How to help your accounts staff through difficult periods
The UK jobs market is at a turning point. After a period of post-pandemic recovery, there is a potential recession on the horizon that could spell difficulties for jobseekers and recruiters alike.
While the unemployment rate has ticked higher in recent months,[i] it has also become more difficult for some companies to recruit. More than a quarter of UK companies with 10 or more staff reported experiencing difficulties in recruiting new employees in January this year, according to the ONS.[ii]
Retaining staff has become about more than just paying well. The quality of work, wellbeing initiatives, and work-life balance are all increasingly important to your staff.
In specialist jobs such as company accounting, retaining knowledgeable and talented staff is going to be very important during what is expected to be a difficult economic period ahead.
Feeling the pressure
Economic pressures will affect many companies in different ways, including affecting their ability to meet payments – with all the supplier dissatisfaction that comes with it. The last thing any company wants is to be forced into sourcing new suppliers due to avoidable errors.
As well as affecting the bottom line, these kinds of pressures can have a negative impact on staff productivity and job satisfaction, at a time when many are also worrying about rising household bills.
Accounts payable departments are already under pressure to process payments quicker to help companies manage rising costs, but paper-based and manual invoicing processes make this difficult. Staff can often feel they are playing catch-up rather than getting ahead of their work, and this can lead to employee burnout.
There are many things that companies can do to support staff through difficult periods. Employee assistance programmes and wellbeing services can help people manage the pressures they face. But making investments to improve their working conditions can reduce some of these pressures – and increase job satisfaction.
This is where automation comes in. The ability to transform time-consuming, repetitive tasks into automated processes can have a significant positive impact on accounting staff’s productivity. It can also help them feel more valued and more connected to their employer’s objectives.
How automation helps
Automation technology makes it easier and quicker to process invoices and other financial documents. Software can scan in various kinds of documents in different formats, and standardise them for your system far quicker than a human, and with a much lower risk of error.
For your staff, this means less of their time is used up with repetitive, low-impact work. Importantly, automating data entry means less stress for employees over the risk of entering information incorrectly.
Don’t just take our word for it. Our clients can attest to the positive change possible from automating payments processes.
“When I first came onboard, I was overwhelmed. There were all these accounts flying around. The visibility that Quadient AR gives me is key. Being able to organise our customers and understand exactly where they are in the aging report helps us act much faster.”
(Testimony from staff at CallRevu after implementing Quadient AR. Read more about CallRevu’s experience.)
Other users of Quadient’s technology – such as OneSpan and ARORA – have experienced significant reductions in the time it takes to process invoices, resulting in happier clients and vendors, and happier staff. With less time taken up on data entry and tracking, employees can turn their attention to solving problems such as bottlenecks, or nurturing supply chain relationships.
We don’t just provide you with the technology. Our expert team is on hand to help your accounts staff get the most out of the software and to tackle any issues together.
Speak to us today to find out how our payments software solutions can improve the efficiency of your payments processes and the morale of your accounts team.
[i] Source: ‘UK payroll numbers fall as unemployment rate rises to 3.9%’, The Guardian, 16 May 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/16/uk-payroll-fall-unemployment-rate-rises
[ii] Source: ‘Business insights and impact on the UK economy’, ONS data release, 23 February 2023. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/bulletins/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy/23february2023#recruitment
