A business’s finance team is responsible for managing cash, accounts receivables, accounts payables, treasury operations, and other items on the balance sheet. They handle a variety of processes, such as credit checks during customer onboarding, invoicing, collections, cash posting, and financial planning and analysis.

Earlier, these processes were handled by finance teams from within the office premises, but as the pandemic hit the world, hybrid working became the norm for finance teams. CFOs now need to tackle the challenges of a workforce that increasingly prefers hybrid working or remote working and ensure that the team continues to deliver efficient work.

The hybrid work model offers an opportunity to redesign business functions to eliminate disconnected systems, duplicate or poor-quality data, and communication gaps between teams. If employees collaborate well, a hybrid workforce can benefit a business more than work-from-office (WFO) or work-from-home (WFH) teams.

In this ebook, we will analyze whether a hybrid workforce is sustainable in the long run for finance teams and how businesses can implement a successful hybrid workforce model. The ebook also covers the best productivity hacks that allow CFOs to make the most of their distributed finance teams.

COVID-19 has been a critical turning point for businesses. It led to the widespread adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation by businesses of all sizes to enable remote working. Finance teams, too, have embraced hybrid working to cope with the changing market environment. Businesses are actively looking to modernize their finance teams, and this starts with hiring the right people and implementing the right technology.

But how does a modern finance teamwork? The most important aspect of a new-age finance team is not to be hinged upon traditional and manual AR processes. Instead, they need to focus on strategic tasks like dunning high-risk customers, handling complicated exception scenarios, and revising credit limits after periodic reviews of customers.

A modern finance team is also not based in one location or office. They are either completely remote or working in a hybrid setup from different offices or home locations. It is suitable for companies as they can cut operational costs due to a smaller investment needed in office space. They also get the benefit of pulling in talent and serving customers from across the world.

Modernizing finance teams is essential for today’s businesses as it improves operational efficiency and helps them prepare for the future. It also ensures that they do not lag behind the competition in terms of growth or innovation.

With the pandemic, it has become clear that businesses can trust employees to do their work without having them come to the office. So, as employees got accustomed to working from the comfort of their homes and businesses kept delivering, the narrative that hybrid and remote teams are here to stay, grew stronger.

This shows that it is not only a benefit for the workers but also contributes to the company’s overall growth. But can finance teams that handle a business’s cash work efficiently in a hybrid mode?

According to a study by McKinsey, remote work potential is highest for finance, and insurance teams as almost three-quarters of all their work can be done from any location without affecting productivity. The hybrid workforce has the potential to deliver maximum gains for finance teams as the department is staffed with highly skilled, educated employees that can handle tech-based collaboration tools easily. A majority of the finance workflows, such as credit limit approvals, invoicing, and cash application, can be fully automated, thus supporting the remote/hybrid work trends.

In fact, 65% of finance staff are already working remotely, while nearly half of them believe that remote work will be allowed in the future. Working in a hybrid environment gives employees a lot of flexibility and allows them to stay connected with the organization. By giving them the right standards to strive for with performance guidelines and a roadmap, CFOs can prepare their hybrid finance teams for the next growth phase of their business.

Companies are starting to understand the benefits of hybrid working models as they see a rise in employee productivity, lower operational costs, better employee retention, and more profits. Employees also want hybrid working models to stay, which has even become an essential criterion for many to select a company they want to work for.

A lot of businesses have already adopted the remote working model, while many are still strictly working from offices. However, the sweet spot lies in the between with a hybrid mode.

A hybrid model is also much easier to implement and doesn’t have the plethora of challenges that come with an entirely remote setup. For example, businesses find it difficult to instill company culture in their employees, get them to collaborate, and work as a team when everyone is working remotely. However, if the workforce comes to the office twice a week or even sometimes, things will become a lot easier.

Companies are also adopting the idea of flexible working hours that allow employees to plan their days more easily. If someone is not an early riser, they do not have to come to the office by 9 am and can start their day at 11 am. This gives employees breathing space, keeping them happy and productive.

