Retaining talent has become a top priority for businesses, considering this shift in the workforce. The Office of Finance specifically is under continually increasing pressure to provide real-time insights that help drive decision-making processes for the business and with this pressure comes feelings of burnout, anxiety, and stress within finance and accounting teams. As a result, top talent across the Office of Finance is looking to go elsewhere, where their needs can be met without feeling overworked. In a recent PwC “Pulse Survey”, 83% of CFOs say that hiring and retaining top talent is most critical to achieving business growth.

Five Strategies to Retain Top Talent in the Office of Finance

#1: Lean into Finance Automation

Financial automation empowers employees to shift their focus from manual, low-value, repetitive tasks to more strategic and challenging responsibilities, resulting in greater satisfaction from their work and the ability to effectively deliver on new demands the organization requires. Furthermore, when leveraging technology and automation, retaining talent is easier– F&A teams experience better working conditions and the chance to grow their skill set, increasing the desire to stay at their current company.

#2: Encourage a Hybrid or Remote Workforce

As teams have adjusted to working from home, or only coming into the office part-time over the past few years, many want to continue working remotely. A hybrid or remote schedule allows for increased schedule flexibility while maintaining the same level of productivity. Additionally, a hybrid or remote option enables employees to spend more time with their families or save money by not having a commute which increases their overall job satisfaction.

This also makes your organization more attractive to potential talent, as flexibility with schedules is becoming the new norm.

#3: Be Receptive to Feedback

In addition to yearly performance evaluations, having an employee feedback system that can be utilized throughout the year helps organizations in retaining talent. A feedback system, according to Forbes, allows people to feel comfortable in advocating for themselves and in showing them how their work is seen and used. Having a system in place not only offers transparency across the organization, but also allows for key insights to why employees are leaving or staying.

#4: Offer Professional Development Opportunities

According to CNBC, around 80% of individuals who are planning to leave their jobs in the future, are doing so because of a lack in career advancement. To mitigate this number, organizations need to consider ways to invest in their talent, not only to increase job satisfaction, but to also increase the skills they’ve built in the workplace. By offering professional development opportunities such as paid training or contributing to increased education, people will feel appreciated and invested in by their employer.

#5: Engage in Succession Planning

With a succession plan, organizations can more easily navigate the addition of new team members and have procedures in place that help mitigate churn. Without a succession plan, the loss of talent and their knowledge puts increased strain on those who remain – which can impact financial reporting obligations. When churn does inevitably happen, automation ensures that key knowledge doesn’t leave your organization when employees do by driving standardization through documentation and enforcement across your close processes. Having standardized processes when onboarding allows teams to be more streamlined when new talent arrives and can get them up to speed faster.

In the video below, Syril Mathai, Omar Choucair, and David Woodall of Trintech discuss how automation can help mitigate talent turnover.

The bottom line: the secret to retaining talent, is investing in them.

When organizations devote resources to making sure their talent feels valued, they see higher rates of employee satisfaction and longevity. As the world adjusts to the “new normal” of the increasing demand for a virtual workforce, organizations must be prepared to adapt and invest, otherwise, they will lose their talent.

Download this eBook to learn more about how the Office of Finance can implement these 5 recommendations.

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Written by: Mikayla Jordan