Why It’s Time to Start Valuing Your Finance Team

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Why its time to start valuing your finance team is critical because employees are the lifeblood of any business. Without engaged, happy and productive team members, your company can’t survive. According to several reports, employee happiness can even increase sales by up to 37%.

Despite this, many companies continue to misinterpret the value of some of their most important human resources. The finance team, often working behind the scenes in a business environment, is regularly overlooked by business leaders.

However, a strong finance team can help companies to grow and thrive on an exceptional scale. These professionals can guide companies towards their goals, allow them to avoid challenges along the way, and ensure consistent business continuity.

Today, we will explore why it’s so important for business leaders to value, engage, and appreciate their financial professionals.

The Crucial Role of Finance Teams

It’s easy to overlook the vital role finance teams play in a company’s success. Much of their work happens behind the scenes, particularly in today’s world of hybrid and remote work.

However, financial professionals are responsible for more than just producing annual reports and ensuring compliance with tax guidelines. Financial teams help companies to plan for success, forecast future budgets, and help business leaders to make valuable long-term investments.

They ensure you can avoid issues with government entities when tax seasons arise and keep books organised for accurate reporting. Financial experts are also exceptional analysts, capable of translating complicated information into insights that can direct the business.

A study from Deloitte found that actively data-driven companies, empowered by financial teams, were more likely to evolve, grow, and invest in disruptive technologies. Additionally, almost 50% of all data-driven companies generated 5% more annual revenue growth.

A strong finance team has the experience to break companies’ long-term vision down into actionable, practical steps within a realistic timeline. They can help companies access additional funding and find new opportunities to catapult them towards success.

The Cost of High Turnover

Valuing your financial team isn’t just important from a business growth perspective. Truly engaging your employees and ensuring their satisfaction at work is essential to minimising expensive and time-consuming turnover.

The cost of employee turnover is often much higher than companies realise, clocking in at around £30,614 for every vacant position in the UK. The costs are even greater in the financial landscape, where skill shortages can make it difficult for companies to acquire new talent.

Only around 33% of employee turnover costs are “hard costs”, like paying for advertising, recruiting fees, and temporary workers. The rest of the expense comes from things like:

  • Lost productivity: The loss of an essential staff member in your hiring team directly impacts productivity. When critical employees leave the business, remaining team members face additional pressure, stress, and burnout, which can increase turnover.
  • Onboarding expenses: Hiring a new employee doesn’t just cost money in terms of recruitment fees. There are also onboarding costs to consider, such as providing new employees with technology and training them to operate effectively.
  • Reputational damage: Failure to retain critical staff can have a negative impact on a brand’s reputation. It can make attracting new talent to the team harder and harm a company’s customer relationships.

Benefits of Engaging Finance Professionals

An engaged workforce is a valuable resource in any business. Gallup researchers found high levels of employee engagement led to an 81% decrease in absenteeism, a 10% increase in customer loyalty, and an 18% increase in productivity. What’s more, companies with highly engaged employees can benefit from up to 23% higher levels of profitability.

Finding ways to engage and support your financial team can lead to several distinctive benefits supporting continued business growth. When your financial professionals are happy and validated at work, you benefit from the following:

  • Higher employee satisfaction: More satisfied employees are more productive and efficient at work. When they feel appreciated and acknowledged, your team members are more motivated, engaged, and committed to delivering high-quality work.
  • Improved financial performance: Finance teams that feel supported and valued are likelier to go the extra mile. They can help businesses identify cost-saving opportunities, contribute to revenue growth, and boost profitability.
  • Greater talent retention: In today’s skills-short market, employee retention is crucial. A positive work environment and a culture of appreciation significantly increase your ability to retain in-demand experts.

What’s more, if, like many companies, you plan on expanding your financial team in the years ahead, an engaging company culture and a commitment to employee satisfaction will help you to attract a more versatile selection of talented candidates. The right strategy can improve your employer branding significantly, making recruitment easier.

How to Show Your Finance Team, You Value Them

Demonstrating respect and appreciation to your finance team requires a long-term and consistent commitment. It’s not enough to update salaries simply occasionally or provide bonuses. Business leaders need to ensure they’re actively engaging their teams.

This means creating a diverse company culture where team members feel respected and supported. Key strategies include:

  • Investing in DEI: Creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy demonstrates your commitment to making every team member feel valued and supported at work. A strong strategy should unify your employees and encourage teams to share different perspectives, form inter-departmental bonds, and grow collaboratively.
  • Clear communication and feedback: Excellent communication is crucial to developing a strong team. When you interview a candidate, you should be committed to exceptional communication. When a team member joins your company, ensure you regularly share company goals, progress, and expectations.
  • Professional development: Today’s finance candidates want to see opportunities for growth in their roles. Committing to consistently developing and upskilling your financial teams will help them to thrive in their positions. Encourage them to participate in relevant training programs, attend industry conferences, and pursue certifications.
  • Regular recognition: Providing consistent feedback is essential to nurturing the growth of your finance teams. Implement recognition programs to celebrate both team and individual accomplishments. Commit to rewarding your employees for their hard work and encouraging peers to share feedback.
  • Foster work-life balance: Today’s employees want to see empathy from their employers. Encouraging a healthy work-life balance shows your team you value their well-being and helps to minimise the risk of burnout. Offer flexible working arrangements, encourage breaks, and consider developing wellness programs.

Value Your Finance Teams

Appreciating, valuing, and engaging your finance professionals is crucial for any business searching for growth. Recognising the critical role finance teams play in your business can improve employee satisfaction, reduce turnover, and improve your financial performance.

Commit to showing your finance teams they’re appreciated, and they’ll reward you with endless growth opportunities. You may even find you can find new talent faster when you work with a finance recruitment team to expand.

Thanks

Rachel

About Rebus Financial Recruitment

Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, ranging from various organisations, including SMEs, to large PLCs.

We strive to offer both the client and candidate a seamless recruitment experience. Using our expertise, we get to the heart of employer and employee needs, and, in doing so, we match the two perfectly.

To learn more, contact one of our team today, or call us on 01282 930930.

 

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