The availability of affordable and easy-to-use cloud-based work tools has made the hybrid workforce model easy to enforce and efficient. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions enable employees to access company data from anywhere and collaborate seamlessly, saving countless hours otherwise spent in unproductive meetings.

A hybrid working model might not be that appealing for finance leaders upfront, but it brings many benefits for the employees and the organization. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why finance companies must embrace this new model both from the perspective of the business and its employees.

For organizations

1) Cost Saving

If businesses plan well, they can save a lot of operational costs with a hybrid working model. With employees working from home, the office space required will be much smaller, saving the business money on rent and other expenses like food, cleaning services, electricity, etc. Another significant savings area would be hiring employees from countries with much lower average salaries and a weaker currency. This way, businesses can reduce payroll expenses and increase their profit margin.

2) Access to global talent

When a company has strict work-from-office policies, it can only hire employees who reside in the city or somewhere nearby. And very few employees may be willing to relocate for a job when so many opportunities are available online. However, if businesses offer a work-from-home option, they instantly open up the job role to millions of talented people worldwide.

3) Employee retention

We are in the era of great resignation, and businesses must find ways to increase their employee retention rates. It’s because hiring and training a new employee costs much more than retaining one.

It is possible to increase retention rates by offering employees a flexible, hybrid work environment. This reduces companies’ costs and allows them to focus on growth and other strategic initiatives rather than always headhunting.

4) Smooth overall functioning of the organization

With a hybrid working model, a business has employees in the office to manage tasks that need a physical presence. At the same time, they are allowing employees the flexibility or choice to work from any location of their choice, thus increasing productivity and employee satisfaction.

For employees

1) Work-life balance

Having the flexibility to work from home means employees’ work-life balance improves. For example, if someday an employee plans to have lunch with their friend, they can prepare
their working schedule to accommodate the plan. It would not have been possible if the business had strict working hours and office policies. Employees also find it easier to give time to their families when they work from home.

2) Cost and time savings

Employees can cut down on daily commute and food expenses by working from home. This allows them to save and spend more on their wants, keeping them fulfilled in their jobs. Employees also save a lot of time by working from home. A report by Awfis shows that workers save an average of 1-2 hrs daily because they don’t have to travel to the office.

3) More opportunities

Working remotely means employees do not have to be on-site to work on international projects. This means many opportunities open up to workers just by working from home in a hybrid environment.

4) Increased productivity

Businesses cannot expect an employee to be productive during morning hours if they are a night owl. Still, a lot of companies are strict about clock-in and clock-out times.

A hybrid working model with flexible hours eliminates this problem and allows finance professionals to complete their jobs in their preferred schedule. This enables employees to plan their day based on their preferences which boosts productivity to a great extent.

There are a lot of benefits to a hybrid working model, but it does come with its own challenges. Let’s take a look at the top 3 problems employees face when working in a hybrid office.

1) Ineffective collaboration

Collaborating is much easier when employees work from the same office, but when teams are distributed, it becomes complicated to work together. This could be because of different work timings or the absence of the right tools and technology. Companies need to solve this problem by setting a common ground between remote and work-from-office employees and providing them with the necessary resources to enable team collaboration.

2) Building connections

Being in the office for 3 months after a year of working from home, I can vouch that it is much simpler to build connections when you are physically present with other employees. It is easier to make friends and connections and learn from other colleagues in the workplace as opposed to when working online. This, ultimately, helps build a vibrant and innovative work culture.

3) Managing split teams

It is already very difficult to overcome the disconnect between remote and office employees, but managing teams split between the two is even more challenging. Managers need to ensure that remote and office employees are treated equally during assessments and given the same opportunities. This can be done by setting up regular catch-ups to understand their problems and assigning measurable KPIs to track employee performance.

There are 4 main types of hybrid working models, and it is up to businesses which one they want to implement. It will depend on the requirements of the business and its technology infrastructure. Let’s take a look at these models.

1) Remote first at-will model

A remote first at-will model encourages employees to work from home, but they can visit the office as they like. There is no hard and fast rule, and the decision to work remotely or from the office is left to the employees. So, if one day there is an important meeting, employees can go to the office to have it physically instead of a virtual call.

