Crunch time series for CFOs: The finance workforce of now
What’s here and what’s next for work, workforce, and workplace
What do finance workers want? We asked them about topics like flexibility, compensation, and meaningful work. Their answers reveal trends that are forging the workforce of the future. Creating a truly dynamic finance function will require the effective management of this future workforce. It will take an understanding of what they really do—and why.
Find opportunity in trends shaping the workforce of the future
The past few years of unprecedented change, from social upheaval to a global pandemic, have shown workers what they want and don’t want. This is an opportunity for organizations to reimagine their finance function as a dynamic capability that enables the organization to do more: rearchitect the work by applying technology solutions and achieving new outcomes and value; unleash the workforce and engage them in new ways of working; and adapt the workplace so that it reinforces culture and meets employees’ needs for collaboration, physical and remote preferences, and an inclusive, equitable environment.
Our Crunch time report takes an in-depth look at how finance leaders can evolve the work, workforce, and workplace to meet their workers’ needs and the demands of what the future might hold.
Let’s make this work.
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What we’ve learned (so far)
As finance organizations and employees dealt with the ripple effects of the pandemic—from evolution in work to personal challenges—here’s what we found out:
- The finance workplace isn’t always where the worker is, but it is always where the work is: The shared digital environment and collaboration tools used by a team. That said, it’s still about finding the right balance between virtual and in-person work.
- Wherever finance leaders and workers land, from fully back into the office, remote indefinitely, or a hybrid approach, the future implications of finance workforce trends will be real and need to be dealt with by design.
- Freelancing and gigging went from novelty to the mainstream and became on-demand during crunch periods: tax season, quarterly and year-end closes, and more.
- Organizations have started matching skills to the work that needs to be done.1 This gives the workers more choice, opportunity, and equity (not to mention meaning and satisfaction).
- Workers want more—but what do they want? Finance leaders need to ask. A standard human resources engagement survey is likely not enough to manage the workforce of the future.
We asked workers what they wanted. Here’s what they said.2
Finance workers are committed to their professions, and to excelling in their functions—but they want more.
On flexibility
“I would like to be presented with the option to work remotely or at least in a hybrid model.”
On compensation
“I am admittedly chasing salary at the present time.”
On career growth and opportunities
“Standardized performance management processes, official and unofficial mentorship opportunities, regular feedback to iterate and improve upon my performance.”
On meaningful work
“To make an impact to clients and my community. In order to have those feelings, I might want to see the impact that I’m making.”
On recognition
“I’d like for leadership to have a better appreciation and understanding of just how difficult and time consuming my job is.” “What makes me more motivated is having recognition and receiving praise for my work.”
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OK. So, what do we do now?
To meet your finance workforce where they are, it comes down to one word: reimagine. Take a step back and reimagine your workforce, the work they do, and where they do it—and why. Start by asking yourself a few questions:
- What does our finance organization actually need to do to deliver the most value now?
- What don’t we know about our workforce? Are we painting them all with the same brush?
- What do they consider to be valuable work? And do they understand how their work is valuable to the organization and our stakeholders? Do they know why they’re doing the work?
- What technologies do they need to stay connected with one another and the organization, and to feel valued?
It’s crunch time.
Finance was on the path to the future of work before the pandemic—and then organizations were propelled into it. Going forward, we can keep the things that worked, such as workplace flexibility and seeing workers for the humans they are, and innovate what didn’t work, like burnout and isolation. By building a Finance for the future, a future-thinking CFO has the opportunity to be the leader that their organization, and their people, requires. (And this leadership has to come from Finance, not human resources.) A finance workforce of empowered workers, technology that augments, and a purposefully designed workplace is built for results and resilience, not just reaction. It’s built to be dynamic—regardless of what the future may hold.
Endnotes
1 Sue Cantrell, “Skills: The new workforce operating system,” Deloitte, October 21, 2021.
2 Deloitte. “Deloitte 2022 Finance Workforce survey,” 2022.
