Finance Outsourcing - Maneuvering Talent Management Speed Bumps during Impending Recessionary Woes

In these impending recessionary times against the backdrop of higher inflation and talent crunch driven by great resignation, how does one steer their Talent Management strategy? Businesses are feeling the pinch more than ever before. In order to stay afloat, many are cutting costs wherever possible. In its recent CFO Survey, Gartner Research indicates that hiring and retaining talent is the foremost challenge to be dealt with followed by business forecasting and reducing costs in the right places. This further underscores the growing impact of inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty. On the other hand, US job statistics released by Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey show that the number of openings continues to be significantly higher at 11.2 million jobs in July 2022, twice that of the available human capital to fulfill those openings. Business Impact is adverse due to two reasons. First, employees switching to high paying jobs leave a chasm in the organization which takes a long time to fix. Second, the job market is inflationary as employers need to be paying top dollar in order to get the right talent across levels.

Why Talent Management is increasingly a Speed Bump

For companies who may be hiring, it is essential to find the needle in the haystack and secure the appropriate talent for your organization. In order to do that, being open to diverse talent landscapes and having a keen understanding of what your business goals are will allow you to navigate these choppy waters. Furthermore, being nimble with your staffing needs and rolling out measures that withstand any cyclicality will be critical in order to maintain efficiency and effectiveness. Coming to budgets, It's more important than ever to keep a tight grip on your talent management budget. As the economy slows and businesses enter into a period of recessionary hiring slow-down, the competition for getting the right talent will only increase. In order to avoid being caught in a talent crunch, being proactive about your talent management strategy, you can weather the storm of a potential recession and come out on top. Incurring higher costs by offering creative incentives such as flexible work arrangements or training opportunities to employees become unavoidable if such a talent pool is being developed in-house. However, this is counterintuitive to better cost management for certain roles and responsibilities. So, how can your business manage the three-fold problems of higher inflation, talent crunch and business continuity?

What can you do about it?

This is where taking specialist help comes in. It is not uncommon for non-core activities across business functions to be outsourced to specialist service partners who have built the necessary knowledge base and process depth in certain finance processes and have sufficient success stories to showcase. By being open to adopting newer operating models, business leaders can get creative and pioneer in solving business problems pertaining to talent management and effectively running regular operations of your business. Overall, outsourcing can be a helpful tool for businesses looking to cut costs, but it is important to carefully consider all potential implications before making a decision. The modern business landscape is more complex than ever before, and companies are under constant pressure to improve efficiency of their operations. As a result, many organizations have turned to outsourcing as a way to Streamline operations and improve bottom-line results. With the right service partner, the three-fold problems of higher inflation, talent crunch and business continuity are addressed most optimally.

How Outsourced Finance can help you - Maximizing ROI on Finance Talent costs

Many businesses have found that they need to do more with less and look for ways to cut costs. One way to stretch limited resources is to outsource certain functions. When done correctly, outsourcing can lead to cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved quality. In fact, in many cases outsourcing delivers better quality by capitalizing on the service provider's specialized knowledge, expertise and talent built over time. However, before deciding to outsource, businesses need to carefully consider what and how and tie it up to business objectives. When done thoughtfully and with due diligence, outsourcing can be a valuable tool for businesses looking to improve their bottom line and having a direct impact in terms of ROI to the business.

Training and Knowledge Management

As any business leader knows, hiring and talent management is one of the most important - and stressful - aspects of running a company. Not only do you have to find the right candidates, but you also need to make sure that they're properly trained and integrated into your company culture. There's no denying that hiring and staffing can be a challenge, especially in today's environment of talent shortages. But when you outsource your finance function, you can avoid these challenges altogether. Instead of worrying about finding the right people and training them on your specific processes, you can simply hand over the reins to an experienced and qualified team. In addition, outsourcing will help to ensure business continuity in the event that one of your primary team members leaves. Finally, it can also help to reduce process risk by ensuring that the ownership of training and knowledge sharing totally rests with that of the service Partner. This not only saves you time and money, but it also ensures that your business has the continuity it needs to stay afloat during challenging times. And because outsourced finance partners are experts at process management, you can rest assured that your financial operations are in good hands. So, when it comes to water-tight governance, outsourcing is the way to go.

Solid Governance goes a long way

The decision to outsource is not without its challenges, and one of the biggest concerns is ensuring that outsourced processes are well-governed. Today's outsourced finance partners are aware of this challenge and are taking steps to ensure that their clients have water-tight governance in place. One of the most important elements of this is the service level agreement (SLA) and Periodical Management Reports. An SLA is an agreement between the service provider and the customer (whether internal or external) that defines the services to be provided, turnaround times, quality standards, and other important parameters. By setting clear expectations upfront, SLAs help to ensure that outsourced processes are carried out effectively and efficiently. Management Reports with clear and specific business KPIs that are reported by the Outsourced Partner give complete control over how the outsourced activities are run. In today's business environment, water-tight governance is essential for success, and hiring an experienced outsourced finance partner is the best way to ensure that your organization has the systems and controls in place to meet this challenge.

Managing Process Risks and Keeping your data Secured is key When Outsourcing

Talent crunch has forced companies to get creative when it comes to staffing, and many have turned to outsourcing as a solution. While outsourced partner services can remove the stress from a finance function's routine by handling their financial affairs, they can also help to expand a company's back-office operations during periods of rapid growth. This expansion can complement your primary teams with people and specialized resources, ensuring that your business continuity is never at risk. In addition, outsourcing can also help to mitigate process risks, providing you with the peace of mind that comes with knowing your finance function and that some of the critical processes are well run and continuity is assured. Data security can be challenging when working with outsourced teams since confidential information of the business is shared with a third party. It is imperative that the service partner has the necessary systems to safeguard your information, be it email communications or project related files irrespective of the formats. Where the business has existing virtual systems, the same can be offered. The service partner should ensure that data is stored on a secure server and that backups are in place to avoid data loss. There should be strict controls on who has access to the data and how it is used. The service partner should also have a data security policy in place which outlines how data will be safeguarded and what will happen in the event of a data breach. By taking these steps, businesses can protect their data when working with outsourced teams.

In Summary

Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. In today's business environment, one of the best ways to do this is to outsource certain services. Outsourcing partners are often more agile in their operating models and better equipped to attract, train and retain the right talent. They can also offer data security safeguards and virtual systems that businesses may not have access to. The benefits of outsourcing finance-related tasks far outweigh the cons, making it a need of the hour for businesses struggling to manage their finances. Download our latest insight publication on how you can leverage finance outsourcing to create better ROI here



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