Chris Stock, Percipient, looks at how organisations should be looking to technology as a core component of a robust digital talent development strategy if they’re to attract the finance leaders of the future.
The Great Resignation shows no sign of going anywhere any time soon. Now that things seem to be settling down post-pandemic, more people are choosing to look for new opportunities elsewhere. But with recent figures showing that there are more job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK for the first time since records began, it would suggest that businesses are struggling to fill the vacancies they do have, leading many to question just what they can do to get the right staff.
The appeal of a job isn’t just determined by salary alone. Businesses need to find the right combination of salary, experiences, benefits and working practices to attract the right talent. As more businesses become increasingly aggressive in their approach to talent acquisition and retention, what’s becoming clear is that talent development needs to form an integral part of a business’s growth strategy.
This is of particular relevance for the finance function, where increased digitisation has led to transformative change in how finance teams operate and are led. New skillsets are required, which are accompanied by new expectations too. Like it or not, digital capabilities and digital technologies now have a key role to play in talent development. In short, to help attract the finance leaders of tomorrow, businesses need to be looking to the latest technology to help them stand out from the crowd.
Work Imitates Life
An increasingly digitised home life means greater expectations when it comes to work life.
Access to intuitive, easy-to-use and always-on systems and solutions is a must these days, particularly for the younger members of the working age population.
In light of this, a rich, digital work experience is proving to be a non-negotiable if you’re going to not only attract talent, but retain it too.
Additionally, all too often, businesses have come unstuck when employees have had to resort to implementing their own workarounds and system tweaks to get access to the information they need or achieve the seamless functionality they’re so used to outside of work.
Ultimately, all this does is put the business at risk. Instead, by investing in the technology to enable employees to do their jobs without the need for workarounds or additional manual processes, job satisfaction and therefore retention can be boosted considerably.
A Mobile Workforce
The same can be said for mobile working. No longer seen as the perk it once was, and definitely now more commonplace since the enforced working from home at the height of the pandemic, the ability to work from anywhere is rapidly becoming the norm.
With the right technology in place, the entire finance team can work anywhere – in the office, in a café, at home, on a train – providing that all-important flexibility that more job candidates are putting further up their list of priorities when it comes to choosing a job.
As more organisations are finding out, heading to the cloud is proving to be the crucial enabler of change when it comes to standing-out from the crowd. The cloud facilitates timely access to the intuitive systems people need to do their jobs efficiently, with automatic updates and upgrades ensuring they’re always working with the most-up-to-date version of the software. And, all that’s needed to work any time, from any place, is a secure server and an internet connection, putting a major tick in the flexible working box.
A Fully-Digital Finance Function
Digitisation has transformed how the finance function operates and continues to effect further change.
No longer the gatekeepers of historical financial information but instead keyholders to the analytical tools and in-depth business-wide insight that informs business strategy, finance leaders continue to evolve in-line with increasing digital capabilities, putting finance at the very heart of the business. As such, organisations need to pursue aspirational hires, employing the people who bring the right skills needed to complement the technology that’s making such a difference to the finance function. With this in mind, businesses will be able to achieve that perfect mix of people, processes and technology, attracting and retaining a talented workforce to fulfil even the most ambitious of growth strategies.
For more information on how Percipient can give you the tools to underpin an effective talent development strategy, get in touch today or call us on 01606 871332.
