instance, send the candidate interview questions in advance. They will value the time to process the information before responding. Also, ask for written responses to some questions, while saving verbal responses for the interview. Introverts typically prefer written communication over oral because they can better express their personality. Additionally, ask the candidate to research a topic and create a short presentation on it. Introverts enjoy organizing and meaningfully presenting their thoughts on a subject more than talking about themselves.

3. Customize Recruiting Tools

Customize your recruiting tools. For instance, because introverts tend to be more stressed about a phone interview than other candidates, consider screening candidates through text message. Introverts may be more at ease because they have additional time to articulate their answers and let their accomplishments speak for themselves. Introverts will appreciate not having to engage in small talk and can focus on their skills and experience, instead. They will not be focused on details such as their clothing choices, where the interview is being held, and who they are talking with, freeing them to focus on the questions being asked. Introverts will not have to repeat themselves, which they dislike doing, because their answers will be typed and can be looked at again to avoid redundant questions or answers.

4. Check References Early

Check references early in the recruiting process. They will help you to determine how an introverted candidate works, what they excel at, and whether they prefer to work independently or collaboratively. Talking with references upfront will provide additional insight into what motivates the candidate and how to conduct a more effective interview.

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