How to Drive Remote Work Engagement

Workforce engagement is crucial for every business type and is especially important for companies that offer work-from-home options. According to Gartner, 88 percent of organizations moved employees over to work-from-home after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. With this sudden transition to telework, successful companies are changing the way they keep their team motivated.

In order to drive the engagement of your remote team, you first must understand what challenges they face. These problems below can affect their level of engagement:

  • They feel isolated out of the office.
  • They have difficulty connecting with their co-workers.
  • They lack managerial support or direction.

With the right technology tools, you can address each of these issues and increase the motivation and satisfaction of your remote team. Let’s discuss how.

1) Personalize Meetings with Face-to-Face Interactions

According to Buffer’s 2020 State of Remote Work Report, 19 percent of remote workers admit that they are lonely working from home. When workers feel removed from their work environment, this will negatively affect their ability to focus on work, their motivation and their output. The good news is that there are a few easy ways employers can help their employees who feel isolated and increase remote workforce engagement.

In April 2020, Zoom saw a 60 percent increase in consumer spending. The reason? Video conferencing software is an easy way to increase engagement through face-to-face interactions and personalized meeting spaces. Live meetings allow your team to connect instantly on projects or invite an unlimited number of participants for streaming. Whether you have daily team meetings, one-on-ones, lunch-and-learns or social events, video conferencing tools increase remote engagement and collaboration.

2) Stay Connected with Team Communication Tools

Another big challenge for remote workforce engagement is communication. With remote teams working from anywhere at any time, it’s easy for there to be communication breakdowns. Fortunately, you can connect your team with cloud-based technology and give them access to the best technology tools.

With team communication tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack, employees can stay in touch with each other from anywhere. Communication tools provide your team with live video chat through an instant messaging platform. Your team can have organized group chats and integrated file-sharing options, too. With cloud-based technology, your team can connect in real time. They can work on documents together. They can communicate instantly. This keeps them connected regardless of where they are located.

3) Help Them Avoid Burnout

Many business owners believe their remote workers want to be left alone to do their work. The truth is that they wish they had more support from management. Whether it’s receiving adequate direction on a project, gaining insight into which deadline to prioritize or being acknowledged for a job well done, most remote workers feel that their leadership is often lacking when they work from home.

Fortunately, when you are using the right technologies, you can provide the managerial support your remote team’s needs while also helping them avoid burnout.

Use Project Management Tools: With project management tools like Jira, Trello, Basecamp or Wrike, your remote team will have the assistance they need to prioritize tasks. Project management tools provide a clear visual presentation of task workflows. They have advanced project tracking features and can track your workforce’s productivity, project statuses and other metrics. Project management tools keep everyone in the know and provide the guidance your team needs to stay engaged.

Reward Them with Virtual Gifts: When your team is working remotely, businesses need to go the extra mile to show appreciation. Reward your team by sending them virtual gift cards on birthdays or work anniversaries. Provide company-wide visibility on an HR platform like Bamboo HR. Take rewards to the next level with a rewards program like Bonusly. When your team feels appreciated, this strengthens your company culture and motivates remote employees to do their best work.

How an MSP Can Motivate Your Team

With the right people, processes and technology, your team can stay engaged and collaborate at their best. A managed services provider can provide your business with the ongoing support it needs to thrive. We can also set you up with the technology tools that enable your team to do their best work. Whether it’s boosting engagement, improving collaboration or working in a secure remote environment, we can help you get your team up and running and continue to deliver the innovative solutions your business needs to thrive.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Empowering Your Remote Workforce and get started today!


A male accountant with glasses sitting at a desk with files, paperwork, and a computer screen in front of him.

How Are CPA Firms Thriving In Today’s Competitive Market

Looking back at the year 2020, when most of the world was shutting down, and accounting firms were gearing up for their busiest time of the year; tax season. During this time, accountants were handling tax write-ups and other tasks for their regular clientele when new clients suddenly started pouring in with fear and panic behind their eyes. Business owners were frantically looking for solutions to their challenges and ultimately wanted to keep their businesses alive and well despite all that was happening in the world. 

An urgent need for practical solutions presented established CPA firms and accounting professionals with a unique challenge. This challenging situation tested professionals in the finance industry and introduced new ways of handling their day-to-day operations. While small CPA firms may not have survived this intense time of growth and change, the majority had to shift and elevate their current business effectiveness.

 

The Ability to Adapt to Current Circumstances

While some CPA firms may have worked remotely before the pandemic, most of them did not and therefore had to make the shift to remote work – the ability to work from home was and still is a notable contributor to many CPA firms' continuous strides to increase profitability moving forward. In addition, accountant's roles have adapted to also become an advisor to their clients through these unprecedented times. 

So why are some CPA firms thriving while others struggle to stay afloat?

 

Keeping Up With Latest Technologies

One of the biggest reasons is the inability to keep up with technological advances. Accountants have an inherent need to update their firm's technology to provide better and more efficient services to their clientele. 

The best thing accounting firms can do, is find a trusted service provider to help guide them in their decision-making process. Top-of-the-line service providers will grant CPAs access to new accounting technology such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotic Process Automation at a fraction of the cost. 

Utilizing these technologies to facilitate efficient workflows and automate mundane tasks such as bookkeeping, appointment scheduling, and transaction processing can be extremely cost-effective.

 

Staying Cost-Conscious

Another competent that is helping CPA firms thrive is low operating costs. This goes hand-in-hand with working remotely and staying up to date with current technologies. Utilizing both factors alleviates the pain of costly employee salaries and overhead costs you would otherwise be forced to maintain or let your business crumble. 