This model puts a lot of trust in the employees, making them more responsible with their decisions. However, since there are no fixed rules, it can also lead to overcrowding if many employees suddenly show up in the office one day.

2) Office first model

An office first model expects employees to be present in the office on a minimum-requirement basis. Businesses can choose to implement rules that will require employees to be in the office for at least 40% of their working days.

It is a good model to implement for businesses that require a lot of collaboration in their workflows. However, it may reduce employee productivity and is also unsuitable for a distributed workforce.

3) Split-week model

A split-week model has become quite common among businesses. It is easy to implement and requires employees to come to the office on certain days of the week. For example, a business might require the sales and marketing teams to come to the office on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the HR team on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

This model reduces crowding in the office and allows teams to collaborate well, but also increases operational costs compared to a remote-only option. A split-week model may make inter-team collaboration easier because of the overlap in the work from office days for the different departments.

4) Week-by-week model

As the name suggests, this model involves allowing specific teams to work from the office during certain weeks, depending on the requirements. Teams will only be called to offices when there is a specific requirement. The rest of the time, they can work remotely.

This reduces the overhead office costs for businesses due to the requirement for smaller office space. But at the same time, this hybrid model doesn’t work when your business has a lot of ad-hoc meetings or requirements.

There are a lot of benefits of hybrid finance teams, but businesses can only reap those benefits when they implement hybrid the right way. If a business has disconnected systems or disparate data sources, its employees will not be more productive because of a hybrid work environment. Instead, there will be communication gaps, and the workflows will slow down, leading to inefficiency.

So, here are some of the most important things to consider when implementing hybrid finance teams.

1) Invest in the right technology

Employees working from home are the most dependent on technology for their work, team collaboration, or even something as simple as raising requirement requests. So, businesses must invest in the right solutions to ensure their employees have adequate and efficient tools to carry out their daily activities.

Companies should also take cybersecurity risks seriously and invest in employee training and measures to prevent data breaches and security compromises. Since the workflow of a hybrid finance team involves sharing confidential documents and collaborating on projects online, cybersecurity should be one of the top priorities for businesses.

2) Set goals and standards

It is difficult for businesses to track employee productivity when they are working from home. Measuring traditional metrics such as working hours weekly is neither feasible nor fruitful. So, businesses must set clear expectations from their employees.

Having some structure to their workflows and knowing what they are supposed to deliver makes the lives of employees much easier. It is also essential to track employees by the quality and quantity of work they deliver rather than how much time they spend on it.

3) Make employees feel a part of the organization

It is easy to feel disconnected from a company when employees work remotely and connect only over calls. This stands even more true if someone’s work doesn’t involve multiple stakeholders, which could lead to isolation.

So, businesses must proactively engage employees through virtual events and even in-person team-building activities from time to time. This brings a sense of belonging, which boosts productivity and also increases employee retention rates.

4) Do not micromanage

When you do not see your employees working right in front of your eyes, it’s normal to become skeptical about their productivity. However, micromanaging employees when working from home only worsens things. It also creates a sense of distrust among workers.

Managers must combat the urge to have frequent update meetings and daily catch-ups with their team members. Instead, they should optimize their meetings and use the time together for building strategies, collaborating on tasks, or even for some fun team-building activities.

5) Adequate compensation and perks

As employees work from home, their traveling expenses might reduce, but other utilities like electricity bills and cleaning expenses would increase. So, companies should consider the same and adjust employee compensation to accommodate these changes.

Besides monetary benefits, businesses can also consider giving more paid leaves to employees. This is because working from home often makes it difficult for employees to keep their professional and personal lives separate. It often leads to burnout and reduces employee productivity.

So, now that we have gone through the benefits, types, and the right way to implement a hybrid finance workforce, it’s time for you to decide whether it works for your business. Some key points to keep in mind while making this decision are:

• Requirement of team collaboration
• The presence or lack of a connected tech stack
• Geography of customer base
• The rules and regulations of the country that you operate out of

There are endless possibilities when it comes to implementing a hybrid working environment, and if done right, it is going to be a major benefit for both the business and its employees.