Accounting represents a competitive industry. Your employees have to dig deep to keep your company at the cutting edge. Are you doing enough to help them reach their potential?
Usually, the answer is “no.” One study showed that 70% of workers aren’t reaching their full potential. This means that you are wasting talent within your accounting staff and not getting the results you deserve.
What can you do to address the problem? Here are three crucial ways you can help your accounting employees reach their full potential.
Three Ways To Support Your Accounting Employees Develop
Incentivize Skill Development
Ideally, your accounting team will seek out new skills on their own. A self-starting workforce takes the pressure off you to drive development. That said, even go-getters can benefit from support and encouragement.
For this reason, you should create incentive structures to motivate your staff to reach their potential. You want to foster an environment that allows your team members to hone their current abilities. At the same time, you also want to push them to add to their list of skills.
Here are a few steps you can take to incentivize continued learning among your top employees:
- Reimburse education expenses
- Sponsor learning seminars
- Provide frequent feedback
- Create low-risk opportunities for growth
Create a Mentorship Program
Mentorship programs can make a big difference in a person’s career. Both sides of the relationship can gain additional perspectives and improve their skills because of the interaction. For instance, one study indicated that 97% of mentees found the process valuable.
You can encourage this in your accounting staff with a formal mentoring program. Pair incoming rookies with older veterans, experienced employees who can answer questions and become a role model.
There are other, more subtle, ways to encourage these kinds of connections as well. You don’t need to create a former mentorship program. Instead, you can foster these relationships with a more casual approach.
You just need to encourage connections between diverse employees and let your team members get the best out of each other. There are a few ways you can do this:
- Host social gatherings
- Create team assignments
- Encourage everyone to speak at meetings
- Recognize leadership qualities
Provide Clear Advancement Opportunities
If you want the stars of your accounting team to reach their full potential, give them room to grow and something to strive for. Showcase the fact that they can advance within your organization. In addition, underline your commitment to their development by rewarding stellar output.
Often, this encouragement can come in small ways. You can support employee development simply by providing encouragement on a day-to-day basis as well. The promise of a big promotion will create a great long-term motivator. But getting through the daily grind also requires words of praise and smaller, regular rewards.
A lack of respect and growth opportunities can hurt your team-building ability. One study found that nearly eight out of 10 workers who quit their jobs (79%) did so because they didn’t feel appreciated.
Don’t lose your top talent because you didn’t show how thankful you are for their efforts. Additionally, don’t stifle your best employees’ ambitions by limiting their ability to grow with your company. Provide opportunities to advance and to receive rewards, and watch your team respond with exceptional performance.
Looking For Talented Accounting Professionals? Elby Can Help You Build Your Team!
Of course, to build a great team you need the right talent to start with. To enact a standout development program, you need accounting employees with the right skills and a can-do attitude.
You can get this by teaming with a strong recruiter, like Elby Professional Services. You’ll get the high-level candidates you need to take your company to the next level.
Contact Elby today to learn more.
