The ‘Great Resignation’ becomes the Great Reshuffle
As we progress into 2023, the Great Reshuffle is transforming a labour market that was first rocked by the ‘Great Resignation’.
Coined by Anthony Klotz, associate professor of organisational behaviour at the UCL School of Management, the Great Reshuffle represents a drastic shift in how employees manage their careers and their lives outside of work.
For Klotz, fitting work into their lives rather than the other way around proves key for employees in today’s labour market. It’s clear that the pandemic has opened a new way of working that employees are reticent to leave behind.
Because of this newfound work-life balance, employees hold serious weight at the negotiating table. Facing a talent-depleted job market following the ‘Great Resignation’, employers recognise that their talent is not locked in — or readily available elsewhere.
Consequently, AICPA® & CIMA® in co-operation with PwC have conducted research to assess how organisations can approach this transitionary period and still maintain adaptable and sustainable business operations.
The name ‘PwC’ refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms each of which is a separate and independent legal entity. Please see pwc.com/structure for further details.
In Finance and the Great Reshuffle, we discovered:
Why accounting and finance professionals intend to leave their current roles.
Why 39% of accounting and finance professionals are burnt out.
Why some working models work better than others.
What competencies employees value most.
The skills employees now expect from middle- and upper-management
The report compiles data from hundreds of accounting and finance professionals in the Central and Eastern Europe region.
For CFOs and Global Business Services leaders operating there, the research intends to help them, and the wider accounting and finance profession adapt to unprecedented spikes in employee attrition.
Our key findings, sourced from three age demographics (younger than 35, 35 to 44 and older than 44), found:
1. Meaningful career advancement is key to retaining experienced professionals.
Data showed that 53% of respondents plan to or are considering leaving their jobs. Of those polled, 63% cited career advancement opportunities. Although career advancement is typically synonymous with more money, our findings paint a different picture.
In fact, 33% said their work lacked purpose — raising several questions about what it means to be a modern-day accounting and finance professional in 2023. This number may increase if workers feel disconnected from their employers and the wider world. When respondents said their work was meaningful, only 17% were looking for new roles.
For younger professionals (aged under 35), 78% revealed they would change roles for a greater salary. However, research shows those 35 and over are driven more by their corporate standing and responsibilities than their existing financial remuneration packages.
Left unaddressed, many experienced accounting and finance professionals may leave the profession or seek employment at rival companies with more attractive benefits.
2. Employee burnout becomes more likely in middle- and upper-management positions.
39% of all respondents reported that they feel the symptoms of burnout. Among young professionals (aged under 35), 36% experienced the syndrome — the lowest of the three age categories polled. For 35 to 44-year-olds and those older than 44, it was 42% and 40%, respectively.
The results suggest that whilst remote working came with several lifestyle benefits for younger, typically non-management employees, keeping a sound organisational structure or adopting a new one was far from easy — particularly for upper-management positions more experienced employees often hold.
3. Hybrid working is the way forward.
The solution to burnout lies in adopting a working model that supports staff at all levels. The consensus of those polled points to a hybrid model. Those working in the hybrid model were less likely to report burnout than colleagues who returned to full-time, office-based work.
Many specialists, who tend to devote significant time to individual projects, particularly enjoyed working remotely. Team leaders do not want to return to the office either. If they were required to return full time, respondents were twice as likely to resign as those employed in remote or hybrid working.
4. The skills and competencies employees value most are changing.
Finance competencies remain important skill sets, accompanied by digital skills such as data visualisation and data programming.
Interestingly, 83% believe the ability to attain new skills quickly is an essential competency in today’s profession. These skills can range from analytical thinking, presenting and storytelling to everyday decision-making.
5. Professional development opportunities prove popular with employees.
Of the 68% who said that upskilling programs exist in their company, only 17% wanted to leave their roles. A clear correlation exists between upskilling opportunities and employee retention.
The same opportunities should be applied to middle- and upper-management employees. Our research found that 75% of finance professionals valued fairness and transparency in their leaders.
