A workplace with meaning for the finance workforce

Finance has experienced several shifts over the last few years: Technology continues to change how and where work is done, and the work preferences and expectations of many workers have shifted. To reconceptualize the Great Resignation as the Great Reimagination and drive value through the workforce experience, finance leaders should consider what motivates their talent.

In a recent global survey, finance employees were asked what aspect of work they value most in their career.¹ While compensation ranked No. 1, meaningful work was a close second (this was consistent among respondents across controllership, strategic finance, and transactional finance). As finance leaders consider how to craft the employee experience of the future, it is critical for them to infuse meaning into the work to unleash the workforce’s potential. This may be achieved through:

Rearchitecting the work: As finance leverages technology to redesign work, finance leaders should be intentional about identifying the required skills, behaviors, and interactions that equip their workforce to best utilize their newfound capacity to drive value and derive meaning from their work.

Adopting a skills-based mindset: Matching skills to the work that needs to be done can give workers more choice, opportunity, and equity. People are most often engaged and productive when they do activities that energize them and leverage their skills. When organizations connect people to work that uses their skills, the result is likely to be high engagement and productivity. Transitioning from a role-based to a skill-based finance organization can empower the workforce to own their development and establish a culture of internal mobility.²

Accessing the full talent ecosystem: As we continue to operate in a hybrid world with fewer geographic barriers, finance leaders should access the full network of talent within and outside their organizations, identifying less mission-critical tasks that can be executed with off–balance-sheet talent to allow their full-time workforce to focus on more meaningful work that is directly linked to business outcomes.

In addition, given that finance talent also values flexibility,³ finance leaders should strive to offer employees agency in the hybrid environment and focus in-person moments on creating connections, promoting collaboration, and driving culture. Understanding and addressing workforce motivators are critical for finance leaders to access, curate, and engage their workforce.