When hiring, you invest extensive time and effort recruiting, screening, and evaluating high-potential accounting candidates from in and around Kansas City. Once a decision is finalized, it, therefore, feels like time to celebrate. But to make the most of your new hire and ensure they get off to a productive start, it’s critical they’re carefully trained. When they are, it leads to better performance and boosted employee satisfaction, both of which are important for retention.
The question is: where do you begin? Keep these five tips in mind to start:
1. Take it slow to start.
Your new employee is nervous and eager. They’re probably overwhelmed too, which is why it’s important to take the process of training them slowly, at least to start, so information overload doesn’t sabotage your efforts. However, if they learn quickly and are ready to move on, you can always speed up training.
2. Train in different ways.
Don’t trap a new hire in a room all day to sign paperwork and sit through tedious PowerPoints. Instead, engage them by training them over a period of time, with a number of different mediums. For instance, use webinars they can participate in at their own pace to walk them through your organization’s accounting system and processes, or brown bag lunches where they can learn about company culture and meet other co-workers.
3. Connect them with a mentor.
Mentoring offers the best of both worlds: it connects new accounting hires with experienced team members they can turn to for valuable advice and feedback. This helps new employees acclimate faster, so they’re more comfortable in their roles. At the same time, it gives your veteran accounting employees the opportunity to take on a leadership role, further developing their skills as well.
4. Check in often.
Whether your new accounting employee is entry level or highly experienced, it’s important to check in regularly during their first days, weeks and months on the job. Any mistake is bad for business. However, mistakes made by accountants working on new systems can have a big impact on your company’s bottom line, making consistent check-ins key.
5. Encourage professional memberships.
In addition to taking advantage of the support and training resources your company is offering, encourage your new hire to join professional associations, like the American Institute of CPAs or others that are relevant for your organization and their accounting background. There, they can access additional information and other continuing education and development opportunities important for their career with you.
Do you need help hiring accounting professionals for your team?
Call the Kansas City accounting recruiters at Morgan Hunter. Since 1986, we’ve helped some of the most prominent financial organizations in the city find and hire top talent, leading to positive bottom line results. Contact us today to learn more about our recruiting solutions.
