The Future of Work
The financial services industry has experienced steady development over the course of the last century, with many job roles maintaining the same core deliverables. However, in more recent years, although a lot of the work that modern financial industry professionals do is the same as their predecessors, the way in which they do it has undergone a digital makeover.
So, what’s new?
Going Digital
If you work in the accounting field, you will be well versed in the importance of accurate auditing. Traditionally, auditing would be a painstaking task, full of site visits and double-checking that inventories and accounts were all in order. The task itself would be incredibly time consuming, and when time is money, there is always going to be a business case for exploring other cost-effective avenues.
This is where digital audit comes in. Gone are the days where an audit would be primarily bogged down by the mundane, tedious tasks that are commonly associated with audit; these tasks are now largely automated and digitalised which saves time and money. The introduction of technology to the traditional audit has also meant that accountants can now dedicate more of their time to the higher-level and more skilled tasks, which overall produces a high-quality audit in far less time.
Artificially Intelligent
Artificial Intelligence is a well-known term which in years gone by was classified as somewhat of a futuristic definition of the potential for technology to comprehend information in the same way as humans do, just much, much faster.
However, now Artificial Intelligence is not just something that’s in the pipeline. It’s ready for all of us to incorporate into our daily lives and into our working lives.
Although there are always going to be individuals that tend to resist technological advancement, when it comes to AI, people have been keen to adopt these technologies into their work to make completing daily tasks more effective and efficient.
One of the key selling points of using AI in the workplace is that it can act as a ‘second brain’ so to speak. The idea being that AI is not there to replace human cognition and thought, but rather it can be used to assist individuals to produce higher quality work and reduce the time taken to complete certain lower-skilled tasks.
Flexible Working
Traditionally in the UK, flexible working has been something which requires an application, a meeting and approval from your manager and, that had to be after 6 months of employment. However, that will all change from next year, although you’ll still need approval from your manager.
The Flexible Working Bill achieved Royal Assent this year and it looks to change the laws surrounding flexibility with working hours:
Workers in the UK will have the right to apply for flexible work from day one of their employment
Employers will have to provide reasoning for and consult on any rejected applications
Workers will have the right to make two flexible working requests per year
Employers will need to reach a decision within two months
This change in legislation will mean that 2.2 million more workers in the UK will be within the scope of this change and could potentially benefit from flexible working.
The world of work already looks very different to how it did even five years ago but, this new legislation will mean that the workplace, and the way that we work, will continue to evolve over the years to come.
The Social Network
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a loose focus for organisations over the past few decades but, in recent years, with the uptake in social media usage CSR has become almost impossible to ignore.
The introduction of social networking has meant that the ease of communication has grown in ways that the working world hasn’t experienced before. These days, firms are forced to be more transparent and intentional with their decision making as, if they’re not careful, their decisions have the potential to cause a storm on social media which has a direct impact on potential profits.
This has moulded the world of work to take more notice of their ethics, societal issues and the impact of their decisions on their stakeholders. Going forward, social networking will continue to hold companies accountable for their choices which will trickle down into the culture and operations behind these firms for the better.
Are you looking to future-proof hiring in your company?
To discuss the hiring process with Pearse Professionals, contact us at info@pearseprofessionals.com.
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