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The pandemic has exposed the need for CFOs and their partners in Human Resources to work together much more closely as their organizations assess their people's health, workplace, and bottom line. This mandate has become increasingly critical this year as businesses work to close out Q4 while juggling adjusted global restrictions, the vaccine rollout, and the likelihood of extended remote work policies.
好消息是,许多首席财务官和HR leaders have already started to break down silos between them. Increased communication between the two functions allows CFOs to better understand labor and operating costs and the potential financial impacts of varying health and safety measures and return-to-work plans. At the same time, HR leaders can gain greater insight into revenue forecasts, cash flow, and the impact on business priorities to inform their workforce plans.
As one HR executive noted during a recent roundtable discussion, “I've been spending time thinking about how the “people” business connects with the “financial” business to help drive our organization post-COVID. And I think one of the realizations that came from here is, if before we thought the financial health and the human capital health of a business wasn't the primary driver of the business, I think we all know now that it is.”
Here are two simple steps you can take now to tie Finance and HR functions at the hip, drive stronger collaboration and communication, and position your organization for both short-term readiness and long-term innovation and growth.
在金融与人力资源之间建立一种新的协作文化
传统上，金融-HR的关系从根本上是交易员工人数对话。最近，一些金融-HR的关系已经发展为包括对组织是否有合适的人来推动正确倡议的更广泛的一致性。随着大流行，这种关系需要进一步发展。
在危机时期，当流动性是最重要的时候，CFO有时会过快地采取行动，无法减少影响，而无需考虑对组织的未来有更全面的看法。无论是裁员，运营变更甚至是房地产调整，都可以迅速采取较快的行动，以预先降低成本而无需咨询人力资源，可能会对组织的长期增长潜力产生连锁反应。
了解这种动态，首席财务官和人力资源领导者应尽早进行合作，并且经常在与业务成本有关的决策上进行合作，而不仅仅是在危机时期。对于财务，考虑和评估整个组织中的劳动力数据对于做出明智和可持续的商业决策至关重要。通过与人力资源的合作，金融可以清楚地了解当今运营中的基本角色，避免任何削减短期行动的削减。同时，人力资源可以帮助资助理解对推动未来的研发和创新至关重要的基本技能和能力，随着公司的扩展，避免了可能损害长期增长的任何削减。
我知道，在我们目前正在参加的“黑天鹅”活动中，为了降低成本而做出轻率决定的诱惑是重大的。避免这种诱惑。劳动力数据是细微的，即使在危机时期，也必须保持前瞻性方法，以确保您的组织能够快速有效地从曲线中加速。
Model Scenarios Together for More Confident Decision Making
“下一个是什么？”一旦设定了合作基础，金融和人力资源就可以通过创建和共享框架来审查公司范围的数据，迅速反映变化并考虑一些不断发展的外部因素的影响，从新的政府法规中考虑，并考虑了一些不断发展的外部因素的影响到局部感染率。使用外部信号和内部数据对更多方案进行建模将有助于人力资源和金融对下一步的决定，无论是办公室重新开放，房地产投资还是预算和薪酬调整，都可以做出更加自信的决定。
Take, for example, a medical device company that is using epidemiological models that incorporate external and internal data to forecast where – and even which – employees may be affected by COVID-19. Not only can HR make better staffing decisions to help their workers stay safe, but Finance can pinpoint potential cost discrepancies from supply chain disruption or inventory availability and adjust forecasts accordingly to help the business stay on track.
For Finance and HR leaders, sharing a view of models that reflect the changing environment should be a top priority. Start by adjusting your reports, models, and scorecards to incorporate a side-by-side view of your people analytics, financials, and external drivers. This collaborative and comprehensive approach to modeling will help both teams forecast resources more accurately, adjust revenue models in real-time and anticipate opportunities for cost savings, which in turn, will help ensure the organization has the right resources at the right time at the right costs to drive the business forward safely and strategically.
Change Is Constant
While crises can often push finance and HR to work more closely together, there are myriad other reasons to continually communicate. For instance, only by partnering more closely with HR will CFOs address the challenges associated with systemic pay inequality and lack of diversity within the workplace.
然后，有“数字化”。According to IDC，“直接数字转型投资的增长率为17.5％，预计在2020年至2023年的时间内将接近7.4万亿美元，因为公司以现有的战略和投资为基础。”随着数字化的加速，交付创新所需的技能将继续发生变化，人力资源和金融将再次需要与前瞻性计划密切合作，该计划在正确的时间上预算正确的技能，以提供正确的项目，以提供创新和驱动力。生长。
最重要的是，CFO必须在职业生涯中导航的不断变化，这一波浪不太可能消失。通过与他们在人力资源的合作伙伴的密切沟通和合作，首席财务官可以希望，我们可以说：“骑这浪潮”，而不是被陷入困境。
Sara Baxter Orr is the Global Head of the CFO Practice at Anaplan.