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February 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 7 FEATURE T ax season is tough on everyone, but managers need to make a special efort to watch out for the well-being of their teams. It's critical to prevent burnout and disen- gagement from jeopardizing morale and productivity. Here are seven tips for managing employees — and keeping motiva- tion up — during this busy time. ‹ 1 › Ensure bench strength. Make sure you have t he r i g ht t a lent on b o a r d b e f o r e t h e storm hits. Creating a d y n a m i c m i x o f f u l l-t i me employe e s a nd h ig h l y skilled interim professionals enables y o u t o s t a f f u p o r d o w n b a s e d o n w o r k l o a d demands all year long, and the benef its are par ticu- larly evident at tax time. I n t h e p r o c e s s , y o u i nc r e a s e t he job s t a- b i l i t y a n d m o r a l e o f y o u r f u l l - t i m e employees. Work i ng with a fnancial stafng frm can take much of t he st ress aw ay f rom the process of recruiting a nd h i r i ng t hese rei n- forcements. ‹ 2 › Monitor workloads. Keep a close watch on how well your sta f f i ng st rateg y is work i ng. I f it appears employees are still str ug - gling with sizeable challenges, it can sig n i f ica nt ly ta x t hei r endura nce (pu n i ntende d). By c ont i nu a l l y monitoring workloads, you'll be able to s pot d rops i n ef f ic ienc y or a higher-than-average rate of error and take prompt action. ‹ 3 › Identify roadblocks. Tink back to your p r e v i o u s t a x season. Did you r team spend exces- sive time on veri- f ying the accuracy of late submis- sions from clients? Was there trouble a t de a d l i ne t i me b e c au s e a f e w returns that required follow-up had been forgoten? Did employee ill- nesses come at just the wrong time? Te list goes on. But the point is that avoiding past mistakes can be a motivator for your team, who won't need to wonder, "Didn't we just go through this issue last year?" ‹ 4 › Delegate efectively. Adding staf is not t he on l y w ay to succeed in moti- vating employees during tax season. As a manager, part of your respon- sibility is to delegate tasks in a way that best addresses the needs of your busy periods. A ssess the abi lities and experience of your staf mem- bers to determine the best candi- dates for tasks you feel are appro- pr iate for delegating. T hen ma ke sure the people you've identifed are able — a nd w i l l i ng — to absorb new work. A word of warning: Ta x season when t he work load is espec ia l ly heav y may not be the best time to test an employee's sk ills in a new area. ‹ 5 › Promote teamwork and collaboration. Employees' stress l e v e l w i l l b e r e d u c e d i f t h e y have a feeling that "we're all in this together." To pro- mote this k ind of team cohesion, establ ish per iod ic goa ls, such a s celebrating completing the frst 500 tax returns or reaching the half way point in the work cycle. G e t t i n g t h e t e a m's b u y - i n i s especially crucial when everyone is u nder i ntense pressu re, so ma ke sure all employees understand what t he g roup goa l s a re . E nc ou r a ge information sharing and be willing to step in and help out if the team is short-handed. ‹ 6 › Let staf know work-life balance is still an option. Yes, it's possible for accountants to have a l i fe out side t he of f ice du r i ng t a x season. Be sure they under- stand that the goal is not to w o r k t o t h e p o i n t o f burnout, which increases errors and jeopardizes customer satisfaction. E nc ou r age you r te a m to t a ke lunch outside the ofce and not to burn the midnight oil every evening or sacrifce entire weekends to work. To stem a high turnover rate among its young recruits and underscore the importance of balance, one CPA f i r m i n it iated m a nd ator y of f ice closings at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays during tax season. ‹ 7 › Praise and reward. P u b l i c l y p r a i s e the team in com- pany newsleters, t h r o u g h e m a i l s a nd at meetings. A nd don't w a it to rew a rd your staf for their hard work . Employees who k now t hey sta nd to be r e w a r d e d f o r o u t - s t a nd i n g p e r f or - m a nc e approac h t h e i r j o b s w i t h g r e a t e r e n t h u - s i a s m a nd c r e - ativity. Paul McDonald is senior executive director with Robert Half, the world's frst and largest specialized stafng frm. Over the course of his 30-year career with the company, he has spoken extensively on employment and manage- ment issues based on his work with thousands of companies and job seekers.