The power of employee experience: Leveraging technology to inspire excellence from your treasury team.

By Susan Aiello
Senior Vice President, Treasury Management
CommercePayments^®

I recently met with the CFO of a thriving organization in a mid-sized city. As we toured the organization’s new headquarters, he commented how thrilled the team was to be in the new space. Albeit a stone’s throw from the prior location, the updated façade, large windows and new furniture made the office building feel like a new world. What made the CFO most optimistic? The appeal of the office to new talent.

Finding and retaining top-notch talent can be challenging. The labor market is tight, top talent is in demand, and employees’ priorities have evolved over time. Employers strive to foster engagement and a strong culture in an environment that includes a mix of in-person and remote personnel. The rate of inflation creates compensation pressure, and employee burnout is real.

These challenges can be particularly relevant for treasury and finance teams that are often slimly staffed and — since the pandemic — called upon to operate in new and different ways. For example, cash forecasting that was once prepared quarterly has become a bimonthly exercise for many organizations. Protecting against cyber risk and payments fraud is a growing and evolving effort. In a quickly changing rate environment, managing the impact of interest rates on assets and liabilities becomes more critical. In the whitepaper “The Future of Corporate Treasury Teams,”¹ the 2023 Manpower Group Talent Shortage Survey results indicate that 77% of employers report difficulty finding skilled talent, and 71% are upskilling and reskilling their current workforce. While the nature of the treasury job shifts, there are challenges in finding new talent to onboard into the role.

Beyond the shortfall of qualified candidates in the marketplace, the value of retention shouldn’t be underestimated. According to Gallup², teams with low engagement see turnover rates 18% to 43% higher than engaged teams. The cost of replacement is significant as well — replacing exiting employees costs one-half to two times the exiting employee’s annual salary. Assuming an average salary of $50K, that replacement cost translates to between $25K and $100K per employee. Couple these insights with job-switching statistics: 21% of millennials say they’ve changed jobs within the past year³, which is more than three times the number of non-millennials, and millennials make up the largest generation of people currently in the workforce. Organizations that fully engage existing talent and create an attractive work environment capture economic benefits as well as valuable bench strength as the company grows.

To an increasing extent, companies are investing in technology to improve processes. While technology creates systematic efficiencies, speeds workflows and provides consistency, it also empowers people to maximize energy spent on more productive and rewarding tasks, which improves levels of engagement and retention. Among the myriad of reasons to automate — optimized cash flows, added controls, reduced risks — talent management should remain front and center.

Deploying technology to accomplish routine tasks enables employees to shed less inspiring tasks. The work then becomes more satisfying, retention improves, and the resulting environment becomes more attractive to new talent as the organization grows. Without question, opportunities are abundant for experienced treasury and finance employees to invest their time for the betterment of the company. Whether they’re spending time on highly sensitive “human activities” or on evaluative tasks that require critical thinking, employees who are empowered to spend more of their workday on activities that draw upon their institutional knowledge, experience and creativity are more productive and more committed — which is a win-win for both the employees and the company.

Consider a treasury operation unencumbered by routine tasks or mundane to-dos in order to meet deadlines. Imagine a treasury team that engages in frequent strategy sessions to propel the organization’s liquidity; a treasury team whose seasoned resources are called upon for a greater calling beyond account statement reconciliations. Treasury operations have an opportunity to create a competitive advantage for their organizations by maximizing resources — human resources — in a way that leverages the strengths of their teams. As the treasury team is afforded the opportunity to focus on priorities that will move the needle, this not only elevates the role of treasury within the organization, but also creates a rewarding and desirable work environment for top talent.

1. “2023 AFP and Zanders Whitepaper: The Future of Corporate Treasury Teams,” AFP Online, 2023, zandersgroup.com/en/insights/resources/the-future-of-corporate-treasury-teams opens in a new window.

2. “The ‘Great Resignation’ Is Really the ‘Great Discontent,’” Gallup, 7/22/2021, gallup.com/workplace/351545/great-resignation-really-great-discontent-aspx opens in a new window.

3. “Gen Zers and millennials are switching jobs at an accelerating pace, and it’s paying off. Here’s where it can still go wrong,” Fortune, 04/23/2024, https://fortune.com/2024/04/23/gen-zers-millennials-job-switching-accelerating-pros-cons-careers-employment opens in a new window.

CommercePayments® solutions are provided by Commerce Bank.