Here Are Five Tips For CPA Recruitment For Your Firm

Having trouble in looking for qualified accounting professionals? Here are five useful tips to consider in your CPA recruitment strategy for your accounting firm!

Even though there is a considerable number of accountants out there, finding qualified accountants to join your team is a task easier said than done. Companies are aggressively gearing up their benefits package and salary caps to attract the best talents around. On the other hand, you also must compete with the biggest accounting firms, whose credible names are also attracting desirable accounting professionals. With the tight competition out there, you’re going to need all the help you can get. Below are five important tips in CPA recruitment:

1. Create a collaborative work environment.

Just like in other industries, working with a team is better than working alone. Designing your office space to be more engaging will help ease the anxiety of your employees and push them to interact with each other. This encourages an environment of knowledge sharing wherein people talk about their professional experiences, expertise, and help one another in performing complex tasks.

2. Provide opportunities for learning and professional development.

A continuous desire to learn is a trademark of a good employee. The lack of learning and growth opportunities is a let down for quality talents and will lead them to look for their needs somewhere else. Meanwhile, a poll by analytics firm Gallup revealed that 87% of millennials consider development important in seeking jobs. Addressing this need for learning and development can significantly increase your chances of getting better results in your CPA recruitment.

While hiring training professionals may cost you an arm and a leg, here are some alternatives in providing learning opportunities for your team:

• Allot a portion of the week dedicated solely to activities or projects with learning objectives. You can let each member of your team be autonomous in choosing their activities.
• Organize your team and take a number of free MOOCs together. This can make the experience more encouraging since you can have further discussion about your insights after participating in the MOOCs.
• Have a regular catch-up schedule and share what you do with your teammates. Let them know how you go about your job, and the solutions you implement to overcome your accounting challenges.

3. Ensure true work-life balance among your employees.

Let’s face the truth: it is almost impossible to get that 50/50 split between your career and everything else. Today, most of us will be able to work as long as we have a smart device with us and access to the internet, making us available on a 24/7 basis. This has led The Confused Millennial Founder and Forbes U30 Contributor Rachel Dresdale to argue that the balance each one of us should be striving for is not the amount of time that we dedicate for certain activities. Rather, our work-life balance should be defined by the fulfillment or the value that we get from these areas.

4. Diversify the work available to your employees.

One of the biggest let downs in any job is having the same repetitive job for the duration of your tenure. While artificial intelligence is looking to put an end to such roles, employee burnout still contributes to high turnover rates and poor staff performance.

Letting your team members handle different tasks, or exposing them to the different aspects of the finance and accounting industry will lessen the effects of burnout and boredom, as they are presented with new challenges and opportunities for learning. Another great option is to cross train your employees for different projects. This answers their need for new challenges and learning, while giving you assurance that someone else in your team could take over should someone else encounters an emergency.

5. Encourage your current employees to give you feedback.

This should be one of the bedrocks of your efforts in improving your company culture and employee benefits package. Take time to ask and listen to your team about the areas that you can improve on as the business owner. Address these concerns and take their suggestions into consideration. No one else can provide you with more accurate and relevant information than your current employees.

As soon as word-of-mouth about your company’s culture reach the CPAs you’re looking for, desirable candidates will come to your door, vying for a spot in your team.

The need for a good CPA recruitment strategy indicates that your firm is heading towards the right direction. Following these five suggestions shouldn’t be the end of your recruitment plan. Remember that each prospect has a different idea of what the ideal firm can offer. Constantly listening to your team and keeping up-to-date with industry trends are some of the sure ways to make sure that your employee programs remain relevant, and your recruitment plan, top-notch.

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