By Christopher Juneau.
In today’s business landscape, the finance team is the unsung hero behind every successful company. They crunch numbers, provide vital insights, and guide strategic decision-making that keeps everything running smoothly. However, the growing demands, increasing complexities, and rapid innovation that organizations are experiencing today can make staying productive a real challenge for even the strongest finance team.
Unlocking employee productivity is good for the bottom line—and for talent attraction and retention. Employees want to contribute to the business and help achieve its goals. Creating efficient processes, deploying thoughtful automation, unlocking collaboration, and encouraging continuous learning can empower employees, on the finance team and beyond, to focus on high-value work and development.
Boosting productivity in finance and across the business is all about working smarter, not harder. Here are three practical ways finance decision-makers can fuel productivity to drive significant gains for the entire organization.
Implement Streamlined Processes and Automation
Many organizations face complexities thanks to outdated or legacy technology infrastructure, piecemeal digital transformation efforts, bolted-on AI solutions, and accelerating innovation. Often, the result is inefficient processes. Finance teams, for instance, may be stuck with repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as data entry, reconciliation, and report generation.
Streamlined processes and automation can significantly reduce the time spent on these tasks, allowing team members to focus on more strategic activities. Here’s how to get started:
- Process mapping: First, conduct a thorough review of current workflows and identify the bottlenecks or inefficiencies. Once the “trouble” areas are pinpointed, finance leaders, team members, and IT should work together to create a tactical plan to help optimize workflows. Don’t forget to regularly review and refine processes to ensure they remain efficient as the organization grows and changes; this isn’t a one-and-done activity.
- Automation tools: A survey of CFOs and other finance leaders found that 64% believe AI in finance will lead to mundane tasks being automated, and 61% say it will lead to improved efficiency. Consider how automation, like robotic process automation (RPA) and AI-driven solutions, can handle the more repetitive tasks associated with identified trouble areas, including invoice processing, payroll, and financial reporting. When it comes to analyzing large data sets and identifying patterns, in particular, AI and machine learning can also provide insights that humans might miss.
- Cloud-based financial management systems: Where, when, and how work gets done is evolving, and systems are needed to account for that evolution. If the company is not already using cloud-based systems, consider making the shift. These solutions are becoming standard because they provide improved collaboration, enhanced accessibility, trustworthy security, and the ability to see real-time updates across a business or function—essential integration to support organization-wide priorities like budgeting, planning, and forecasting.
Enhance Data Accessibility and Analytics
Organizations need access to accurate, real-time data to make informed decisions at the pace required in business today. With enhanced data accessibility and analytics capabilities, teams can improve their decision-making speed and accuracy, ultimately boosting productivity. Consider the following:
- Centralized data systems: A centralized data management system that brings together data from various sources is vital for access to reliable and up-to-date information—especially in finance. Also, make certain that the organization has best practices and processes in place for ensuring the accuracy, consistency, and completeness of data.
- Advanced analytics: More than half of CFOs report that AI is already being used for financial planning and risk scenario planning. As data analytics capabilities advance, the organizations that harness these solutions will have the competitive edge. Explore advanced AI-driven analytics tools and techniques, such as predictive analytics, data visualization, and financial modeling, to gain deeper insights from financial data.
- Upskilling: The productivity benefits of centralized data systems and advanced analytics will only come through when team members know how to effectively use these tools and interpret data insights correctly. Invest in resources and skill development opportunities to help upskill employees. Some of the actions shared in the final practice below are a great place to start.
Foster a Culture of Collaboration and Continuous Learning
Establishing an organizational culture of collaboration and learning can help businesses shape the workforce to meet today’s demands for agility and resiliency. When done right, it can drive innovation, improve problem-solving, and enhance overall team performance. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration and investment in personal development can lead to a more engaged and productive workforce.
Granted, as a finance leader, it may be difficult to initiate cultural change broadly. Doing so takes time, buy-in from across the organization, and strategic coordination. Rather, aim to make the finance team an example of what can be achieved by focusing on the following:
- Cross-functional teams: When the organization builds teams to support key projects, champion bringing in people with a range of expertise and from various disciplines, including finance. Research indicates more diverse teams produce better outcomes, and when individuals pool their skills and knowledge, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. From a C-level perspective, CFOs have historically worked most closely with CEOs. However, the C-suite has started to recognize the value in collaboration with other departments in recent years, leading CFOs to work more closely with CHROs, CTOs, and CIOs on organizational strategy. This will look different based on the project or business goal, but encouraging more knowledge-sharing can help foster broader understanding of the organization’s aspirations, challenges, and the roles that teams can play.
- Open communication channels: With distributed and global teams, it’s important to establish open and transparent communication channels where all colleagues can share ideas, provide feedback, and collaborate on solutions. Organizations should not underestimate the value of channels like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and regular team touchpoints to facilitate collaboration. The finance team can use these platforms to house repositories of documentation and important information, notes, and updates, so no one need chase a colleague from the other side of the world to keep things moving.
- Training and mentorship: Offer regular training and development programs, including workshops, webinars, and attendance at industry conferences, to keep team skills updated and relevant. Consider supporting employees in obtaining CFA and CPA certifications—for instance, through tuition reimbursement—which can be incredibly helpful amid the current accountant shortage. Additionally, structured mentorship programs can help foster knowledge transfer, skill development, and career growth, leading to a more competent and motivated team. Employees are increasingly seeking organizations that provide clear pathways for career advancement and allow them to hone their skills, so these investments can go a long way in boosting employee engagement and, ultimately, productivity.
As work becomes more complex, these actions can help organizations and finance leaders set their teams up for success. In the end, this can improve efficiency across the business, empower employees in their daily work, and enable teams to contribute more effectively to the organization’s overall success.
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Tags: Accounting, Financial Reporting
