In light of this, Stephen Holliday, CEO and Founder of Level, delves into the connection between money and mental health.

At Level, we have long understood that money worries and mental health are inextricably linked. But while physical and mental health strategies are firmly at the top of the agenda, financial wellbeing has somewhat lagged.

We are currently in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, that has left many wondering how they will make ends meet. It is only natural that a person’s mental health might suffer, with the added strain of rising fuel, mortgage and food bills.

Though it is an improving picture, Brits have long had a ‘stiff upper lip’ mentality when it comes to money, in some way contributing to the loneliness that is under the spotlight during Mental Health Awareness Week 2022.

But what are the practical measures that employers can take to help their staff manage their money better and, in turn, help ease a considerable burden on their mental health?

Establishing a savings culture is perhaps the clearest way that businesses can support their workforce. The Money & Pensions Service, in its UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, states that “a financially healthy nation is good for individuals, businesses and the economy”. To highlight this, establishing an environment where people can save more is one of the five key pillars of the strategy.

Establishing a savings culture is perhaps the clearest way that businesses can support their workforce.

But as we set out before, businesses have been slower to adopt financial well-being solutions than physical or mental health. There are certainly reasons behind this: subsidised gym memberships or cycle to work schemes are commonplace because the impact on staff is measurable – unlike financial health, which is far less tangible.

Employers have been turning to content (such as advice and top tips), often shared on an intranet or other means of internal communication, to help their staff manage their money. This piecemeal approach does little to move the needle.

We have seen first-hand the real impact that salary-linked savings schemes are having on workers across the UK, helping them build a buffer to cope with unexpected bills, but also times of economic hardship, the likes of which we are currently experiencing.

As a result, employers must step up to their responsibility and offer the sorts of services that make it easy for their staff to set money aside, much like with auto-enrolment pension schemes. This is a measurable benefit to the staff, but also to the business. Solutions that support financial wellbeing are proven to boost attraction and retention. Better still, they are simple to put in place for both the employee and employer, meaning a frictionless experience for both parties.

We are calling upon all employers to take these simple steps to support their workforce. Money problems can be a cause of great loneliness for many. Employers must recognise the role they play.

Chris, I believe that you and Josie have just been involved in a project on this topic in collaboration with London Business School. How did that come about?

Chris: Josie and I both run independent executive coaching practices and have worked very well together on coaching briefs like this in the past. I was invited as an alumnus of LBS and now I’m part of their Alumni Career Coaching team to co-create a pilot leadership webinar aimed at senior executive alumni. It felt natural to bring Josie into the mix on this topic because she is a great communication coach and complements my background in finance.

So, what did you learn from this exercise?

Josie: So many golden nuggets came out of it! I don’t think that any business would have signed up to mass hybrid working as an experiment unilaterally, however, we were all thrust into the pandemic regardless. Collaborating with other leaders in this webinar produced some great insights into the challenges of adapting business models to suit current circumstances. With so many factors and permutations to consider, it provided the leadership cohort that participated a real opportunity to a) air & debate the challenges and b) share best practices in finding possible solutions from their collective experiences.

Chris: It was indeed a fascinating session. Hybrid working is not exactly a new concept for leaders to handle, but since the pandemic employees have experienced, en masse, the flexibility that hybrid working offers and quite reasonably want it to continue in some form. Subsequently, how can leaders - globally - maintain business effectiveness and cohesion while at the same time allowing employees greater flexibility in how they work? It’s a huge question. Hybrid working isn’t going away, so the difference between winning and losing in this new world order will be measured by the speed at which leaders are able to adapt their business models effectively. The upside of course is that, for agile leaders who can embrace this coming of (the digital) age, there’s a huge opportunity to listen, learn, adapt, and grow in spite of the pandemic.

In this new hybrid culture of work, if you had to put the main challenges companies are facing into distinct categories, what would those be?

Josie: Chris and I spent a long time researching and soliciting feedback on this question in preparation for the webinar. Thankfully, as you might imagine, there is also some great empirical research that has been done on the pandemic’s impact as it unfolds. From our perspective in the context of team leadership, the primary challenges boil down to three Cs: Culture, Communication & Connection.

• How clearly is the Culture being defined & understood in your business?
• How much is Connection embraced and encouraged within your business?
• How much does the leadership facilitate open, two-way Communication at all levels and across the organisation and really listen to the feedback?

Chris: Yes, absolutely. It’s the combination of firm Culture also cast as vision & purpose; Connection, specifically in terms of active engagement; and effective Communication across the whole organisation from the top down which actively embraces the best of what technology can offer. The obvious challenge for leaders in a hybrid context is that the binds that tie individuals to the organisation are by definition loosened in a hybrid working world. So forward-thinking leaders are figuring out how best to better utilise digital tools to foster innovation & collaboration whilst retaining an acceptable degree of oversight over productivity & accountability.

Josie: And not just controlling productivity but increasing it by continuing to develop & upskill teams through formal and informal Learning & Development (L & D) activities. How can you best train your people when you’re not in the same room as them? What is truly going to work?

Chris: Exactly! One big conundrum across all professional services is how do we train our young talent in a hybrid context.

Really interesting. What are the implications of these findings for leaders going forward?

