Introduction

In organising this series of roundtables, we hoped to understand the specific ways businesses have been impacted as a whole, looking at the different departments and speaking with leaders from across industries. For this report, we specifically spoke with Finance and Operations professionals to find out how the changing role and function of the office has impacted them and their day-to-day activities.

What was made apparent by all the attendees was that regardless of sector or industry there has been a refocus on people first strategies across the department, and the biggest challenge being faced by all is the issue of recruitment.

That being said, despite some similarities such as a people first approach, there was a stark difference in investments made between public and private sectors which affected the return to the office strategy. With increased scrutiny on public spending over the past two years, public sector finance and operations professionals are having to choose between front line and back-office investment.

Distilling the information, experience and knowledge gathered, the following report has been split into four key themes: “Challenges to Change”, “Survive Mode to Thrive Mode”, “People First Cost Strategies”.

We hope that this report will act as a guide to help businesses leaders support Finance and Operations teams across the UK in developing a robust workplace, to support workers in the future. As such we have also collated a series of recommendations for CEOs and senior leaders to these teams in leading change at work.