The Important Role Feedback Can Play for Employee Engagement

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

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

Discover the important role feedback can play in employee engagement.

Ongoing Communication

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

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

Employee Motivation

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

Minimal Errors

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

Stronger Leadership

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

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

Tips to Provide Feedback

Implement these tips to properly provide feedback to your employees:

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

Do You Need to Hire Accounting and Finance Employees?

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

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

Interview Red Flags to Be Mindful of When Hiring

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

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

Be mindful of these four interview red flags when hiring.

1. Disinterest in the Job

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

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

2. Speaking Negatively of Previous Employers

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

3. Lack of Questions During the Interview

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

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

4. Questionable References

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

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

Would You Like Help with Interviewing?

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

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

The Best Accounting & Finance Podcasts to Listen to Right Now

Are you searching for ways to stay informed about the latest accounting and finance news, trends, and best practices? If so, choose among these accounting and finance podcasts.

Discover the best accounting and finance podcasts to listen to right now.

Count Me In

Count Me In is hosted by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Learn the latest perspectives on the accounting and finance field from experts and thought leaders.

AICPA Town Hall Series

AICPA Town Hall Series is hosted by Susan Coffey, CEO of Public Accounting for AICPA, and Erik Asgeirsson, President and CEO of CPA.com. Discover the latest news and updates in the accounting profession from leading subject matter experts.

Grow My Accounting Practice

Grow My Accounting Practice is for accountants and bookkeepers who want to expand their businesses. Learn sales, marketing, hiring, management, pricing, and other business skills needed to scale your company.

The Abundant Accountant

The Abundant Accountant shares tips to build accounting skills, increase revenue, and expand firms. Topics include networking, pricing, finding ideal clients, increasing cash flow, and setting boundaries with clients.

Building the Premier Accounting Firm

Building the Premier Accounting Firm helps accounting professionals confidently offer quality services and get paid what they are worth. Learn tips and tricks to apply accounting principles to build a successful business.

Accounting Marketing Doesn’t Suck

Accounting Marketing Doesn’t Suck is hosted by Hugh Duffy. Learn from successful accountants, CPAs, and other professionals how to grow a profitable business.

Where Accountants Go

Where Accountants Go is for accountants in all industries. Learn as accounting guests share their stories about career development.

Accounting Technology Fireside Chat

Accounting Technology Fireside Chat hosts Nick and Trevor have been working with technology for accountants for over 10 years. Gain insight into where technology is going and how accountants can use technology to increase efficiency.

Accounting Matters

Accounting Matters is hosted by Sarah Cage Richter and Adam Olden from Embark. They start with a new topic and definition in each episode, then highlight and discuss the key areas from evaluation to reporting.

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

Partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources to add accounting and finance professionals to your team. Learn more today.

Are Cover Letters Outdated? Why Requiring a Cover Letter in Your Application Process May Deter Candidates from Applying

The majority of hiring managers have stopped requiring cover letters to be included with resumes. Most managers feel that cover letters have no impact on which applicants they decide to interview.

As a result, you may want to consider eliminating cover letters from your application process. Because this saves candidates time, they are more likely to apply for your roles.

Because they typically do not influence hiring decisions, you may want to stop including cover letters in your application process.

Automation in Hiring

The process of matching candidates with jobs is increasingly being done with technology. With the amount of online information available, applicant details are easily accessible. As a result, cover letters typically are not necessary.

You can learn about applicants through their social media profiles, online portfolios, websites, and blogs. This provides greater nuance and detail than a cover letter can.

Speed and Convenience

Online and mobile applications are becoming the new norm for job applications. This partly is because efficiency and effectiveness are required to attract top talent.

Requiring a cover letter may dissuade the best candidates to complete your application process. Most candidates will not spend more than 15 minutes on an application. Elimination of a cover letter can help resolve this issue.

Other Screening Methods

You may choose different methods to prescreen applicants. For instance, you might use assessment tools to validate the skills you are looking for. Or, you could request video submissions to get a feel for applicants’ personalities. This can help determine which applicants would be a good culture fit.

Make sure you use the right job titles and descriptions in your job postings. This can narrow down the list of applicants with the soft skills that otherwise may be listed in cover letters.

Tailor your job content to attract qualified applicants. These applicants have the experience, achievements, goals, and personality to excel in the role.

Get Help with Your Hiring Process

As cover letters continue to become outdated, you may want to reconsider whether should be included in your application process. The best talent does not want to spend a lot of time applying for a job. Also, most hiring managers aren’t considering content in cover letters when deciding which applicants to interview. As a result, it may be in everyone’s best interest not to require the submission of cover letters with resumes.

For help with hiring accounting and finance professionals, contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Reach out today.

How to Build Better Relationships Among Your Staff

Encouraging positive relationships among your staff is important. The more comfortable they feel working together, the more confidently they will brainstorm, develop new ideas, and voice their opinions. Open communication develops trust, respect, self-awareness, and inclusion. Developing this foundation helps your staff members more effectively create, innovate, and embrace change. It also promotes employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

Implement these tips to encourage connectivity among your team.

Train on Emotional Intelligence

Talk with your staff about the ability to recognize their own emotions to better understand what they are communicating. The development of this skill helps your staff members become more adept at identifying the emotions of their coworkers. This lets your staff more effectively fill their own needs and the needs of others.

Encourage Mindful Listening

Teach your staff to listen more than they talk. This helps them focus on what is being said and how they can effectively contribute to the conversation. Also, encourage your staff to ask follow-up questions about an issue. They can uncover more information and be better prepared to overcome an obstacle. Plus, remind your staff to show empathy when helping others. Working in a supportive environment helps with problem-solving.

