How are technology and recruitment related?
You may be thinking that there isn’t a strong link between tech and the type of talent you retain, but 50% of millennials and 48% of Gen X would consider leaving their job due to lack of new technology.
Workers want straightforward, easy, and user-friendly experiences. This means that if you’re using outdated software at your accountancy practice—or, beyond that, manual paper methods—you're going to lose top talent to practices that offer employees a seamless technology experience.
For example, when weighing up where to work, if an accountant is choosing between two job offers—one from a practice where every task must be sent back and forth over email, versus another where they have automation and cloud systems in place—the obvious winner will be the one that uses tech to free up the candidates’ time to focus on what it is they love doing, instead of repetitive manual tasks.
How do you attract and retain talent using technology?
Leveraging technology to grow and retain your workforce will stand you out from the competition, and offer you the chance to hire top talent. Here’s how to do it.
Attract talent by:
- Using advanced recruitment platforms that allow you to connect with, and easily reach out to, top talent that matches your search.
- Use AI algorithms to show your job postings to the correct candidates who match your criteria.
- Virtual events can expand your reach, getting your company in front of a wider range of employees who may be interested in remote work and otherwise wouldn’t have found your company due to geographical location.
- Social media platforms can enhance your brand as an employer.
- Word of mouth is also a strong advocacy tool, as current employees who speak highly of your tech stack will spark interest among potential candidates.
Retain your workforce through:
- For retention, offer flexible work environments through remote desktop solutions and cloud-based tools fosters work-life balance.
- Provide quality IT support ensures employees can work without disruption.
- Invest in professional development platforms helps employees grow their skills.
- Use employee engagement tools and implement robust security measures to create a secure work environment, driving employee satisfaction and loyalty
How can tech help your employee retention?
Accessing data easily, and being able to work collaboratively—both internally, and with clients—is key for talent to succeed at accounting practices.
One way this harmonious workflow can be achieved is through cloud accounting solutions, offering a shared working environment, with data accessible from anywhere at any time. The benefits of cloud accounting include saving time for your employees and money for your practice. But what is it about the positive experience with cloud solutions that makes top talent stay?
Here are five ways you can use technology and IT infrastructure such as cloud accounting to improve employee retention:
1. Quality IT support
Employees are more likely to be satisfied when they have help on hand while they work. Maximise productivity by allowing them to spend more time on tasks that provide value and measurable returns for your business. No need to worry about software updates, replacing outdated hardware or day-to-day IT issues when you use a trusted software partner.
2.Access data from anywhere
Using a cloud-based remote data hosting system allows your employees to access up-to-date data from anywhere, at any time. A virtual desktop solution can provide an infrastructure for all your applications—always exhibiting the same look and feel for users.
3. Protection from data-loss
Another benefit of using cloud solutions for data hosting is that your infrastructure is replicated between two data centres ensuring business continuity in the unlikely event of system failures at either site. This protects your employees and your practice from losing data and having to start again.
4. Ability to work quickly
Using trusted cloud-based data hosting partners mean you offer employees the ability to work quickly and with ease. Sites are connected using a high speed private and secure network connection which means a fast transfer of data between all geographical sites. Attract and retain top talent, and maximise productivity, through a rapid hosting solution.
5. Reliable and efficient user experience
We all prefer working with computer programmes that we trust—those that won’t quit unexpectedly or repeatedly encounter issues with the servers. Choose software partners that offer fail-safe backup systems to give you and your employees peace of mind that your business-critical data is protected from data loss.
“Information technology (IT) is an enabler for professionals to do the job they are most skilled at,” says Ben Foulds, Sales and Marketing Director at HDUK. “It should be delivered without interruption or delay. A mechanism to give the users the tools required to provide the best results to their customers and their employers. This in turn gives the highest levels of job satisfaction. In a competitive skills landscape, it’s not just an expectation of employees, but essential to attract and retain the best staff and most profitable customers.”
How does tech improve employee experience?
Harvard Business Review estimates that 65% of tasks currently performed by managers have the potential to be automated by next year. This frees up time for top talent to work on the tasks that matter to them, such as building relationships and bringing in new clients.
Improve the employee experience through:
- Integrated systems which allow employees to access shared data on the cloud, and work in a collaborative cloud environment. This protects employees from data loss and allows them to integrate third-party systems reducing the need for rekeying data.
- Automation removes the burden of time-consuming tasks such as anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) checks, giving employees their time back.
- Ease within workflows, such as remote hosted systems that allow users to stay compliant and work faster.
Investing in your workforce isn’t just a long-term strategy, it’s also essential in the short term. Unengaged and frustrated employees will lose you revenue and productivity.
