5 Ways To Reduce Stress From Your Accounting Staff During Busy Season

The world of accounting and finance holds multiple sources of stress, from year-end and regulatory reporting changes to new business demands. While stress can be good at times, driving staff cohesion and even productivity, when stress level becomes too intense and sustained, employees can suffer — and potentially, burn out.

There is no better time than Health Awareness Week for employers and managers to consider how to alleviate stress in the workplace. Stress is one of the major contributing factors to mental health issues in the workplace. Managers can improve job satisfaction among their team by helping to ease the pressure on their employees.

So, how can managers assist to ease any stress in the workplace around busy times for their accountants, such as tax season?

Here are 5 ways for managing stress during busy season:

1. Hire an Interim Finance Professional 

The first and most effective thing you can do is to hire an interim professional during the busy season.

An interim finance professional can assist with basic paperwork, run assignments, or take on other duties to allow accountants to focus on what they really need to do. You can partner with a local staffing agency that will provide qualified workers who will fit into your business and be a great addition to helping your employees.

2. Reevaluate Your Internal Meetings

There are some internal processes which cause excessive stress. For instance, when staff are faced with urgent deadlines and impatient stakeholders, the last thing they need is to pull away from their work for a meeting that is not a good use of their time.

Department and team leaders should consider the need for meetings. If they need to provide routine or non-urgent information, is there another way for this communication to be delivered? Should the entire team be attending a meeting that only requires a few main people? 

Also consider the agenda of meeting. In order to keep meetings running smoothly, there should be a clear purpose with an agenda to assist individuals. Keep it short and to the point.

3. Appreciate Your Staff 

Another way to reduce stress in the workplace is by encouraging workplace recognition or appreciate your staff. Show your accounting staff that you appreciate them by hosting a lunch once a week or you can create themed events that allow your team to drop what they’re doing and enjoy themselves.

4. Promote Wellness at Work

Healthy people are typically better able to weather stress than those who are less mindful about their overall wellness or don’t have enough time to focus on it. Try to counter this by providing a selection of healthy snacks and bottled water to replace chocolate, afternoon coffee, or sugary sodas. 

Having a consistent and healthy diet will also help your accountants have more energy and produce at a consistently high level throughout a long period of extended work hours.

Get them moving. Allow them to jog around the parking lot, climb a few stairs or do some stretching exercises to revive their energy and get their blood pumping. 

5. Offer a Flexible Work Environment

Nowadays, everyone is looking for flexibility at work. Allow the team member who has children to come into the office early and leave early to pick up their children. Alternatively, make it possible to work from home once a fortnight so that team members can change the environment once and awhile. 

Allow your team members flexibility by not micromanaging them. Micromanagement creates a high stress work environment. Instead, provide guidance and support and create a healthy environment where employees can perform at their best. As a manager, you will always need to look for ways to reduce stress at the workplace. 

Not all stress is bad, but by helping staff maintain the right balance between pressure and productivity, managers will reap the reward in the form of a team that has a positive attitude and gets more done.

If you need more information about hiring an interim finance professional during the busy season, get in touch with Financials4Rent today! Financials4Rent offers qualified finance professionals for temporary finance positions in Aruba.

More Resources: healthy living guides and resources