Straight from the Accountant’s Mouth: How Companies Can Reduce Burnout and Turnover
While industries like health care, hospitality and tech have been hit hard, the accounting sector is also seeing massive turnover like never before. The primary cause for accountant turnover? Burnout.
As trends around burnout and employee turnover continue to increase, accounting software provider FloQast conducted a survey to better understand what is causing this alarming phenomenon and how organizations can better alleviate the issue. FloQast CEO, Mike Whitmire, shares real accountant feedback and solutions to one of the workforce’s greatest issues: burnout.
Over the past few years, the workforce has seen and is continuing to see the largest mass exodus of employees ever – the Great Resignation. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 47.8 million workers had quit their jobs in 2021, with an average of nearly 4 million each month – the highest average on record.
While industries like health care, hospitality and tech have been hit hard, the accounting sector is also seeing massive turnover like never before. The primary cause for accountant turnover? Burnout.
Burnout has become an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in the workforce. Organizations, from major corporations to small agencies, continue to tackle challenges with work-life balance, flexibility, better working conditions, benefits, and more. However, the issue of burnout still hasn’t gone away.
Behind the Numbers: Research Insights
In response to turnover in the accounting sector, FloQast conducted a survey in partnership with the University of Georgia to better understand burnout and the solutions at hand – the 2022 Controller’s Guidebook: Burnout in Accounting – Understanding the Problem, Leveraging Solutions. The results from the survey revealed that burnout is not only widespread across the industry, but it’s impacting the quality of life for employees outside of work as well as the success of the company as a whole.
Adapting a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the leading measure of burnout validated by more than 35 years of research, FloQast found that almost all (99%) of accountants reported experiencing some level of burnout and, of those reporting burnout, 53% reported burnout levels at or above the average level and 24% reported high levels of burnout. Only 8% reported low-range burnout.
Clearly, accountants are suffering greatly from burnout, and this needs to be addressed by organizations. Fortunately, the new study from FloQast poses two key solutions to better support mental health and wellness in the industry.
See More: 3 Ways Automation Can Enhance Teams and Support Finance and Accounting Professionals
Firstly, accounting departments should implement automated technology to help employees streamline and shorten mundane and repetitive processes. This reduces the average time of a Close cycle and gives employees more time to focus on deeper and more purposeful tasks and gain more headspace, two important factors in resolving burnout.
In fact, IMA and Deloitte found that, without automation, controllers in the United States spend nearly 70% of their time performing traditional tasks, such as closing the books or ensuring compliance with accounting standards. However, when teams are able to automate their processes, employees spend less time on tedious tasks and gain back about 25% more time – critical time that allows them to pivot to more meaningful work or spend extra time with friends and family.
The Controller’s Guidebook also found that when accountants are given this time back due to the implementation of automation, they report significantly lower burnout levels. The study discovered that when integrated solutions, like automation, were present, accountants’ burnout levels dropped from above average to below average (FloQast).
Further, this extra time back is imperative to helping accountants maintain a healthy work-life balance. The Controller’s Guidebook found that burnout was significantly correlated with the disruption of an accountant’s life, particularly during the month-end Close, and that accountants with high levels of burnout were twice as likely to experience conflicts between their work and their relationships with family and friends.
The power of automation to change how accountants work and live their lives is precisely why I started FloQast. Simply put, I wished there was something like FloQast when I was grinding away as a senior accountant at Cornerstone OnDemand. These resources obviously weren’t available then, but it was clear that they could make a massively positive impact — and that there was an appetite for them.
We now know that introducing automation is perhaps the most important and effective way to reduce burnout. It allows accountants to spend more time doing meaningful and purposeful tasks – like exploring new areas of their career, driving innovations, or relaxing with their friends and family – which ultimately improves mental health and combats burnout.
Fewer Tools, More Training
While introducing automation is a fantastic first step, it is not the only answer. Another reason we’re seeing employees – in accounting and beyond – face burnout and quit is due to tool fatigue. These days, there are so many solutions on the market, from tools for email and messaging to tools for video meetings and project management, employees are becoming exhausted by the countless training and constant flow of information.
In order to boost productivity and reduce burnout, companies must limit the number of tools they’re using. The Controller’s Guidebook survey found that individuals who only used one tool had the lowest burnout scores, and, as more and more tools were introduced, burnout scores rose. Those with four or more tools had the highest reported numbers.
Since companies need access to email, messaging, project management, and the like, investing in comprehensive tools or platforms is a wise way to boost success and improve employee work-life balance. Comprehensive tools allow users to access different software all in one platform rather than jumping between different apps for different tasks. In fact, Dialpad has found that companies that utilize a single interface for communication and work see a 37% improvement in agency efficiency. This is because a comprehensive tool allows employees to connect faster, quickly identify issues, and collaborate on solutions to achieve goals quicker.
It’s important to be able to utilize comprehensive tools to simplify and organize the audit process to see time and cost benefits. In fact, we were able to renegotiate our audit engagement (and fees) because we were so confident the process would go so smoothly. For us, it meant less work and lower fees. For the auditors, it meant less time spent in-office, fewer auditors needed, and the assurance that they could reallocate resources to other engagements given the low lift required with us.
When employees no longer have to juggle various tools and applications, they can spend more time focusing on their job at hand rather than navigating different software. Comprehensive tools also allow companies and their employees to break down data silos and drive collaboration, an essential part of breaking down burnout and maintaining employee well-being.
Business leaders can take this one step further by ensuring that the training employees receive around each tool is comprehensive and beneficial. FloQast’s survey revealed that individuals who experienced poor training showed much higher burnout scores than those who had useful training. Further, when fewer tools are used, less training needs to be done when fewer tools are used.
Limiting or condensing the number of tools used and ensuring there is efficient training go hand in hand with implementing automation. These solutions give employees back critical time and headspace, ensuring they can do their jobs well and have a solid work-life balance.
See More: The Great Resignation and Growing Importance of Automation in Fintech
Changing the Future of Burnout
In light of the Great Resignation, companies are keen to prevent turnover and boost employee happiness. However, as widespread burnout continues to impact employees, better support and resources are needed to help maintain positive and healthy headspaces and work/life balances. Fortunately, solutions like introducing automation, improving training, and minimizing the number of tools are readily available and can make a clear and substantial impact on the workforce. Now is the time to implement them.
What other strategies can organizations employ to reduce burnout and turnover? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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