Josie: Great question, leaders are beginning to understand that, in moving forward, “one size fits none” and old styles of leadership are unlikely to fit the bill. Hopefully, they will adapt their style of leadership before they are forced to by the workforce voting with their feet. Currently, in investment banking (based on reports in the mainstream media), we’re seeing two types of leadership being played out in real-time. Some banking leaders believe it’s still optimal to “return” to a pre-pandemic business model. They’ve been upfront about requiring teams back in the office after Labor Day unless they are an active health risk. On the other hand, some other firms, notably in Europe, appear to be taking a more flexible & pragmatic approach about who might need to return to the office full-time or part-time and when. Which type of leadership will attract and retain the best talent? Only time will tell.

Chris: From our research, developments in the legal profession seem to be playing out differently from banking probably in part because the nature of legal work lends itself more easily to remote working than banking. From what we are seeing, the law firms are currently taking a more pragmatic view as long as productivity remains high and client needs are being met.

What have the leaders you have spoken to shared about this?

Josie: Well, that’s the beauty of hosting these webinars with senior leaders from a variety of locations and sectors; it invites a myriad of different perspectives and context is key. We are talking predominantly about knowledge workers who account for 1 in 5 workers globally but, for example, make up 60% of the workforce in the US. So, it’s a far bigger consideration today for corporate leaders in the world’s advanced economies than it is elsewhere.

Chris: In addition, the trends set by today’s Fortune 500 companies will be studied and in part incorporated into the global way of doing business in the coming years. This undoubtedly has wider ramifications for the planet and how we live and work. It’s a huge obligation and a massive opportunity at the same time for today’s leaders to embrace constructive change.

So, it seems like an almost insurmountable challenge to solve with so many considerations?

Josie: I think you’re right in so far that this challenge won’t get solved overnight - but let’s be optimistic! Good leaders stay curious, embrace calculated risk and set & articulate clear ‘SMART’ goals. They solicit advice & ideas. From these, they come up with creative solutions that fit their organisational purpose and then start implementing them. Of course, this may require some trial & error and you will need to embrace this risk positively from the outset.

Chris: A key factor going back to the three Cs is that the direction of travel within the organisation is clearly communicated, understood, and has collective broad-based buy-in from employees.

Josie: Absolutely. It’s not just what you say but how you say it, to whom and how often.

Chris: Yes. Communicating vision effectively is fundamental to a sense of shared purpose and leads to significantly higher engagement, whether office-based or hybrid. Picking up on Josie’s earlier point, knowledge workers are being paid to think for a living, so why not take into consideration more of their ideas. Since when did all good ideas emanate from the C-Suite?

You mentioned earlier that organisational context is important. Could you elaborate on this?

Josie: Sure, for example, we could contextualise knowledge work-tasks into predominant typologies; Information work, Evaluation work and Creative work as described by the team at Steelcase, a US real estate consultant. Informative & Evaluative work can be done far more easily remotely than Creative work which requires a higher degree of in-the-moment collaboration and collective energy which cannot be easily recreated in a digital (or asynchronous) setting. The benefit of bouncing ideas in a room together is, therefore, more likely to bring Creatives back to the office than Informative or Evaluative workers.

Chris: Equally you can divide the workforce demographically. Data from a 2020 Gensler study suggests that Millennials & Gen Z workers actually want to come back to the office (okay, maybe not 6 days a week!) because their remote working-set up may be less ideal. You could also contextualise the workforce by Learners, Provers and Leaders. Learners may want to be in the office more to gain experience from senior colleagues and actively seek advice and mentoring in order to develop their careers.

Josie: I would also argue that leaders need to increase their visibility and presence to engage with the wider workforce to model open communication and ease of access to their knowledge.

According to a study by Microsoft, a staggering 40% of knowledge workers are considering switching to a new employer in the next 12 months as a result of their pandemic experience and re-evaluating their goals & objectives in terms of work-life balance. Listen up, leaders!

How can leaders score some quick wins in the process?

Josie: Being seen to engage with employees and be open to new ideas and dialogue between the levels. UBS for example seems to have modelled this well. They recently carried out an internal study of their 72,000 employees soliciting feedback on a range of topics. It concluded that two-thirds of its workforce were in positions that would allow for hybrid working. Merely by demonstrating a willingness to listen and adapt, I would be very surprised if that communique had not significantly increased employee engagement at a time when the battle for talent is white-hot. According to a study by Microsoft, a staggering 40% of knowledge workers are considering switching to a new employer in the next 12 months as a result of their pandemic experience and re-evaluating their goals & objectives in terms of work-life balance. Listen up, leaders!

Chris: I would also add that leaders and people managers at all levels of the organisation should assess their own relational skills and take some constructive feedback on development areas. This is a huge opportunity for L&D. It has been well-documented that Millennials and Gen-Z workers, in general, seek more feedback, guidance and encouragement from their leaders. Possibly more than current Gen-X leaders may have received as they were building their own careers.

Even in a hybrid world, there are some easy fixes for this. Praise direct reports in public & critique them more in private. Pick up the mobile phone more often to express gratitude for a job well done or for going the extra mile for a colleague and make a habit of doing so to build social capital with your employees. That personal touch can have a huge impact even though it may take a few minutes.

New methodologies for working are being created, tried and developed as we speak.

