At different times throughout my career as an accountant there have been threats that the accountant of the future is a computer, and there will be no place for people in the finance department. With each new development in technology, these cries rise up again claiming it is “imminent” and I should start retraining now.
While it is true that technology is changing the way finance functions occurs, does it really mean the “death of the accountant”? Finally there has been a common-sense approach to this discussion with the release of the Deloitte report “The finance workforce in a digital world” (click here to read it), which acknowledges that while change is happening, it is :…not as quickly as we once thought”. There is no doubt that the technology that is coming will require new and new ways of working, but it’s still people who shape the outcome.
Looking to the future, the authors note that the key is to get the right team, that is, “align today’s finance talent to the promise of tomorrow’s technologies – while still maintaining a workforce that can fulfill all the company’s basic financial and regulatory requirements.” For the first time, I am seeing a change in the emphasis, and recognition that “… technology without talent can fail, but talent with leadership direction can overcome technology shortfalls", which is quite a shift from the previous thinking that technology would be the panacea for all things, and people would become irrelevant.
Providing some very practical advice for CFOs, the report suggests 8 actions that can blend the people and technology needs for the finance department:
- Name a leader in Finance as your “chief human resources officer”
- Create mentoring programs
- Encourage rotations
- Assign people to special projects
- Add AI to sourcing
- Redesign the work environment
- Update job postings to attract digitally sophisticated recruits
- Look in your own backyard
Recognizing that the move to the digital world is happening slower than anticipated, there are five suggestions for CFOs who want to accelerate their readiness to operate in a digital world have a clear path forward:
- Build your brand
- Visualize the future
- Understand the mix of humans and machines you need to meet changing expectations
- Update roles and job descriptions
- Make sure your next hire is ready now for the future you’re planning to create
This is a very important report for any CFO or executive responsible for the direction of the finance function of the organisation. It balances the needs of technology and people with a realistic assessment of where things are at, and the pace of change into the future.