How to Offer Flexibility to Your Accounting Employees

15 Mar How to Offer Flexibility to Your Accounting Employees

It’s a manager’s lament that’s as old as time: It’s hard to find good people to add to your team, and sometimes it’s even hard to keep them once they arrive. 

Accounting firms are as susceptible to this challenge as any other kind of company. How do you bring on board the most skilled employees to begin with, let alone keep them under your roof for years?

The answer might be embracing the idea of flexibility. Companies need to be flexible in their demands as well as the working conditions and environment where your team completes their job. 

Here’s how to incorporate and offer flexibility to your accounting team. 

• Promote and ensure a strong work-life balance. Your team spends 40 hours each week working for you. The rest of the time in their lives, outside those 40 hours, is theirs. Unless there are clauses about emergencies or last-minute high-demand projects, their off-time should be respected. If someone needs to work overtime, or if they need to come in early or stay late because you’ve asked them to, make accommodations to be flexible with their schedule to make up that extra time outside their normal schedule. Make it clear that you value their responsibilities and priorities outside of the office and that you will not impede on their home time unless it is absolutely necessary. A poor work-life balance, especially among accounting-based jobs, can drive turnover among employees who feel they don’t have enough time with their loved ones. 

• Consider flexible scheduling. Does everyone on your team need to work the exact same hours? Do some people have childcare or family care needs that would be made easier if they came in later, or left earlier? Can you offer a flexible schedule, either all the time or when it is needed? Have the conversation with your team and make it an equitable situation for everyone involved. Some people might like starting their day earlier while others feel more productive as the day goes on. Find a situation that works for everyone. 

• Consider remote or hybrid working arrangements. Does everyone need to be under your company’s roof at all times? In the past few years, employees have learned how to be successful, even thrive, while working in places other than a traditional office. If you have younger accountants who want to work at home, or in other locations, do what you can to make that work, provided you put in place tools and programs that allow them to be accessible to you during their work hours. They might need equipment, like additional monitors or VPN access, to be successful, but if they prove they’re capable of being just as efficient and productive in another location, why not let them? 

Of course, flexibility is a starting point when it comes to retaining the talent you hire. Pay equity — making sure men and women with the same job title, demands and amount of experience receive the same pay for their work — is critically important as well, in addition to a good work environment, diversity and inclusion policies and a positive company culture overall. As you work to improve one of these factors, you’ll notice the others will improve as well, boosting your employee’s happiness and engagement in their work, along with their productivity, all of which can improve your company’s employee retention and ability to attract top talent over time (happy employees talk!). 

If you’re looking to add to your team, don’t delay — call LeadingEdge Personnel. We have great candidates with the qualifications and certifications you’re looking for, ready to join a new team and eager to get started. Call LeadingEdge today and see how we can help your company become even more successful.