This all sounds great but what is the impact of getting it wrong?

Josie: You’re likely to lose your best people! The market for talent became global overnight with remote working. Now, if an employee is dissatisfied with the status quo or pace of change they will start to look elsewhere. Finding a better fit for their talent is now a more global opportunity, especially in hot growth areas like technology and healthcare.

How can leaders identify when things are going off-plan and what can they do?

Chris: By really listening to those reporting into them. For many leaders it will require a more open & responsive communication style and a willingness to engage rather than dictate, embracing the diversity of thinking and developing the necessary EQ skills to get the best from the team. Leaders at the top of their game have a multi-tier strategy in mind to set and communicate clear goals. They then ‘lead side-by-side’, trusting in and empowering teams & individuals to innovate and when they fail, to encourage them to try again without resorting to a blame game.

In your opinion, how is this all going to play out over the coming years?

Josie: I think fortune will favour the brave. New methodologies for working are being created, tried and developed as we speak. It won’t be a question of “Must we keep up with the changes happening all around us?” so much as “What will happen if we don’t?”  The wizened, old-world behemoths may seem tough now, but what happens when the disruptive newbies of the tech world forge new paths without fear because they’re willing to fail and try again until they find a better path that works?

Chris: I would also say that there is plenty of scope for further disruption within established sectors such as banking, the law and consulting. We are seeing this already in FinTech where digital business platforms have been built from scratch in the 21st century by leaders who started them in their 20s. In my opinion, it is these kinds of sustainable, nimble, high-growth companies that will attract some of the best talent coming into the workforce over the coming years, especially if they can clearly demonstrate their raison d’être and offer the most attractive & flexible working environment for their employees.

What do you think we’ll be saying in ten years?

Josie: “Blimey, who knew where we were going to end up - AND aren’t we glad we took those risks?”

Chris: My hope is that the good guys win. Ultimately for the remainder of the century, leadership should be about responsibility rather than entitlement. It’s about sustainable profitability set within the parameters of environmental, social and governance excellence. Hybrid working is after all only one chapter in the unfolding story of doing business in a complex & challenging world.

Fascinating topic. Final question - how can leaders take this conversation further?

Josie: Firstly, I would say engage an outside expert to come in and listen, understand what you are trying to do and enable you to refine and effectively communicate your vision, goals and expectations to key stakeholders both inside and outside the business.

Chris: It’s the beauty of having someone unrelated to the business who can: 1. Keep you accountable to your ‘why' in a season of huge systemic change; 2. Challenge some assumptions and 3. Facilitate recovery and course correction as needed. This is what Josie and I love to do.

Chris has worked in financial & professional services for over 30 years and can be contacted at Chris@BramleyAdvisors.com   

Josie trained and has worked as an actor & master communicator in the UK & US for many years and can be reached at Contact@JosieGammell.com

With the pandemic’s influence on the transformation of the traditional ‘office’ for the post-COVID world, tell us a little bit about your offering and how this trend has affected WorkSuites?

People want to be back in the office and are tired of competing with their dogs, partners, and children for time to get stuff done. However, they are also used to the ease of working from home even though they are less productive. Companies are now allowing their employees to work a “hybrid work week” from a remote office location instead of asking them to go to the corporate office every day. Organisations that traditionally have a huge headquarters are now downsizing to smaller offices and incorporating flexible office space and remote working options instead. Flexible office space, or coworking, allows workers to have an office close to home for a few days a week and then work from home the rest of the time. This model is very attractive to workers needing a place that will boost their productivity and doesn’t require a long commute twice a day.

Workers are also concerned with social distancing and returning to the workplace safely. And while coworking is known for its large, open, communal workspaces, the pandemic has made this type of working less desirable. During the pandemic, we had to get creative, which meant coming up with new hybrid coworking memberships. They come with private office use as well as more spacious daily desk rooms and other amenities. Our new hybrid coworking allows workers to go to a physical office and benefit from human interaction, while also having privacy at the same time.

What are your predictions for the future of workspaces post-COVID?

In a survey completed by Gensler, known as the US Workplace Survey 2020, the architectural firm discovered that post-pandemic, 52% of the surveyed employees desired a hybrid-work model with some on-site office work and significant time spent at home or working remotely. We do not think this is going to change anytime soon. The way people can work has evolved and the hybrid work model accommodates every kind of worker, while helping large companies attract and keep great employees. For over 20 years WorkSuites has specialised in private offices for small companies and entrepreneurs in DFW and Houston. We believe that executive suites and coworking will always be our clients’ best and most affordable option and will also continue to be our bread and butter. The flexibility and value of our industry now checks all the boxes for both small and large businesses.

WorkSuites has made it through two recessions and a pandemic because we can easily accommodate companies that need to suddenly downsize or the newly laid-off worker that decides it’s a good time to finally become an entrepreneur, as well as companies that are thriving and growing. Our model is easily scalable. We provide all the amenities and services needed to start or run your business so you can focus on growing. 

From a financial point of view, what are the advantages of your offering?

Running a business can be expensive but WorkSuites makes running your office affordable and easy. Our clients pay one monthly fee that includes everything you can think of. You get your own professional receptionist, mail and package handling, telephone service and answering, high-speed internet, a fully furnished office, printers and copiers, unlimited coffee, a full-service kitchen and a break room, a variety of coworking spaces, meeting rooms, podcast rooms and so much more. If you decide you want to start a business or enter a new market tomorrow, in most cases, we can have you up and running the next day.

