As the leading virtual accounting firm, AccountingDepartment.com knows how to find, hire, and retain the best virtual bookkeepers in the country. If you’re a business owner managing many (or even just a few) virtual employees, it pays to know a few secrets to help virtual employees feel appreciated and connected.
1 – Keep the lines of communication open - Let your virtual employees know they can reach you, by a variety of means, whenever they might need to. Use technology to stay in touch via phone, email, instant messenger and even videoconference. At AccountingDepartment.com, we have very successful video conference meetings. It always helps to be able to put a face to the voice and name, and video helps people feel more connected than any other media.
2 – Check in frequently - Don’t just tell your virtual employees you’re here if they need you; show them you care by checking in with them often. A phone call just to say, “How are things going?” helps employees know you didn’t forget about them just because they’re not in the office.
3 – Take your virtual employees out to breakfast or lunch at least once a year (virtually, of course!) – A little imagination goes a long way in making virtual employees feel appreciated.
You might not think a company with 50 + virtual employees across the country could host a successful party or take all of its employees out to lunch at the same time. But AccountingDepartment.com does it.
Every year in February, at the end of the accounting industry’s busiest season, AccountingDepartment.com has pizzas delivered to all the virtual bookkeepers on the team. It takes extensive logistics to contact local pizza places and issue payment via credit card for a surprise pizza delivery to the bookkeeper’s home. The effort, AccountingDepartment.com co-founder Bill Gerber says, is well worth it.
Nothing Says “We Care” Like Pizza... and Bagels
Going the Extra Mile for Virtual Employees
Bill says, “Every year, our bookkeepers love getting a pizza they can enjoy with their family. At the same time, it recognizes them as part of the AccountingDepartment.com family. But we have many virtual bookkeepers on our team who work in remote areas of the U.S., where pizzerias don’t deliver. We always sent these employees a gift card to their local grocery store, but it lacked the immediacy or the sense that this is really something special.”
This year, Human Resources Director Lisa Archetti, a native New Yorker, decided to have fresh bagels shipped via FedEx to these employees. The bookkeepers loved it, as evidenced by their thank you notes, Facebook posts and phone calls.
Bookkeeper Joy Osuch wrote: “Enjoying New York bagels over-nighted by my bosses! Today is our company-wide end-of-January party and they had pizza delivered to every employee’s house. If you did not have delivery available, they shipped bagels direct from NY. I work for the best company!”
We Treat Our Virtual Bookkeepers Right, So You Can Focus on Your Business
Lisa says, “The little things go a long way. The bagel deliveries represented the way we’ll go the extra mile to make our employees in the most remote areas of the country feel connected. Everybody, no matter where they live, is part of our team and every employee is important to us.”
Managing virtual employees isn’t always easy. It takes effort and, sometimes, ingenuity, to help them feel connected. At AccountingDepartment.com, we hire the best people for the job and treat them right, so they do their best work for you. You don’t have to worry about managing another staff member, and you’ll know your bookkeeping is always accurate and up to date, handled by the best in the business.
