Finance and Accounting Facing a Talent Crisis Part 2: The War for Talent

With unemployment reaching new lows, an already strained finance and accounting industry is starting to feel the pain. Additionally, as the economy continues to improve, demands for finance talent will increase, employees will expect more, and your fellow employers will ramp up their offers to meet talent demands.

As a leader in the accounting and finance community, rinehimerbaker knows the pains employers face, and has begun a few initiatives to help. After launching our technology practice to our outsourced accounting and professional accounting services a few years ago, we have recently added a recruiting practice, and are working to lead the discussion on accounting talent—starting with this blog series on finding and appeasing talent in 2018.

In pert one of this series, we talked about one of the drivers behind the current talent crisis: Accounting and finance talent isn’t prepared for the work you need done. Today, we would like to turn our attention to the highly qualified individuals—and why it’s so hard to give them what they want.

Employees’ Expectations

Employee expectations have changed. Due partially to the rise of the millennial generation, who has different needs than prior ones and due partially to the talent gap, employee expectations are not only higher, they are different. Millennials are saddled with student debt, expect technology to be there for them, and have different expectations of the workplace than their Generation X and Boomer peers. Traditionally, this wouldn’t be a cause for concern, but with the aforementioned talent gap and low unemployment rates, it pays to appease the cream of the crop in any way possible.

You Against the World

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to think that the talent will be there regardless of whether you change the way you look at recruiting. From the Big Four to the firm across the street, employers are going all in on talent. Higher compensation, unique benefits, and new working arrangements all are on the radar of firms and in-house accounting department and employers need to go beyond “business as usual” when looking at talent.

Three Ways to Improve Your Standing with Top Talent

According to a recent Digitalist Magazine article, there are three ways to boost your talent pipeline and differentiate yourself from other employers in need of top talent:

Automate

With employee expectations higher than ever, and job tenures growing shorter, one of the best ways to give employees a sense of meaning and importance is to automate the monotony. As we mentioned in our blog on the education gap, employees need to continue learning, thinking, and growing to overcome the shortcomings of their education. By automating certain processes, you can help them take on more meaningful work. We addressed the idea that better technology results in better relationships with talent in a recent blog: Meet the Expectations of Top Financial Talent with Cloud-Based Software.

Respect and Empower Employees

Organizations need to focus on creating meaning for employees. While automation is one way to do this, listening to employee ideas is another. Now free from the monotony of manual processes, employees have more time to use their training to improve the business. Per Digitalist,

“If your team is pushing to acquire new technology, hear them out. If a young hire recognizes an inefficiency, listen. And just as important, make sure they feel empowered enough to voice their opinions in the first place. Culture is shaped at the top, and building confidence is one of the surest ways to help develop those soft skills so desperately needed today.”

Engage Your Workforce

You need to acquire talent, your competitors need to acquire talent. Don’t let them poach the workforce you spent time and money building. Employees need to feel like they’re doing more than putting in ours and cashing checks. In addition to listening, respecting, and empowering, it’s critical to make your employees feel valued.

Meet Your Talent Needs with the Help of rinehimerbaker

At rinehimerbaker, while we can’t be the ones who change your culture, we can recommend the technology you need and find the people who fit into the culture. We welcome you to learn more about our recruiting services, stay tuned for all the latest in recruiting and human resources, and contact us to learn more.