Shifting your employees to home working at the start of the pandemic may have been difficult, given the speed at which it had to happen and the less developed understanding we had of COVID-19 at the time, but going back to the workplace is even more complicated. It requires employers to balance a number of factors, which are outlined here.

You need to keep your employees safe

As an employer, you have a legal obligation to prioritise the health and safety of your employees. This is also important purely from a business perspective, especially if you’ve supported them during the furlough period, investing in the long term retention of talent. Healthy adults of working age have a low risk of dying from the currently active strains of the virus, but there is also a risk of them suffering long-term disability due to long COVID, developing chronic lung problems, or developing a mental illness or neurological problem – something found to affect one in three infected people.

You need to be ready to run a minimal-risk workplace

Before you bring employees back into the workplace, you will need to do an assessment to work out how you can best implement social distancing and additional hygiene measures across your premises. Current government guidelines are that every on-site worker should receive at least two lateral flow tests per week to reduce the chance of infection spreading between employees, and anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should self-isolate, which means it’s a good idea to keep home working as an option. These measures apply even to fully vaccinated individuals.

You need to consider the impact of lockdown

On the flip side of this, spending a long time in lockdown has had a negative effect on many people’s mental health, and getting your employees back to normal – as much as possible – can itself be important to their well-being. It will be all the more important to use drug and alcohol workplace testing because addiction rates have risen during this time. You may need additional training options to brush up on neglected skills, and a more relaxed approach to short breaks in order to help returning workers readjust.

One size may not fit all

If you have employees who are at high risk from the virus, or who live with people at high risk, equalities law may require you to let them keep on working from home. There are advantages to this which go beyond their well-being, as their absence can make it easier to accommodate workplace social distancing. Bear in mind that a lot of people have lost loved ones to the pandemic and some of those people may not feel able to return to the workplace yet but may be happy to work from home.

It’s probable that we never will quite go back to normal after all this, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Smart employers will take the opportunity to make positive changes to how they go about their work.

The pandemic has placed overwhelming stress on the financial sector as it deals with one of the worst recessions in history. Before the pandemic, the number of working days lost to stress per worker per year in the industry was 31% higher than the average between 2007 and 2010. The pandemic has undoubtedly exacerbated stress levels even further. Just last month, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned that staff at financial firms in Britain were suffering from lockdown fatigue and urged bosses to make sure all employees were able to speak freely about their experiences.

It’s an uncomfortable truth but it’s widely accepted by those in the business that to work in financial services you must be able to cope with permanent, unrelenting stress. Research by a Banking Standards board in 2019 found that for the third year in a row, a quarter of employees in London felt their job had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing.

2020 forced rapid change as organisations across the globe adapted to remote working. Some have opted to keep these policies in place permanently, benefitting employee wellbeing as well as overall productivity.

However, employers in the financial sector appear to be split in their attitudes towards remote working. In February, HSBC announced it will halve its global office space as it embraces hybrid working permanently, while representatives of Goldman Sachs recently commented that this won’t become the new normal for them.

Working in a way that benefits everyone 

While working amid the challenges of the pandemic will have been tough for many, adapting to the loosening of restrictions could also prove difficult for employees in financial organisations. Research shows that 35% of UK workers believe going back to normality will hurt their mental health. For many, returning to the office full-time is seen as problematic, with 57% saying they don’t want to go back to working in an office environment with normal office hours.

Bosses in the financial services sector need to consider the positives of giving employees a more flexible arrangement – choosing when and how often they work from home to suit their lifestyle and domestic arrangements. As Forbes reports, improved productivity, performance, engagement, retention and profitability are key benefits of remote working.

This is not to say that working from home is a positive experience for everyone. Research has found that one in three people working from home are neglecting their own mental health because they’re too busy with work. More than half (52%) said the boundaries between work and home life are becoming increasingly blurred. No two employees are the same, which is why banks and other financial service organisations need to focus on a flexible, adaptable approach that suits everyone.

Managing wellbeing remotely

While some organisations might have experienced decreases in the quality of work employees produced during the pandemic, this can’t be solely attributed to working from home. Busier working schedules, lack of guidance and structure, global uncertainly, elevated stress levels and other personal circumstances may all have contributed to this.

David Blunt, Head of Conduct Specialists at the FCA, has said that finance bosses should continue to monitor how they lead teams remotely. Whether or not financial organisations decide to adopt remote working could come down to how easily they feel they can manage stress and wellbeing in their remote teams.

Recognising the signs of stress and mental health issues might seem difficult to do remotely but it is possible with the right approach, which may include access to relevant digital tools and content. Line managers and mental health first aiders should be trained to look for cues in the virtual environment, such as tell-tale body language signs, or individuals appearing distracted or opting out of having their webcams on during interactions. Employees, especially those working in high-pressure environments, should have access to platforms that educate them on resilience-building techniques and wellbeing practices to help manage difficult situations when they occur.

Businesses should communicate an open culture from the top-down, with leaders being open about struggles they’ve experienced – ensuring employees know it’s ok to not always be ok and encouraging them to share any concerns they have, without fear of negative repercussions.

