Section 3: People First Cost Strategies

“Putting people first” marked a turning point in the Finance and Operation discussion, leading to the core issue of costs. As pointed out by one roundtable participant: “The cost of changing an office, from a traditional desk form to a future workplace with agile desks and collaboration spaces can be eye-wateringly expensive”.

MONEY WELL SPENT

The first strictly finance-led discussion was very heavily focused on the cost of the investments over the past twelve months and whether it had been necessary. The cost of remote work added to the reshaping of the office and has been, according to Finance and Operation Managers, extremely high whilst at the same time indispensable. Companies who did not invest in technological tools and further training, did not and are still not seeing any notable benefits.

There were several attendees who expressed that resources allocated to enhancing technology and creating “a home set up” was essential. Among others, David Hardern of Aon stated: “We gave everyone a home set-up. Everyone already had a laptop, but we provided: a monitor; a keyboard; a mouse; and headphones. We felt it was necessary to provide our employees with everything they needed to work effectively from home, to ensure we continued to fully deliver to our clients. When we did that, we thought the situation would last a few months, because we were naïve - but even if it had have been that short, it was still money well spent.”

In conclusion, there was a consensus among the attendees on the need for that rapid investment and that the high costs did pay off in terms of productivity and employee satisfaction.

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AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Given the expenses of home working set-ups, it’s important that there are metrics that can be deployed to evaluate its effectiveness. In this regard, one roundtable participant stated:

“Having listened to my colleagues, they're all saying, ‘we want to spend an extra one or two days a week at home on average. So, you do the maths and go, ‘Well, we just don't need that much space.’ And then you try to work out what additional kit or flexible spaces or collaboration areas you might need. That's what we're finding difficult. What does that future workplace look like? We don’t want to make investments and then go ‘well, that didn't work did it?’ It's a real minefield, and we're entering a trial period now, but even then, it's difficult to know with so much uncertainty about the future”.

What all attendees agreed on was the need for metrics to inform a CEO level decision. For finance teams to make an accurate and reliable cost-benefit analysis, they need all the information possible. Teams need to avoid the folklore of productivity and use hard facts and evidence to support their decisions and investments. Only by continually speaking with employees and managers to gather data, can businesses develop a culture which understands and supports operational strategy.

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