Companies have confronted extraordinary challenges all through the continued COVID-19 public well being disaster. For a lot of organizations, abruptly shifting to distant work in March 2020 pressured CFOs and finance groups to get revolutionary so as to scale back inefficiencies and function extra strategically of their new on-line environments.
With 2022 lastly underway and no indicators of the pandemic coming to an in depth, finance groups must assume much more strategically about combating the influence this disaster will proceed to have on their organizations within the 12 months forward.
Listed below are 5 methods CFOs and finance groups are dealing with these challenges head on.
1. To handle problems with burnout and retention, CFOs will give attention to making work much less tedious and extra participating. Worker burnout elevated in the course of the pandemic and companies proceed to grapple with “The Nice Resignation.” Decreasing guide, time-intensive work processes is already a precedence for CFOs. Deploying instruments to automate tedious processes may also help alleviate burnout and in addition help in attracting new expertise. CFOs can be centered on investing time in high-value actions, like predictive evaluation and dealing with enterprise stakeholders, whereas additionally offering extra participating work for workers.
2. Distant and hybrid work fashions are right here to remain; CFOs will play an essential position in serving to companies adapt. CFOs and the finance operate play a crucial position in guiding enterprise technique and making operational choices throughout the group. Distant work continues to have a big effect on bills and revenue margins. On common, corporations intend to lower workplace house by 30%. In response to COVID-19, many finance groups will stay distant or largely distant. With blended emotions on returning to the workplace, companies may want to offer options to staff who’re distant however looking for co-working house or touring longer distances into the workplace a number of occasions a month or quarter.
3. Provide chain points will proceed to considerably influence corporations, requiring additional consideration from the finance division. Most CFOs stated their corporations are grappling with pandemic-induced issues within the provide chain. Securing items early ties up money and it’s extra essential to have good credit score. To reduce provide chain delay, sturdy profitability and money move is crucial.
4. CFOs will enhance use of real-time information to drive enterprise efficiency within the face of the persevering with ripple results of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with provide chain, inflation, taxation and regulation uncertainty. 99% of CFOs need to function their enterprise utilizing real-time information, however solely 16% accomplish that. It’s essential for finance groups to have information to drive choices, and moreover to make it obtainable and usable by enterprise unit leaders to drive efficiency. Knowledge may also help resolution makers navigate uncertainties with somewhat extra readability.
5. As corporations return to enterprise journey, a rise in in-person occasions and new journey insurance policies would require coverage and price range shifts. As vaccination charges climb and COVID case ranges drop, extra corporations will convey their inside, distant and hybrid groups collectively for collaboration and in-person conferences regularly, utilizing price range beforehand allotted to services or perks. Conferences and commerce reveals will seemingly return in full-swing by the second half of 2022, and attendees could also be required to indicate proof of vaccination or unfavourable take a look at outcomes. Corporations might want to replace their insurance policies accordingly to incorporate COVID-related issues, for instance, paying for COVID testing pre- and post-trip or implementing an everyday testing process.