A question of culture, not location

Embracing remote working shouldn’t simply be about where employees are allowed to work, but how where they work impacts their wellbeing. Allowing workers the flexibility to choose will help financial institutions get the best from their people while helping them achieve the best possible quality of life.

Employers should avoid making sweeping decisions about remote working based only on productivity. They need to take note of the scientific evidence and, most importantly, listen to their employees. By adopting a hybrid approach as part of a wider wellbeing push, financial organisations can reap the rewards through a healthier happier workforce that brings increased engagement and productivity.

What was interesting about those times from a business strategy and behavioural perspective was how power worked in those dynamics. Those of us who lived through the times of the smoking room may well remember the sense that if a nexus of powerful, influential people were part of the smoking room gang, then that was the place to be if you wanted your voice heard or to have any part in the decision-making process. The outcomes of discussions that had taken place in the smoking room would often materially impact on our business functions, our teams, budgets or any other part of our operational reality.

This is beautifully demonstrated in one Friends episode, when Rachel, finding herself on the outside of the smoking-room clique, actively takes up the habit, simply to be part of the power and decision-making dynamic.

Thankfully, for most businesses that kind of stark insider/outsider factionalism is a thing of the past due to changes in the laws around smoking in public and a dramatic reduction in the pervasiveness of the habit. And yet, it would be a naive organisation that claimed that no power dynamics existed within their eco-system. Wherever there are people, there are gangs and sub-gangs and with the move towards a post-COVID-19 way of working, I’m wondering if we will also see a resurgence of this kind of behaviour.

Right now, all of our clients are considering what life might look like in a post-COVID world. Many are taking the opportunity to survey their employee populations – asking how would they like to work from now on? In the office? From home? Or a blend of both?

What is clear is that it is unlikely that we will ever see a whole-sale return to the 9-5, Monday- Friday office-based culture that we once knew so well. That time has passed, and one leading supermarket chain has indicated that according to their figures, business habits have been catapulted forward by around five years: they expected the home working revolution to happen – just not quite yet. COVID has forced us to go online and proved that we can do it.

There are huge opportunities for businesses and organisations to benefit from the changes that lay ahead, such as increased agility, better engagement from employees, better global connectivity and market reach. But in an organisational eco-system where some people are literally and physically in the office and some are out of it, there may be risks too that we will see a return to the ‘smoking room’, decision-making dynamic, where those who are present have a greater influence, simply by dint of their physical presence.

What is clear is that it is unlikely that we will ever see a whole-sale return to the 9-5, Monday- Friday office-based culture that we once knew so well.

Part-time and flexible workers have experienced the sharp end of this for many years now. One client told me that the stress of not knowing how things would shift and change in his absence forced him to ditch his compressed hours working arrangement (which he had embarked on in pursuit of a better work-life balance) and return to his 5-day+ working week.

If we don’t recognise this risk, it may go unseen and as a result, we risk losing good people (or at least their engagement – which pretty much amounts to the same thing) and worse, we start to make crucial decisions without the levels of challenge and rigour that we previously had.  With the tribal, clique-led decision-making culture in play, power sits within an echo-chamber and leads to the kind of closed-loop thinking that Matthew Sayed brilliantly explores in his book ‘Black Box Thinking’.

Organisationally speaking, we risk systemic affiliation bias – where we unduly weight someone’s opinion, input or value simply because we consider that they are ‘one of us’: one of the smoking-room gang – or in 2020, post-COVID ‘new normal’, one of the in-the-office-gang. Turning our attention to this now and putting in place policies, procedures and processes to keep the power equilibrium is going to be a crucial part of any ‘new normal’ preparation.

As John Murdock, CEO of business intelligence experts Centage, explains below for Finance Monthly, this has begun to shift over the past decade due to technology and automation.

Companies like Botkeeper and MindBridge.ai are fully automating tasks like entry and validation of transactions, line items, compliance and auditing corporate books. Other companies offer platforms that streamline budgeting, surface trends hidden in data, and a wide variety of classic financial team functions.

As these functions move into software, one of two things will happen: accountants will lose their jobs, or automation will prompt them to radically transform the office of finance. Even if  CEOs prefer people to AI, they may have trouble finding qualified accountants to staff their financial teams. According to Accounting Today: “Accounting, like many professions, is experiencing a shrinking talent pool as boomers retire and younger generations are opting for other careers.”

This evolution is going to kickstart some serious changes in the industry, which is why the AICPA, through its CPA Evolution project, is working to ensure CPAs continue have the skills needed to support the accounting profession. I see that there are five distinct transformations occurring in the office of finance that are a direct result of financial technology.

1. Finance teams are becoming business partners

Back office automation allows the financial team members to move in a more strategic, front-office role by offering their talents to the managers and department heads who run the day-to-day business. For instance, the financial team of a retailer can help the company optimize revenue per square foot, or understand the profitability of each product in order to tweak the brand’s merchandising strategy.

The financial team of a retailer can help the company optimize revenue per square foot, or understand the profitability of each product in order to tweak the brand’s merchandising strategy.

Personally, I see this as a positive development. I never saw the benefit of sequestering such an important role in the office of finance. The finance team is responsible for ensuring company priorities are funded. How can they do that if they don’t understand how or why those things become priorities to begin with?

