Industry Insights

Ryan concludes that accounting firms should treat new hires like any other investment decision – what is the ROI, especially in terms of the tasks this new person will be able to take off the firm owner.  This will likely sway decision making more towards hiring senior rather junior than might otherwise have been the case. Taking the strategic view might result in a different decision than initially considered.

When used effectively, phone-interviews bring all the benefits of identifying the best candidate for the role, without the current risks and expense of bringing candidates in from all over and organizing the resources to accommodate interviews and candidates.  However, they also bring the considerable risk of missing out on great candidates when run ineffectively.

International recruitment consultancy Robert Half reported that 46% of the businesses surveyed to develop a recently released report had made a bad hire in the past 12 months, with small businesses feeling the greatest impact.

A good education and an outstanding performance during interview does not equate to a high performing individual. In order to gauge a candidate’s abilities, you need meaningful data. The following three tips will help to keep your recruitment process focused on the data that matters, reduce the effects of bias, and uncover each candidate’s true capabilities.

We’ve recently been hearing more and more about the topic of “candidate commitment” from clients who are dealing with candidates pulling out of final-stage selection processes. You know who I mean; the candidates that seem really interested in a role, say all of the right things and then at the last moment, when you offer them the job, they decide they’re not interested.   

Check out this quick read to get real time tips for conduction stay interviews. You’ll also learn the best questions to ask to get to the core of what motivates your staff at work, how to encourage loyalty, and foster an attractive workplace culture

A New Zealand company has developed a test for prospective accountants that can identify whether they are “backroom number-crunchers or strategic business advisers”.

 This isn’t a twittersphere pointless rant on gender, but rather the findings of extensive research that could be putting fifty percent of the job seeking population off applying for your vacancy based on the words and phrases you use in your job advertisements and position descriptions. Accountants and bookkeepers are hard enough to find already, without unconsciously removing half of the applicant pool, so keep this article handy whenever you’re writing job advertisements.

Trust as the backbone of ethics in business is explored in the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Report and gives some fascinating insights into trust, specifically in the workplace. Transparency and ethical practice are front of mind for customers and colleagues alike.

Want to see if Accountests will work for your firm? Click on the button for a FREE trial - use it on a candidate or get one of your staff to give i...

Starting a conversation about under performance is never easy. Acknowledging the role you play in this person’s success (or otherwise) is crucial to setting the stage for a constructive discussion

Guest author Ed Chan from Wize Mentoring walks us through the 3 top principles to get the best out of your accounting staff. This is the key to working ON your business and not IN it.