Today, finance leaders have two "turnover" problems to manage. The stakes are high and inaction could be fatal to their business.
The “Great Resignation” came in like a wrecking ball last year. In September alone, 4.4 million Americans left their jobs. The reasons for this mass exodus are varied. According to global research conducted by Oracle, 88% of employees say that their meaning of success has changed since the pandemic, 75% feel stuck professionally and 85% are not satisfied with their employer’s support.
That last number won’t sit well with companies, but they also have other concerns. The world continues to face economic uncertainty and 54% of CFOs rank liquidity and cash management as a top challenge. Many businesses currently face a conundrum in which employee retention rates suffer as more resources are reallocated toward revenue generation.
Finance leaders have their hands full, and the stakes are high. But they can’t risk inaction. Fortunately for them, there is a solution. By adopting the right technology, CFOs have the chance to address these two turnover challenges simultaneously.
Give The People What They Want
A recent survey produced by Spendesk revealed that 40% of finance professionals plan to leave their jobs. The main reasons for this? Employees are burned out or frustrated, spending too much time on low-value tasks and often feeling unfulfilled in their work.
40% of finance professionals want to quit due to burnout from low-value, unfulfilling work.
Rachel Mariano, an accountant at online mobile payments company Jumio—a YayPay customer—was all too familiar with this feeling.
“I spent an entire day each week manually contacting customers with overdue balances. I was using Google Docs to keep track of my customer communications and to manage the AR process. We realized we needed to automate our efforts to save time and improve collection speed.”
Rachel Mariano, Accountant, Jumio
Today’s finance workers recognize that manual tasks do not need to take up a significant portion of their daily roles. And this is particularly pronounced when we look at new entrants coming into the workforce. Gen Z is a demographic conditioned by mobile devices, accustomed to using apps that provide effortless and engaging experiences. In other words? They expect the mundane to be automated. The negative implications for companies that don’t do this are stark. This Oracle survey found that millennial employees are nearly 4 times more likely than Baby Boomers to work for a company that uses AI for financial management.
Employees want to use intelligent technology and they know that there are tools available for companies to invest in that will help them. Why should an accounts receivable professional spend hours trawling through aging data to identify the customers they need to collect from first? Wouldn’t it be easier if they could take advantage of a predictive algorithm that accurately determines the invoices that will be paid on time and the ones that won’t? This would enable the employee to work strategically. By knowing the customers that need to be prioritized versus those that can be trusted to make payments without a reminder, they can use their time more effectively. Without this type of capability, they’ll face the same old frustrations. And they'll almost certainly be less productive.
Today, we are conditioned by devices that provide effortless experiences. And we want them at work.
Let’s Get Digital
Employees are expecting more. And they won’t be ignored. Companies must start by enabling them to perform their roles effectively, no matter where they work from. Research finds that 39% of workers would prefer to quit than go back to the office.
The problem with traditional accounts receivable is that it’s not geared to support this. The process involves multiple people spanning sales, operations, customer support, and even the legal function. These teams work on different systems to manage their data and all of this information needs to be accessible for an AR professional to perform their role. This is far harder to manage when staff aren’t in the office. The result? Time is wasted sourcing data which not only frustrates employees — and makes them more inclined to pack it in — but it also impacts how quickly cash can be brought into the business.
Cloud-based AR automation helps remote teams get on the same page by providing “any time, anywhere” access to customer data. This information is pulled from ERP, CRM, accounting and billing systems, then consolidated and intuitively organized on dashboards in real-time for employees to access. For Mammoth Carbon Products — another YayPay customer — improved data accessibility played a significant role in helping the business remain in control during the height of the pandemic, while also keeping employees engaged at work.
“YayPay instantly enables my team to see our customers’ days payable metrics. This has been invaluable in providing insight into our cash flow, helping us anticipate challenges and make informed decisions when increasing credit limits.”
Chief Financial Officer, Mammoth Carbon Products
Dreamy dashboard! YayPay consolidates and organizes all your real-time customer data. Show me how it works.
The impact this has on the employee experience is invaluable. Not only does it help the team manage their roles more effectively, but it also provides an enjoyable experience, enabling them to accomplish tasks with ease. For Mammoth Carbon Products’ CFO, this was a key reason for choosing to partner with YayPay:
“YayPay stood out to me when I was exploring smart AR solutions. The platform's intuitive user interface and aesthetic design made it a solution that I knew my team would enjoy using and get value from.”
Chief Financial Officer, Mammoth Carbon Products
An Opportunity Awaits
For companies suffering from liquidity issues and employee churn, it may appear that the pandemic has created the perfect storm. But the truth is, this crisis is only accelerating changes that were already in motion. Today, it’s clear that companies must invest in technology to avoid losses, whether that’s in their bottom line, their workforce — or both.