The ability to have a hybrid schedule or work from home eliminates a multitude of costs associated with working in an office five days a week. Also, if you are making use of modern technology, there is no need to invest more money into resources promising to drive revenue or complete work faster.

 

Data Privacy and Cybersecurity

Even though cybersecurity and data privacy are essential in all aspects of any business, it is especially prominent for accountants and accounting professionals. A security breach has the ability to steal sensitive information and harm a CPA’s reputation. 

The best way to protect clients' data privacy is by using an integrated IT security system instead of a plethora of unintegrated software products. In addition, thriving CPA firms use secure client portals and are constantly reviewing their security systems to analyze further how to prevent data from ever leaving their firm.

 

Final Thoughts

Truth is, there is a lot to keep in mind and figure out in order to have a thriving accounting firm, but you do not have to do it alone. At Intuitive Networks, we are not solely focused on IT services – our business is centered around providing an unforgettable customer experience. Your success is our success, and that’s why we deliver progressive IT services customized to alleviate your unique pain points while growing with you into the future.

Are you interested in a consultation? If so, give us a call today to discuss IT service needs for your business. After all, we want you and your business to thrive!

 

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Accountant suffering from burnout

Accountant Burnout Is On The Rise – How Technology Can Help

Today, we’re diving deep into the cause of accountant burnout, why the struggle exists, and providing some keen tech solutions to help ease the issue at hand. 

The pandemic was hard on everyone, but it seems to have taken a particular toll on the financial industry. A recent study found that accountant burnout is at an all-time high, with nearly half of respondents saying they feel burnt out from their job. Even before the pandemic, accountants were struggling. It wasn't uncommon for them to log 60-70 hour work weeks. Then came the pandemic, change in work style, and the sheer messiness of adapting to a new financial ecosystem.

 

So, what was the initial cause of the burnout cycle?

Well, there are a few factors at play, but most signs point back to 2020. This was a time when many people shifted from in-person work to working from home. Financial worries were at an all-time high (and with recession worries trending, they still are). Many people in the financial space report that they found themselves working longer hours from home while trying to balance childcare and other responsibilities.

Along with the onset of the pandemic, there was also an increase in regulation and paperwork for accountants. With so many businesses struggling to stay afloat, there was and has been a lot of pressure on accountants to make sure everything is in order to avoid any IRS issues for these businesses.

To sum it up: What started in 2020 caused a domino effect, and burnout has now reached an all-time high.

 

Why are accountants struggling presently?

AS we explained above, the professionals in the financial industry are under more pressure than ever before. The demand for accounting services has gone up, accompanied by rapid legislation changes and heightened client expectations.

These factors have placed pressure on firms to not only deliver great results, but also take on more advisory positions. The sheer volume of work can be overwhelming, and the need to be up-to-date on the latest legislation means that many accountants are struggling to keep up with the demands of the job.

Though the demand on the industry is unlikely to lessen anytime soon, technological advances have come a long way in helping firms automating systems, streamline day-to-day tasks, and serve clients more efficiently.

 

How technology can help alleviate accountants’ burnout

Automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks can free up accountants' time so that they can focus on more value-added activities.

For example, cloud-based automation software can be used to generate reports, reconcile accounts, schedule appointments and send invoices. Modern day technology allows accountants to spend less time on mundane tasks and more time on strategic planning and client relations.

In addition, automation technology can help to reduce the error rate by ensuring that data is entered correctly and eliminating the need for manual input. As a result, automation technology can help to improve accuracy and efficiency, making life easier for accountants and reducing the risk of burnout.

 

Here are a few top automation tools for accountants

  • Xero:

Xero Practice Manager is an essential tool for streamlining workflows, timesheets, and invoicing. Xero lets you assign work to staff, track and invoice for time, integrate with other software tools for invoicing and payments, and create customized reports. It is based on the cloud infrastructure, which allows you to access your data from anywhere in the world. It’s best known for its powerful mobile app, robust time and billing system, and ability to allocate various jobs with specific due dates.

  • Taxdome:

TaxDome is an all-in-one practice management platform designed to help accounting firms streamline their workflow and improve efficiency. Accounting firms can manage their client accounts, emails, invoices, and current jobs in one shared space. The platform also includes client-facing tools such as document management, e-signatures, and messages. This allows firms to provide a seamless experience for their clients while reducing the amount of time spent on administrative tasks

  • Karbon:

Karbon is a great tool for accounting firms, as it helps manage deadlines and has a feature that turns emails into tasks. This program is important for financial service providers since most finance-related tasks are completed on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. The platform’s built-in CRM feature helps manage and maintain client relationships through information management and automation. Aside from that, this tool also allows firms to send reminders and continue bringing in client business regularly. While these are some of the stronger points of the software, one of the most notable downsides for users is the lack of seamless outbound email integration.

If you're feeling burnt out from your job as an accountant, don't despair. Automation technology can help take some of the burden off of your shoulders.

 

Wrapping It Up

Overall, accountant burnout is caused by several factors however, there are ways to combat accountant burnout using automation technology. Automation technology can help by taking on repetitive tasks, improving accuracy and efficiency, and freeing up time for accountants to focus on more value-added activities. 

If you're feeling burnt out and ready to take control of your business using tech solutions, Intuitive Networks can help. Use the button below to schedule with one of our MSP experts today and create a customized solution for your business.

 

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