News Article - 21 May 2012
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Concerns are being voiced that large accountancy firms in the UK are missing out on the benefits of online technologies, failing to take advantage of web services that are currently available.

According to research conducted by Muzeview and Hinze Communications in the UK, the majority of financial accounting firms are neglecting to utilise readily available web technologies such as webcasts, podcasts, blogs and RSS feeds.

In total it was found that only two of the top 50 firms in the UK operate podcasts, while three produce blogs, seven provide webcasts and three provide RSS content. A similar picture was painted when looking at US accountancy firms.

Researchers asserted that this is evidence of a lack of awareness of emerging web technologies among enterprise accounting businesses.

"This should make uncomfortable reading for anyone in the other 95 per cent of firms that claim to be able to advise on how to respond to business trends and developments," Hinze Communications partner Chris Hinze and Muzeview president Paul Gladen told Accountancy Magazine.

Recent reports from Fasthosts suggest that many smaller companies in the UK are looking to exploit online technologies.

Article keywords: <p>Recent research suggests that employee engagement has reached an all time low, with the UK's move out of recession failing to filter to the workplace. A Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) study of 2000 employees revealed that staff are generally unhappy with how their job roles are progressing. 29% are more likely to report a reduced standard of living over the last three months than those saying it has improved (10%), compared to 28% and 13% in the last quarter.</p> <p>In addition, the CIPD job satisfaction index fell to a record low of +35, compared with +36 the previous quarter and from a high of +46 in the summer of 2009. Employees are particularly concerned about job security: 18% think they could lose their jobs and 66% feel finding a new job would be difficult if forced to take redundancy.</p> <p>Employees also report widespread cost-cutting measures, with 40% claiming their pay has been frozen. A further 7% have suffered a pay cut in response to the economic downturn, whilst 31% say redundancies have been made by their employer. 16% say their employer is planning redundancies in the future.</p> <p>CIPD's Employee Outlook survey also reveals attitudes to jobs and management have deteriorated amongst public sector employees as the Government spending cuts start to take hold, and the significant effects on jobs and pay become clearer. More than a quarter of public sector employees think they could lose their jobs, compared to 17% in the private sector.</p> <p>The levels of job satisfaction and overall employee engagement amongst UK workers are clearly decreasing. These statistics should encourage managerial action; productivity can significantly drop as a result of overworking and poorly engaged employees, which can hold companies back, particularly in the competitive post-recession climate.</p> <p>Senior managers should take steps to address unsatisfactory levels of engagement by improving the employee-employer relationship. Technology can help enable processes that allow managers to more proactively engage with staff. Access business software offers a number of benefits by streamlining processes, such as <a href="/software/hr/recruitment-and-selection.aspx"> recruitment and vacancy records management</a>; this helps managers benefit from time efficiencies, enabling a faster response to staff needs and ideas.</p> <p>For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.</p>

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