5 Ways To Get the Most From Your Accounting Team
09 Nov, 20231-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- 5 ways to get the most from your accounting team.
- Benefits to having an efficient accountancy team.
- How to find and apply for the best accountancy jobs.
Motivating your staff is an extremely important strategy to get the most out of your accounting team. There are many ways to show your team that you recognise their hard work in order to get the most out of their collaborative efforts.
It is important that your accounting practice is up to date with trends and new training, and that employees communicate and collaborate with one another to achieve the best results.
Throughout this blog, we explore 5 effective strategies to maximise the productivity and performance of your accounting team to achieve better results.
5 ways to get the most from your accounting team
5 ways to get the most from your accounting team include:
- Emphasise training and development.
- Automate manual processes.
- Improve collaboration among departments.
- Encourage strong communication.
- Hold team building activities.
Emphasise training and development
According to High Speed Training, 63% of UK workers agreed that training and learning new skills helped them to develop themselves and their new careers. The accounting industry is no exception, as the need to improve is greater than ever.
It’s important for employees to stay ahead of the curve, be properly trained and have development plans in place for the business to thrive.
The accountancy industry is constantly changing and keeping up with the latest trends and new developments is crucial for the profitability and success of your practice.
In order to ensure that you are keeping staff employed and active, provide opportunities for development and upskilling.
Conducting performance reviews is a great way to get a clearer picture of your team’s tasks, abilities and where their skill level is at. Identifying and addressing any learning gaps or inefficiencies allows you to offer the best training for each individual.
The training could include employee coaching and employee mentoring to promote knowledge sharing and allow all staff to have the opportunity to learn about the roles and responsibilities of other members of staff, especially seniors.
This is an effective way to give an insight into other roles for those who might be considering developing their career and moving up the career ladder. The demand for skilled workers is greater than ever, so why not train and upskill your current workers?
This would help retain talent, enhance your office culture and ensure that your practice is up to date with the current trends and developments in the accountancy practice.
Automate manual processes
As technology continues to advance, more practices have begun to embrace it and utilise it to their advantage. The efficiency of any business let alone an accountancy practice depends on their processes. Manual processes have been at the core of every business for many decades but since the rise of technology and Artificial Intelligence, things are changing quickly.
AI can reduce manual and menial tasks, even reducing or eliminating errors completely. Reducing the dependency on human effort can ease workloads, enable a productive workflow and enhance better decision making.
Adopting automated processes can lighten the workload on employees and allow them to commit their focus, time and energy to more detailed work. By lightening your employees workload, you foster a better work-life balance and company culture, which are extremely appealing qualities in an employer.
Benefits to automating a manual process in your accountancy practice
Benefits to automating a manual process in your accountancy practice include:
- Get tasks completed faster and cheaper.
- Reduce errors and inconsistencies.
- Improve employee satisfaction.
- Employees can manage their workload better.
- Prioritise important tasks and work.
Improve collaboration among departments
Understanding the role that everyone plays within a business and how they benefit others can improve collaboration and build successful working relationships.
Employee collaboration is essential to the workplace and forms a synergetic relationship between your accounting team. According to Teamwork Statistics: Importance of Collaboration, 39% of employees report a lack of collaboration which can negatively impact the productivity and morale of the practice.
The research by Teamwork Statistics: Importance of Collaboration demonstrates that three-quarters of employees see collaboration as an important factor that significantly impacts the company’s success.
It is important to build relationships within the accounting team that foster collaboration and
work to improve efficiency and boost productivity.
It’s important for employees within a certain department to see the value of other departments so that they will collaborate to make the company more successful and profitable. Every department within a business has a part to play which makes employee collaboration critical.
Ways to improve collaboration among departments
Ways to improve collaboration among departments include:
- Establish a company-wide communication framework that bridges across all teams, (regardless of their technical expertise) to ensure that everyone understands the company’s goals - and how each role within the business contributes to it.
- Enable communication, empathy and mutual understanding through opportunities for discussion e.g. meetings, one to ones or informal conversations.
