Modern finance departments have shifted from simply overseeing transactional tasks and managing spreadsheets, to instead managing strategic business initiatives and value-added activities. It’s been a huge move for financial professionals to undertake – going from a back-office role, to sitting at the senior leadership table. With constantly changing regulations in the world of finance and the need to meet ESG criteria, to the rise of the B Corp movement and the rapid growth of AI, the finance department now finds itself elevated from bean counting to being at the front and centre of so many business decisions, policies, and strategies.
Having the correct technology in place helps companies to streamline their operations – automating the transactional activities, and freeing up the finance team to be able to work with other departments easily, comply with regulatory standards, and mitigate risks on the strategic front too. With the seasoned Baby Boomers of the workforce reaching retirement age, management teams are increasingly leaning on the Gen X, Y and incoming Z to bolster their ranks and keep the finance department afloat.
Core3 can help you during these rapidly changing times. We stand out from other finance recruitment agencies in our approach to what we do. We believe in ‘conscious recruitment’ and as part of the Conscious Finance Network, we have our finger on the pulse and our feet on the ground. We understand what makes these younger generations tick, and we can help you reach them with our personalised and efficient method. These candidates will reach out to finance recruitment agencies who understand them; whose values align. We can help you reach the right people, at the right time, and in the right way – aligning candidates with you, not just filling another finance job placement.
Let’s look at a few examples of rapid changes in the world of finance, and the evolution necessary to keep up with them:
ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance
While a company may have an established and well-rehearsed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy in place, ESG asks for more, and in some ways is asking companies to step up and be counted. Whereas CSR is primarily focused on and aligned with a company’s personal, internal mission, culture and values, ESG is asking that companies look beyond themselves and consider how they can contribute to the collective mission of humankind – how can we make the world a better place?
Whereas for CSR reporting, finance departments are employed to internally design and oversee CSR activities, for ESG reporting, the finance department is called on to produce tangible metrics that external analysts can use to measure and validate ESG performance. So, there is a movement from internal to external, where a company’s workings, strategy, leadership, governance, and decision-making is laid bare and held up for all to see. Finance professionals who are inadequately prepared will be found out, as they really are on the front line.
B Corp
This is the non-profit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. This movement has one unifying goal, and is present in 92 countries with 700,000 workers from almost 8,000 companies across 161 industries. They say there is no ‘Planet B’ and so their network of organisations leads economic systems change to support their collective vision of an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy.
The B Corp movement has been built to change our economic system, by creating standards, policies, tools, and programmes that shift the behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism. The movement harnesses the power of business and positively impacts companies around the world by helping them balance profit with purpose, and shifting the global economy from a system that profits few to one that benefits all.
Similar to ESG criteria, B Corp standards hold companies to account by defining social, environmental, and governance best practices for businesses. Only companies who meet these standards can become B Corp Certified and stand out from the crowd. Once again, the finance department find themselves at the forefront of change, and being required to produce data, metrics, and quantifiable evidence that their focus is not merely profit, but purpose too.
The rapid growth of AI
AI is computer science focused on the creation of intelligent machines which work and perform tasks like a human would. These machines teach themselves and learn as they organise and interpret information to make predictions based on that information. AI has become an important part of technology in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance Industry, forever changing the traditional financial institutions through innovation and the creation of new operating models. Not only are institutions themselves being remodelled, but the way they offer their products and services too.
AI can and in many cases does go hand in hand with shifting the finance sector towards the standards for B Corp and the criteria for ESG. AI can help assure more equitable access to financial services, and finance professionals can harness this for good. AI has helped vulnerable consumers avoid debt traps by identifying inflexible payment schedules ahead of time, for example, and it helps reduce or prevent fraud by validating transactions, bolstering security, and responding to threats. AI provides a completely objective decision-making process that can make decisions on credit in a fair and inclusive way too.
On a broader scale, AI can help avoid financial disasters by making appropriate, informed decisions about risk and capital allocation, and it is at the forefront of the transformation of the industry with AI-first companies and FinTechs gaining ground over the slower-moving traditional banks that have been reluctant to embrace advanced technology. AI is no longer the ‘future’ it is the here and now. Finance departments the world over need to keep up with the pace and embrace this technology if they are to have any hope of impacting their society, and changing our world for the better.