2. Finance teams will recruit more graduates with business and operational knowledge, not just accounting degrees

The more the financial office moves to the front-office, the more executives will value people who have degrees and backgrounds in business strategy, market differentiation, and competitive positioning. These are the skills that inform strategic decision-making and can help the business chart long-term strategies.

This is a reversal of a trend that began after the 2008 financial crisis and the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley. According to the executive search firm Spencer Stuart, the number of CFOs with CPA certification rose from 29% to 45%. But now that compliance and auditing can be automated, I believe that CPA certification will be less of a priority for management teams.

The accounting industry itself is undergoing a similar shift. Non-accounting college graduates accounted for 31% of new hires across public accounting firms in the US in 2018. The Journal of Accountancy cites the need for tech skills as a primary driver of the shift: “Increased demand for technology skills is shifting the accounting firm hiring model,”  Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, AICPA President and CEO and the CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, said in a news release. “This is leading to more non-accounting graduates being hired, particularly in the audit function.”

3. More CFOs will have a non-traditional path to leadership

The other day I listened to a podcast of the Boston Red Sox, Tim Zue, describing his rise to CFO. He didn’t come from a finance background (he studied mechanical engineering in college). But after working for the Red Sox organization for more than 18 years, he developed a keen understanding of the business, which more than made up for his lack of a finance degree. He knew the right questions to ask in order to make strategic business decisions. As a result, he now believes that the only way to gain such a deep understanding is to get into the front office and work with the people who are running it day-to-day.

The only way to gain such a deep understanding is to get into the front office and work with the people who are running it day-to-day.

I agree wholeheartedly with Zue, not the least because I experienced the same trajectory in my own career. I earned my bachelor's degree in engineering and worked in sales and marketing prior to becoming a chief revenue officer. My experiences as CRO positioned me to become a CEO.

4. Technology will increase the demand for strategic thinkers

This may seem counterintuitive, but as AI merges with business intelligence to alert the finance teams to trends inside the business as well as trends within their markets, companies will need CFOs who are highly strategic thinkers. After all, if everyone uses the same software to guide decisions, they’ll all make the same decisions. We see this phenomenon in our everyday lives all the time. For instance, Waze does a great job of informing drivers of traffic congestion and suggesting alternative routes. But if enough drivers take that alternate route, it just creates another traffic jam.

To complete the metaphor, successful companies will need CFOs who can see the out-of-box alternative route to long-term sustainability and growth.

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5. Finance and engineering will merge

Financial degrees are already becoming more data and tech centric. This past October, the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University announced it will offer a masters degree in financial technology. There is compelling reason why these disciplines are merging: both center around data. Fintech is still in its infancy, and it offers significant opportunities for engineers to build out automation around financial rules. It makes sense for engineering schools like Pratt to train their students in the ins and outs of finance. I can’t emphasize enough how radically the coupling of these disciplines will transform accounting and finance over the next decade.

Accountants and finance teams shouldn’t fear technology. It will certainly change the way they think about their roles, but that’s a positive, not a negative development, especially for ambitious people who are eager to play a more strategic role in their corporations.

In light of Mental Health Awareness Week, Heather Magee, HR Director at EValue, discusses tackling financial anxieties in the workplace.

According to mental health charity Mind, approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. What’s more, 89% of individuals said that these issues affect their daily working life. And while it seems that more and more people are being affected, there are ongoing concerns that employers are not doing enough to support members of staff who are suffering from mental health issues, and help make work more manageable for them.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, 13% of all sick days in the UK are down to mental ill health. These issues also often manifest in staff turnover and poor productivity – which costed UK employers a combined £42bn in 2017. It is therefore essential that businesses do all they can to minimise workplace mental health issues – both for the wellbeing of their employees, and their bottom lines. This is where investments and pensions advice and guidance can play a crucial role.

Feeling the financial strain

It’s not just the day-to-day stresses of work that cause employee anxiety. One of the greatest causes of stress in the workplace seems to be worries about personal finance. Money worries are known to have an enormous effect on mental wellbeing, and can be both the cause and effect of mental health problems. It is vital that employers understand the impact that personal financial worries have on workplace mental health, to ensure staff have a better ‘financial wellbeing’ at work. Financial wellbeing is defined by a combination of key factors: being in control of finances; having the capacity to withstand financial shocks; having confidence in the future; and having choices on how to spend and save. Without this, staff may naturally feel more insecure about their finances.

According to CIPD’s latest Health and Wellbeing at Work report, financial wellbeing is still a relatively neglected area of organisational policy. The report found more than a third (36%) of managers did not believe their workers demonstrated the knowledge or skills to make the right rewards and benefits choices for their financial needs – something that urgently needs to change.

One key way to help businesses keep their employees happy and informed about their financial and pensions security is using external support, such as employee benefits consultants. In today’s competitive market, this additional support can not only provide financial guidance to keep workers assured, but also help attract and retain staff.

The benefits of benefits consultants

Employee benefits strategies should encompass everything from healthcare to flexible working, to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of employees. In turn, this can help drive employee engagement and happiness.

