Insights In Hindsight - Edition 4

The Role of a CFO and CHRO - Partnership in the Future of Work

These days, much is spoken and written about what the future of work holds for different types of businesses. Whether it is in relation to technological advances, emerging talent demands, or increasingly competitive landscapes, as business leaders, we are on a continuous journey of envisaging the future of our workforce.

Undoubtedly, there are benefits of looking at the future of work from a finance lens, an HR lens, a technology lens, an operational lens, and so on. Yet, a combined, collaborative approach is imperative in retaining our organization’s core values, and how we think about our most crucial asset – our people.

Key Aspects of the Future of Work

Every recent study or survey related to the future of work expectations in India and across the globe seems to suggest similar recurring themes. McLean & Company stresses upon employee experience and DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Deloitte highlights flexible working models and employee wellness and engagement. Gartner stresses the workforce prioritizing meaningful social impact. Korn Ferry highlights inclusivity and personalized employee experiences in addition to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) efforts and sustainability. Addressing these themes essentially comes down to strategizing on two critical areas.

I.???ESG initiatives: ESG efforts are about driving the business in a manner that is more attractive to a range of stakeholders, and not just the investors. It has become evident that bettering ESG scores and performances is helping businesses improve employee satisfaction, as well as attract future talent (read Gen Z) that places greater importance on environmental and social concerns.

• Sense of Purpose: Employees want to see a clear correlation between their company’s mission, vision, and values. They want to see purpose in their work and know that their efforts have a positive impact on society (ESG).
• Trust: After struggling through a long-drawn pandemic, most people place a high value on remote/ hybrid work and are conflicted about the uncertainties around the return-to-workplace plans. Not only do they want to work in companies with a strong culture and leadership, today, but employees also want to trust that the company will do right by them through current and future challenges.
• Fairness: Employees understand that companies with strong ESG strategies truly address the issues around unfair incentive structures and digital inequalities.

II.??Employee Experience: Fostering a culture that values DE&I, individualized benefits, and flexible working models. The focus is on:

• Creating an employee-centric culture that is positive, inclusive, and trusting.
• Enabling hybrid work through digital transformation, which improves employee engagement and in turn, boosts business productivity.
• Providing more flexibility than the competition, as well as individualized employee benefit packages.
• Activating policies that mitigate burnout and enable volunteering for social and environmental causes.

The CFO-CHRO Contribution

Any critical misalignment between the workforce demands and organizational priorities could trigger significant employee turnover, followed by high onboarding costs, decreased productivity, and imminent revenue loss. The C-suite knows this and as per a PWC study, almost 48% of the responding business leaders think talent acquisition and retention challenges will pose one of the biggest risks to revenue growth.

However, enhanced collaboration between the CFOs and CHROs could help in building impactful strategies, aligned with flexible workforce planning models and impactful ESG initiatives. That would involve CFOs giving CHROs the latitude (read hard rupee/dollar commitment) to address the needs of the employees, and working together to create a roadmap for:

Investing in accelerated digital transformation, better risk assessment forecasting, and improved stakeholder management and ESG metrics. Moreover, investing in ESG measures will also create avenues to attract new investors, cut borrowing costs and operating expenses, and improve business sustainability.

Providing an environment that nurtures DE&I and values innovation and creativity. While CFOs have to bring balance in cultural investments, they can also give their HR counterparts the nudge and the means to do things differently.

Improving organization resilience by addressing skills gaps, unlocking technology-based opportunities, and upskilling employees to help them thrive in a hybrid/ remote work world.

Empowering the HR function to design and implement individualized benefits packages necessary for attracting and retaining talent. Whether it is schedule/ location flexibility, expanded career development, DE&I efforts, or holistic health and well-being offerings, reimagining employee benefits could be the key step in differentiating our businesses and staying ahead of the curve.

Amid all of the above, one cannot undermine the importance of communication. Articulating the organizational priorities and ensuring clear, transparent, consistent, and engaging communication between leadership and employees is the most powerful tool in CFO-CHRO collaboration, as well as the future of work.

Businesses in India and across the globe continue to grapple with the uncertainties that come with a looming recession, widespread geopolitical conflicts, inevitable energy and climate crisis, and challenging talent wars. Yet, many of us in leadership roles are focusing on the employee experience and ESG efforts which in turn will translate to real business impact in the short term and long term. There is no way to accurately predict or picture what the future of work will look like. But as Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

#futureofwork #remoteworking #esg #esginitiatives #flexibleworkingmodels #hybridwork

Snippets Of Articles That May Interest You        

Take One Thing At A Time And Do It Consciously – A Life Mantra!

Quality requires time and focus. A hurried job is, more often than not, unsatisfactory. And if you have to keep switching from one task to another, how do you retain the essence of each? Multitasking is a good skill to have but it’s best saved for necessities. Do all things you are required to do but one at a time. Focus on each nitty gritty, give every stage of the work your best touch, and when it is finished, enjoy the satisfaction of having completed that one thing properly. Then, move on to the next. Read on

#onethingatatime #work #qualityofwork #lifemantra

Financial Globalization – Is It All Good?

Has 'financial globalization' been beneficial for the world at large? Has this benefited countries that have embraced this phenomenon? What does it take to for a country to succeed despite attracting global investments? It is not easy to answer these questions simply. Here's my take. Read on

#globalization #risks #planning #policy

Updates From Practus
        

Practus organizes a ‘Good to Great’ session for its Super40 Club members!

Our Super40 Club comprises select team members who have been high performers consistently.

As a part of the club, they get opportunities to be part of leadership meets which offer scope for enhanced learning and development. Such efforts can help club members fast-track their career paths. However, Super40 Club members will be evaluated at pre-determined assessment periods to ensure that they continue to meet the criteria.

Other Updates
        

Here's a shout-out to two of our outstanding performers - our Founders' Choice awardees. They have been the proponents of the fact that hard work never goes in vain. More

Practus recently assisted an $80 million FMCG company by developing a tool for better reporting, budgeting, and improved visibility on backend forecasting data and delivered 3.2X ROI! More

That's all for this month! See you all next month!