Whether your accounting and finance team is remote, hybrid, or onsite, you want to develop levels of trust and accountability that are as high as possible. When your employees have the autonomy to perform their tasks with little supervision, they feel empowered and respected. This leads to high levels of engagement and productivity. As a result, job satisfaction, employee morale, and retention increase. This lowers the amount of time and money needed to recruit and train new hires.

Implement these tips to increase trust and accountability with your accounting and finance team.

Clarify Expectations

Provide clear guidelines as to what the work process should look like and which metrics to pay attention to. Letting your employees know what to expect helps them plan accordingly and can increase their career progression.

• Set regular times to check in or let everyone know you are taking a break.
• Define how the amount of work being accomplished is measured.
• Explain how constructive feedback and performance recognition are given.
• Encourage your team members to regularly update each other on their projects and upcoming events.
• Hold everyone accountable for their deliverables and performance.

Prioritize Well-Being

Practice patience and compassion when interacting with others. They may be experiencing challenges that cause them to struggle during the workday.

• Make sure all employees know about the benefits available to help them cope.
• Examples include types of leave or workplace accommodations that can balance the well-being of the employee with the needs of the business.

Maintain a System for Advancement

Due to fewer in-person interactions with their manager, remote employees may be concerned about being overlooked for promotions. Because managers may view remote employees’ performance less favorably than the performance of their onsite employees, the remote workers may feel that their contributions and achievements go unnoticed.

• Managers must be trained on these unconscious biases to make the advancement process fair to all employees.
• Performance evaluation and promotion criteria need to be objective.
• Remote employees need opportunities to engage with leaders through one-on-one meetings or in small groups to build connections that can lead to future opportunities.

Encourage Personal Connections

Teams tend to collaborate better when they know each other on a personal level. Additional steps must be taken to encourage personal communication among a remote team.

• Assign a Slack channel for your employees to mention their personal and professional highlights and wins.
• Encourage your team to share their life moments that were especially impactful.
• Discovering commonalities and gaining a deeper understanding of and appreciation for colleagues helps create a culture that attracts and retains talent.

Looking for Employees or a New Job?

The more trust and accountability you develop with your accounting and finance team, the more engaged and productive they will be. This helps build an attractive culture that candidates and employees want to work for long-term.

Whether you are an employer in Manitoba looking for new team members or a candidate looking for a new job, Mercer Bradley can help. Get in touch with us today!