Pensions should be a key focus area for benefits consultants. In previous years, plans were seen as a bonus and a job attraction–, but today the implementation of auto-enrolment has standardised the pensions landscape. Here, employee benefits consultants can play a vital role, helping companies better understand their workforce’s needs, and develop options that ultimately offer workers more job satisfaction by catering to them and their lives. Companies can also use new technologies to create in-house platforms that make it even easier for employees to access their benefits and stay informed. This technology also enables smaller businesses, or employee benefits consultants without formal financial training, to provide financial advice.

Providing peace of mind

When it comes to other steps that companies can and should take to address mental health issues in the workplace, businesses should train staff to spot signs that someone could be struggling, and for them to be able to direct employees towards appropriate support. This can be done by training people to be qualified mental health first aiders that can provide in-house support. Once trained, these first aiders can identify, understand and help anyone that may be experiencing a mental health issue.

Mental health first aid could become mandatory in workplaces, so any businesses that adopts it now will be ahead of the game, as well as helping to create a supportive, open culture around mental health.

Companies can also help alleviate unnecessary anxieties by ensuring that workers know all the facts about their pensions, giving them the freedom and knowledge to make informed financial decisions.

When it comes to personal finances, businesses should also do everything possible to educate employees, be it through training programmes, workshops or printed materials. Money worries can have an enormous effect on mental wellbeing and can be both the cause and effect of mental health problems. By eliminating this problem, mental health in the workplace can hopefully be significantly reduced – and ensure that people keep enjoying coming to work.

Phil Sugden, Director at flexible workspace solutions provider, Portal Group, discusses below how the Managed Office Solutions concept has reduced the risk of capital expenditure for fast-growing companies when relocating offices.

In a rapidly evolving market place, businesses are often growing at an entirely unpredictable rate. While growth is one of the most highly valued characteristics of any successful organisation, it often causes logistical and financial challenges when relocating to a larger workspace under the traditional office lease and the serviced model.

Businesses that opt for the traditional lease model are highly restricted in terms of flexibility, fit out and capital expenditure, thus limiting future developments and changes. While the serviced model offers more flexibility, businesses still face limitations on how they can use the office environment to reflect their brand.

Selecting an integrated service offering, such as Managed Office Solutions (MOS), offers a ‘third way’ for businesses to relocate to larger premises. Using MOS, offices are tailored to the client’s exact needs with the added advantages of risk mitigation, the removal of capex requirements and contract terms to meet business planning horizons.

The typical challenge for a small business that has outgrown its existing premises is finding and setting up an alternative location with access to high-calibre talent in a short space of time. In addition, extensive lease lengths can restrict SMEs from finding a new workspace that is wholly suited to their growth strategy.

Historically, companies opting for the traditional lease model have committed to the security of lengthy 10, 15 or even 20 year leases. As business plans often change several times over lengthy lease terms, this certainty has come at a critical price of flexibility in an often volatile economic climate.

The contract lengths for MOS, however, typically range from 3-5 years and therefore enable companies that require a high number of workstations, to more closely align their accommodation requirements with their actual business needs, allowing them to expand or downsize as required.

When expanding under the traditional office lease, businesses are required to self-source and invest substantial capital expenditure in what would be a large, ‘from-scratch’ project. Outsourcing fit-out and facilities management providers when relocating offices can be a costly and time-consuming process.

In addition, the exit fees and dilapidation costs can present even the most well-established businesses with a weighty unnecessary expenditure at the end of a lease.

As a result, small to medium sized businesses are now viewing their office space requirements as a strategic component of their business plan, and thus opting for more flexible leasing options at a fixed price, with no additional costs.

Leases are rapidly becoming an outdated concept, and under more flexible workspace contracts such as Managed Office Solutions (MOS), agreements can be negotiated so they are based on inclusive managed contracts that are priced on a per workstation basis with no capital expenditure or risk.

By having a single cost for the property, facilities management, fit out and ongoing management, flexible methods like MOS remove what can be considerable associated upfront capital expenditure costs, while allowing business funds to be utilised more effectively on operational costs for the property itself.

Simply put, the new wave of shared offices options are allowing SMEs to not only access all the services they need at a cost-certain price, but to work within a flexible financial model that actively encourages their individual development and culture.

While the uncertain impact of volatile market conditions, and of course Brexit, remain to be seen, businesses of all sizes are having to adapt to become more flexible than ever before. Even the most well-established businesses with enough capital to sustain sudden expenses, are reviewing what were previously assured and predictable growth plans. Philip Sugden, Operations Director at Portal Group UK, explains more for Finance Monthly below.

A business’s property profile is one of the most costly financial investments to be made and over the years the associated fixed rental rates are amongst the standard steps taken in establishing a solid presence for your business.

That cost certainty however, came at a price of the flexibility that is now critical in the modern and reactionary market place.

New businesses are growing at an entirely unpredictable rate while some large established businesses are seeking the autonomy to customize a workspace to better respond to supply and demand. However, with office space at a premium, both large and SME businesses are finding it harder to find a premises that can fill their present and future without breaking the bank.

The possibility that you might need to expand, reduce, reallocate or relocate your workforce at the speed required, particularly for example in the contact centre environment, is extremely costly and entirely impractical under the traditional office lease.