- Lead by example, and champion employees for their success, efforts and cooperation.
- Encourage open feedback and a collaborative culture.
- Share technology and information by giving employees access to the same types of data, people and tools to make it easier and fair for all.
- Understand the processes of each individual in your practice to appreciate workloads and how work overlaps with others.
Encourage strong communications
Communication is an important skill in the accountancy sector and having the ability to relay information and statistics that are clear, concise and precise is crucial. Poor communication skills can lead to errors, ineffective management and a lack of progression for the employee.
To get the most out of your accounting team, it’s important to lead by example and encourage positive conversations and communication.
Why not communicate with your team and encourage employees to provide feedback or opinions? A warm and welcoming work environment will foster a communication that allows conversations about mental health, work and success and failures.
Encouraging conversations between employees, as well as with managers, could allow more staff in your accountancy practice to feel confident asking questions or raising concerns. This could encourage better relationships, foster a more productive work environment and resolve conflicts or misunderstandings.
Why not get the accounting team involved when making a decision that affects everyone? Having an open window for conversation demonstrates that you value your employers and their opinions. It could benefit you as they may pitch ideas or solutions that could improve work processes or adapt new technologies.
Hold team building activities
Fostering company culture and cohesion among staff is crucial to make the most of your accounting team, and this can be achieved by hosting team building activities. Company culture is extremely important for employee retention, but it’s equally important for any future prospective employees.
Bringing your team together and encouraging employee engagement can make a huge difference when it comes to job satisfaction and organisational success. Making your practice feel more connected and happy can create a more cohesive work unit.
Team building activities can also benefit mental health, work life balance and boost morale, all of which contributes to greater productivity and efficiency.
Choose an activity that requires everyone to join in, work together and bond with other employees. Collaborating on a shared goal, project, game or event, can cultivate a positive culture. A bit of healthy competition and positive distractions, could allow your accountancy practice to feel the benefits and refocus their work.
Examples of team building activities
Examples of team building activities include:
- Sports - Yoga, a friendly game of football or go-karting are popular team building activities.
- Days out - Get together for food, a themed event or an escape room.
- Quizzes - Organise a quiz either in the office, via Teams or at the pub, to encourage a fun but stimulating group bonding opportunity.
- Games - Host games at work e.g. wink Murder or a scavenger hunt!
- Trust exercises - Helps to build a strong team and encourages confidence and trust.
- Participate in charity fundraising events e.g. organise a sponsored run or bake sale.
- Host a lunch and learn - A fun way to communicate and learn about everyone's roles and responsibilities.
- Host a brainstorming session - More fun and inspirational than a meeting, this gives employees the opportunity to share ideas that benefit the company and culture.
Accountancy jobs
Searching for your dream accountancy job? Check out all the latest opportunities available with us now! Alternatively, simply upload your CV and we will contact you when a relevant job opportunity becomes available!
If 2024 is the year for a new challenge, why not check out 24 job search tips for 2024 or 9 creative job search tips to help you on your way!
Accountancy recruitment services
Recruiting in 2024? Check out how to write a job advert that actually works in 2024.
Need some assistance with your recruitment strategy? Discover all the recruitment services available or reach out to our Managing Consultant, Matt Byrne-Fraser, who can discuss your options in more detail.
You can also check out how recruitment agencies give you a competitive edge in the fight to recruit the best talent in 2024.
Meet Matt Byrne-Fraser
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Based in the heart of Lancashire, we are a recruitment agency that aims for the stars! We look beyond the mechanics of recruitment with an aim to effect positive change and opportunity for all.
From the way we match candidates and clients, to the way we do business, we recognise the importance of embracing culture and challenging convention.
For us, finding candidates a job with the ability to better their standard of living and encourage a healthy work life balance. As we continue to develop and expand, we appreciate the value in boosting a candidate's salary as well as prioritising their mental health and well being.
We operate in two sectors:
In eleven specialisms:
Healthcare, Social Care & Nursing
Corporate Functions & Business Support
