How to make sure your finance and accounting team feels

With hybrid models looking like they’re here to stay, it is important for employers to appreciate and recognise their finance and accounting team’s contributions and the value they add to the business. As restrictions start to ease, employers should look to reduce staff turnover and retain top finance and accounting talent by providing a positive company culture, lowering stress levels, reducing the likelihood of burn out and letting teams know how meaningful their work is to business success, such as:

Offer greater levels of positive feedback

It helps to be specific here, not only does that reveal a greater level of understanding of their efforts on your part (and therefore greater authenticity, rather than blanket praise) which is itself affirming, but also means they know exactly what has been done well, the repetition of which is better for the business.

Awards

Maintain awards or introduce them if they were previously non-existent. Accolades such as employee of the month or prizes for best innovation, for example, mean employees still see their work is valued.

Gifts

Say ‘thank you’ for their efforts. For example a physical gift, as well as with words, can be a real boost to finance and accounting staff. And fun deliveries are wonderful when employees are working at home! Hampers, wellness packages, meal kits, etc., are all great ideas.

Share training resources

In-person training and development is important but have you thought about utilising the many courses for professional finance and accounting development online? Many are even free. Employees can access these at their own pace, and it will show them evidence of your ongoing commitment to their professional development.

Challenges of managing remote finance and accounting employees

Remote working has undoubtedly been a plus in some ways, yet obviously comes with a unique set of challenges. Remote management is not impossible to navigate, however, it is harder, so don’t beat yourself up if you’ve found it a strain! Managing a remote team is harder even in normal circumstances. In these challenging times managers have had to step up to remote management without having done it before.

Lack of face-to-face interactions

The impact of this can range from a lack of visibility when it comes to work output, to losing non-verbal cues that show how an employee is feeling, how motivated they are and so on.

Lack of team camaraderie

When team members are there to chat to each other, buoy each other up, share challenges and so on, it in part does a manager’s job for them – maintenance of team spirit leads to greater motivation and productivity. This is much harder to achieve when everything is remote.

Maintaining control of expenses

Remote employees may make purchases on personal cards and put them through expenses afterwards, rather than seeking authorisation or a PO first, which can make budgeting harder.

5 ways to promote remote employee engagement in finance and accounting

Employee recognition
Encourage continual learning
Be flexible and allow autonomy
Establish regular catch ups, between both manager and employee and the team
Communicate clearly

At Edward Mann we value the importance of staff who feel supported and encouraged in their work. We have engendered this philosophy in our own offices and would be happy to help you too. Feel free to get in touch if you are looking for tips to support your team and promote a positive work culture. With our database and deep networks within the finance community, we are also able to source high-calibre candidates to suit the specific needs of your business goals, ensuring you don’t miss out in the future. We actively look for the most technically proficient candidates and have an international mindset to ensure you get the best possible skillsets to suit your needs.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help

Submit a vacancy

Submit a vacancy