Whether a business is expanding or simply relocating due to success or commercial needs, budgets can no longer be front-loaded into capital expenditure laden construction or leasing of properties.

When considering the growing need to balance financial flexibility with cost certainty in the UK, it’s also interesting to note that our leasing habits differ vastly from the norm abroad. For example, while companies here have traditionally committed to the surety of long 10, 15 or even 20 year leases, the average is closer to three years in the US or India.

While these short-term lets would be at odds with the business growth plans of most UK businesses, more and more businesses of all sizes are increasingly exploring more flexible yet capex-free models.

The likes of managed office solutions (MOS) financial packages, which combine property acquisition, workspace design, fit out, facilities management and supporting services, reflect the emphasis now being placed on financial flexibility and the more expansive use of fluid operating costs (opex).

With simple, streamlined systems and structured terms, business owners can invest their time, effort and money into their businesses, not bricks and mortar.

Simply put, the new wave of shared offices options are allowing start-ups and multinational businesses alike to not only access all the amenities they need at a cost-certain price, but to work within a flexible financial model that fosters their own unique growth and culture.

More than two fifths (41%) of finance back-office processes could be automated in the next five years, a new study from global customer services provider Arvato CRM Solutions and management consulting firm A.T Kearney has found.

According to the new report, 41% of finance back-office processes are set to be performed by robots by 2023, with this figure rising to 53% within the next 10 years.

Implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is set to significantly boost firms’ productivity and efficiency, as bots are 20 times faster than humans with a 10% lower error rate. Subsequently, companies that adopt this technology, could potentially receive an ROI of between 300 and 1,000% over a three-year period.

It’s also predicted that the widespread roll-out of RPA solutions will result in an annual compound market growth of 50%, with the global market set to be worth $5billion by 2020.

New developments

The research also predicts that by 2023, RPA, with the help of cognitive capabilities, will be able to make automated decisions, and by 2028 robots will be able to carry out most back-office processes independently with minimal human intervention.

The new report, named ‘Robotic Process Automation: The impact of RPA on finance back-office processes’, interviewed more than 20 technology partners and players in the field of RPA, gathering together their view on the trends and developments within the sector.

Ben Warren, vice president of Digital Transformation at Arvato CRM, Global BPS, said: “RPA will revolutionize the finance back-office, as the new technology is more accurate, efficient and can work for longer hours, depending on demand.

“This can consequently help drive revenue for a business, streamlining processes and allowing employees to spend more time on higher value tasks.

“But although the benefits of automation can be great, it’s important that firms understand that to successfully utilize the technology they will need to invest.

“A full analysis of end-to-end systems and redesign of existing processes will be initially required, and companies will need to regularly review their processes as technology continues to evolve and develop over the coming decade.”

Dr. Florian Dickgreber, partner at A.T Kearney and co-author of the study, said: “Having transformed manufacturing, bots are now set to change processes in the service sector.

“We expect RPA, the automation of structured business processes, to take over more than half of all back-office processes over the next five to 10 years.”

(Source: Arvato CRM Solutions)

Dubai is now the number one city for graduates seeking a career in financial services, whilst London doesn’t make the top ten, reveals a survey by one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.

In an annual poll, deVere Group asks those who start its flagship Graduate Programme, in which location within the Group’s global network of more than 70 offices they would like to start their international financial services career.

This year, 28% said their first choice would be Dubai. The second most popular was Barcelona (22%); third is Hong Kong (17%); fourth is New York (14%); and fifth is Cape Town (8%).

The remaining 11% is made up of other destinations including Shanghai, Sydney, Geneva, Paris, Bangkok and Abu Dhabi.

deVere Group founder and CEO, Nigel Green, comments: “This survey highlights that the next generation of financial services professionals are open to look beyond the traditional and more established global financial hubs.

“It underscores how cities like Dubai, Barcelona and Cape Town are increasingly important international financial centres and compete with the stalwarts such as Hong Kong and New York.

“With this, as the apparent perception of the wealth mangers and advisers of the future, we can expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.”

He continues: “The fact that Barcelona this year is second-placed and London – currently the world’s most important global financial hub – does not make the top ten is interesting.

“Could it be that the respondents believe mainland Europe’s international financial centres offer more opportunities than post-Brexit London?”

Mr Green goes on to say: “These global hubs of finance, trade and commerce represent destinations of incredible possibilities for ambitious grads wanting to embark on careers as wealth professionals.

“There are some shared characteristics amongst these top five cities. These include that English is commonly spoken, they are politically and economically stable and there is a high level of high net worth individuals.

“But these destinations are also quite different from each other in terms of the lifestyle they offer and in terms of clients’ expectations, economic environments and regulatory conditions.

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“With each of the top five cities offering unique opportunities and challenges, each one attracts grads who have often quite markedly different strengths and weaknesses, skill sets and aspirations.”

The 18-month deVere Group Graduate Programme’s training begins at the Malta administration and support office, and graduates are then given the choice to attend an international deVere Academy, before full-time relocation when they actively start their careers.

The deVere CEO concludes: “deVere graduates don’t just witness our client-focused, values-driven, attention-to-detail culture from their side-lines – they’re an integral part of it.

“We like them to share their own personalities and perspectives, because together with our continual training and mentoring, it will allow them to become better financial advisers.”

(Source: deVere Group)