THE ONBOARDING PROCESS – HOW TO GET IT RIGHT

Sharp Consultancy's Salary Survey 2025/26: Resetting the Landscape: Strategic Shifts in Finance Recruitment

It would be remiss not to start by addressing the elephant in the room — 2024 was a challenging year.While there were many reasons for this and numerous industries were affected, recruitment likely bore the brunt of it, particularly in the 6 months post-election(s).Whilst key roles and critical hires remained unaffected, certain head counts and processes were scrutinised and investment paused with internal restructures and automation utilised to reduce costs, in some instances, at the expense of employees. We subsequently saw an increase in candidate activity, with the talent pool strengthening. As those pressures eased in Quarter 4, recruitment processes saw improvement and green shoots have emerged. Optimism is on the rise in key hiring processes, albeit with a caveat. The cloud of additional cost increases in April, which is still dissipating. The senior finance and C-Suite market remains relatively unaffected, both regarding opportunities and candidates, it is the levels below that we have seen more change. In the evolving landscape of working dynamics, the volume of hybrid working is gradually waning despite sustained interest from candidates, presenting fewer job opportunities. While the blend of office and remote work remains desirable, it is no longer the predominant factor, indicating a notable shift in priorities for clients and candidates’ acceptance alike. Conversations with candidates underscore a growing desire around the importance of having a supportive mentor or manager and many professionals are increasingly open to a full-time return to the office if it guarantees enhanced guidance and avenues for professional advancement. "The salaries throughout transactional finance have stabilised across the region."Throughout the professional practice market, some similar trends have been observed but there have been noticeable differences in the past year. Salaries across the range of candidates in professional practice, from AAT to fully Qualified (ACA/ACCA) individuals are still rising and those firm’s able to offer competitive salaries alongside stronger training contracts are beating out the competition in a candidate market with a growing focus on study support packages and career advancement opportunities for Part-Qualified candidates, indicating an increase in demand from employers and the volume of available job seekers. The salaries throughout transactional finance have stabilised across the region, in what feels like the longest period of stability seen since Q4 2020 and we expect transactional finance salaries to remain stable throughout 2025/26, with anticipated salary increments to be moderate compared to the significant increases observed throughout the last 2 years. AI & Systems (process automation) continues to impact accountancy and finance, in particular, across larger functions but this has increased the need for wider interim support to assist with the transition and implementation especially with large, automated processes. Whilst 2025-26 will not be the same marketplace for recruitment as seen in previous years, there is certainly a growing level of optimism and whilst a more settled market may be seen as a negative in some areas, for those that have weathered the peaks and troughs over a longer period of time, it will feel very normal and a strong setting for both employees and employers to take advantage and thrive, with an increasing emphasis on growth and development.Download the full Salary Survey here!

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Creating the right impression for new employees starts before their first day. Getting the onboarding process right is vital to ensuring that your new team members feel part of the organisation and settle in quickly. Here are our top suggestions for what you can do to make sure that the experience is the start of a successful and productive experience for employer and employees.

Having a good onboarding process will contribute significantly to your staff retention levels – it’s not just about the employee needing to make a good impression from the outset; during the first few weeks, new starters will be looking at every aspect of your company.

Get a head start

You don’t need to wait until a new employee’s first day before starting the process; to ensure a smooth transition, consider what information can be gathered and provided in advance – such as copies of policy documents, supply of bank details etc. It is also worth preparing a pack of useful information (which can be provided either online or in hard copy format) which details information about the company and team structure as well as an outline of what to expect during the first week.

One size doesn’t fit all

Whilst there will be information that will be relevant to every employee, try where possible to personalise the onboarding experience so it can be tailored to suit new starters at different levels of seniority and job roles.

Be sure to include relevant information about your new starter’s department, what its key aims and objectives are and how it supports the company’s overall business strategy. Demonstrate that you are looking to support your new team member by providing an introduction to key members of the organisation – particularly those with whom they will need to build a working relationship with quickly.

Information overload

Getting the balance right between providing too much or too little information is a tricky one. As tempting as it might be to make more resources available than necessary so nothing is overlooked, being faced with pages and pages of materials to absorb can be overwhelming and confusing for an individual to get to grips with in a short period of time.

Consider what information is essential and perhaps look at how other resources can be provided in more manageable quantities over a longer time period.

A collective effort

It will primarily be down to a new starter’s line or department manager alongside the company’s HR function to be responsible for the onboarding process but that is not to say other members of the organisation don’t have a key role to play.

An important element of the onboarding process will be to introduce a new employee to other departments and senior managers; ensure they understand how they can contribute and the information that they should share about their role and the work that their teams are involved in.

Feedback

Remember that everything that you offer during the onboarding process should be geared from the employees’ perspective. Be sure to check in with new employees are regular times during their induction and probation period to see if there is anything that they feel hasn’t yet been addressed.

It is also worth regularly reviewing the onboarding process as a whole; speak to people who have recently joined the company to ask what they did or didn’t find useful, what they would have liked to have been included and use this feedback to shape and refine your processes moving forward.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for temporary, interim and permanent roles across the full spectrum of positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today and speak to a member of our team about your next career move.