Today, we are facing new challenges and ways of doing business that are unlike any we have had to face in the past. Technology continues to evolve and shape the world around us, and as a ripple effect, it’s also changing the skill set of those that you need on your team.
The changing workforce and recruitment and selection process is something that many industries, including accounting, need to take very seriously in the coming years. We’re eager to share some valuable insight on the topic from our Director of Operations, Michael Miller, here in this blog.
Watch this video, where Michael shares the changes and trends that he sees on the horizon regarding recruitment and the way we find and develop talent.
Recruitment has significantly changed over the last several years. We’re seeing that the technology change that’s happening in the world around us is also changing the skill set of those that you need to help provide value in your organization.
As technology advances at a high rate and takes over the basic ticking and tying, entry-level staff members will no longer be needed. In the accounting industry, first level prep and data entry positions will soon be a thing of the past. In the future, as automation becomes a standard across the board, the first time our team members look at tax return will likely be from a perspective of review. We have to consider this when looking at our recruitment and selection process.
When looking at the evolving workforce itself, we are noticing more individuals interested in jobs and in some cases, not careers. The long overtime hours of accounting practices past are not welcomed or acceptable to the next generation of the workforce. Combatted with the technology challenges above, the entire bachelors and masters accounting curriculum will need review. Technology is changing what the entry point skill set needs to be, and this will ultimately change what skills need to be taught.
At MGA, we’re looking at recruitment from a completely different angle. We’re no longer looking for the entry-level person directly out of school, but instead, we are looking for someone who has developed a couple of years’ worth of skills working. When we bring them on board, we’re much more focused on the culture and the fit within the organization. We have the skills required to do the job as the baseline, but what’s more important these days is the personality and how they’re going to fit in with our team. To manage this, we’ve incorporated a personality test into our onboarding process, which allows us to see who they are going to work well with within the team.
On top of that, we have also formed an informal social committee made up of a group of peers at MGA — some at the same level, some above, and some below. They all get a chance to interact with a prospective new hire to see if this is someone that they want to work with. By doing this, we’re really getting a perspective of who the person is as an individual and then how that individual can work within the team.
The evolving workforce is a present challenge for not only the accounting industry but the entire workforce as a whole. Employers and employees both must adapt to these new trends or risk falling behind.
If you’d like to talk with us further about the challenges your business is facing regarding the recruitment and selection process, we’d be happy to help you map out a way forward. We are finding success in the way we are adapting to these trends. Let our hands-on experience help you, too.
As always, we are here to make the complex simple.