Promote Boundaries

Remind your staff not to let relationship-building interfere with productivity. Although they need to provide enough time to talk with coworkers, they also need to finish their work on time. This means that social interactions should take place during break times.

Ask Questions

Ask your staff members questions about their personal life. Show that you want to learn more about who they are. Share information about your own life as well. Also, find common ground that you can build on. These topics may become the subjects of future conversations. Set an example for your staff members to follow with each other.

Express Appreciation

Let your staff know how much you appreciate their efforts and results. For instance, point out one specific action each staff member took each day to contribute to the organization. Mention what the results were and how the action benefitted the company. This encourages your staff to interact in the same manner with their teammates. Such actions promote a supportive team culture.

Looking for Accounting & Finance Staff?

The stronger the relationships among your staff members, the more collaborative your team is. This increases engagement, productivity, and retention. It also improves job satisfaction, employee morale, and your bottom line.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can provide the collaborative professionals you need to fill your team’s needs. Learn more today.

The Importance of Flexible Scheduling and How to Make It Work for Your Business

Companies that offer flexible schedules help accommodate their employees’ different lifestyles. This is becoming increasingly important as a method to attract quality accounting and finance candidates. Because more job seekers want control over their work-life integration, your team should be able to set their own work hours. Fortunately, implementation can be accomplished in a few steps.

Discover some benefits of offering a flexible schedule and how to implement it for your accounting and finance team.

Increased Work-Life Integration

Your team members appreciate being able to schedule their work around their personal lives. They can participate in their children’s school activities, run errands, and take care of household responsibilities while fitting in their work. This helps reduce stress and the potential for burnout.

Enhanced Engagement

Employees who work flexible hours remain engaged longer in their work. They feel highly respected and empowered by their manager. As a result, the staff tends to miss fewer days of work, stay focused longer, and accomplish more each day.

Greater Productivity

The ability to set their work hours lets your team members get more done each day. They can work during the times they are most focused and productive. Your employees’ energy levels and concentration levels should be high, allowing more tasks to get finished.

Stronger Employee Retention

Because employees prefer greater control over their time, they appreciate having a flexible schedule. This increases the likelihood of staying with their employer long-term. The longer you keep your staff, the lower your recruitment, onboarding, and training costs.

Additional Top Talent

Offering a flexible schedule encourages the best job seekers to want to work for you. Because many candidates find this perk even more attractive than salary and benefits, you may be able to save money in these areas. You also could attract more applicants than your competitors who do not offer flexible work hours.

Fill Your Team’s Needs

Ask your staff what their interest and needs are for working flexible hours. Find out whether they can effectively function as a team and what would have to happen to make it work. Make sure that your employees would be available when needed for meetings, client discussions, and other responsibilities.

Create a Policy

Develop written rules about flexible scheduling requirements. This may involve having to be at the office or available by phone during certain times. Include how communication with staff will occur when they are not in the office. Make sure the policy is detailed, clear, and non-discriminatory.

Need Top Accounting & Finance Talent?

Implementing a flexible schedule for your accounting and finance team provides many benefits. Productivity, engagement, and work-life integration should increase. This can attract the best candidates and lead to greater employee retention.

When you need to add the best talent to your team, reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. We have the candidates you need to fulfill your business goals.

Prevent Buyer’s Remorse! How to Make Sure You Have a Smooth Transition into Your New Job

Changing jobs can be a stressful time in your life, and you want to make sure you are taking steps to make the transition just a little easier. Being careful about how you conduct yourself during those last few weeks on the job is important because you want to make sure you are leaving on a good note, and ensure you are in the mindset to take on your next opportunity. Whether you’ve been with the company for a few months or a few years, here are some things you can do to make your transition to the new job much smoother.

Share the news with contacts on your last day of the old job.

Your colleagues may already know you are leaving, but you will want to wait to share any updates on social media or LinkedIn until your final days on the job. Make sure to notify people and make changes before you start your actual job, so you aren’t worried about getting updates, notifications and emails all day long on your first few days at the job. You need to be focused and show you are dedicated to the new job 100 percent — so email and social media interruptions need to be kept at a minimum.

Don’t talk poorly about your former employer.

If you had a hard time with your previous boss or weren’t happy with the job, it’s tempting to speak poorly about the old boss. Make sure you are not going out of your way to talk badly about them with colleagues, your future boss, or anybody else that may be connected with the company. You don’t want to be known as the person who ended up badmouthing the boss just because of a bad working relationship. There are always two sides to the story, and you don’t want to burn any bridges.

Be friendly.

It can be intimidating to meet new co-workers and get acquainted with new people in your department or company. You will need some time to learn about your new role and get adjusted to the new work environment. Make it a priority to be friendly to people during this time, so that you can make some new connections. Stay positive even when you feel anxious or stressed about the job so you can develop a solid network of contacts.

Take notes.

Take notes during meetings and just jot down key things you learned during the day, so you can keep yourself organized and on track. Taking notes will help you settle in that much faster, and have some things to study as you get acquainted.

Be ready to participate.

The new company has hired you to contribute and your role may involve active participation in meetings, brainstorming sessions and other group activities where you will need to speak up. Be confident in your decision to be there and don’t be afraid to do your part and come ready to participate.

Transitioning to a new job can be stressful, but there are several things you can do to make the change more manageable. If you need help with your job search or career advice, consider working with a top financial staffing firm in Chicago, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Contact us today!

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