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Bosses 'out of touch' with modern work practices, say UK finance teams

Finance professionals are increasingly frustrated by outdated attitudes at senior levels of their organisation when it comes to modern work practices like remote working, according to new research.

The attitude of senior managers is now viewed as the biggest barrier to adopting new working methods, more so than the lack of technology, with 29% of finance professionals blaming bosses for a lack of progress – an increase of 7% from similar research carried out in 2017.

In fact, two years ago the complex nature of financial service offerings was believed to be what was holding back remote working, but in 2019 that view is now bottom of the list, with just 18% of finance workers believing this to be the issue.

The findings are part of a new report by accounting software provider, CaseWare UK Ltd analysing attitudes towards technology in the accounting and finance industries.

Shez Hamill, Director at CaseWare UK Ltd, said: “In an environment where some audit firms are shedding clients due to lack of capacity, it is surprising to see continued reluctance to new working practices and technologies persisting amongst management teams.

“Cloud technologies provide the ability to make the lives of finance experts easier and more productive, so it is surprising to see that senior leadership are perceived as the barrier to implementation. Corporates and smaller accountancy practices must embrace new technology in order to remain competitive.”

Despite the reluctance of senior leadership to adopt remote working, the research also revealed a positive response to the use of technology and automation. Increased automation will change the day to day roles of finance professionals, providing them with opportunity to embrace and develop new skills.

Hamill added: “In 2016, a desire to hire new staff was in the top five business priorities; in 2019 it is at the bottom of the list, reinforcing the fact that in an increasingly automated business environment companies do not need new people, they need different tools and skills.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Caseware .