New
ways of working will accelerate a move towards digitisation and promote careers
that are intellectually stretching and driven by a renewed sense of purpose.
Future work for
accountancy and finance professionals is set transform for the better through
an increase in the adoption of digital technologies, according to Meaningful
work for the digital professional, a report by ACCA (the Association of
Chartered Certified Accountants) and EY based on a global survey of 4,281
respondents and 55 interviews between April and May 2020.
Respondents to the
survey were benchmarked against a group of survey respondents termed ‘Leaders’,
who scored highly across a range of categories including the use and adoption
of technology in the workplace. These Leaders typically worked at organisations
that outperformed in adjusting their delivery model during the pandemic, with
95% saying their organisations were well prepared for using technology against
a global average of 74%.
Overall, the report
shows that there is room to increase levels of digital adoption. Globally, community technologies (55%) such
as social media and messaging saw the highest adoption rates followed by ‘Next-generation’
computing (eg Cloud, Serverless, Edge) at 36% and data technologies (eg big
data, analytics, visualisation) at 30%. The largest gap in adoption rates
between leaders and the rest of respondents was within the data technologies
category. Looking ahead to the next decade, respondents expect engagement with
digital and technology to approach 90%.
Perhaps surprisingly,
the report also found that less experienced professionals, who might be
expected to be more digitally savvy, found the transition to remote working as
a result of COVID-19 more difficult than experienced employees. This may
reflect factors like a lack of appropriate workspace where they live, or a
greater need for guidance in their work.
Report author
Narayanan Vaidyanathan says: ‘While a fast-evolving and automating world
presents challenges, for those willing to engage there are wins to be had.
‘The digital
landscape presents significant opportunities for accountancy and finance
professionals to achieve meaningful work experiences – ones that are driven by purpose
and which afford the potential to stretch oneself in new and fulfilling ways.’
Two big
differentiators of the Leader group were that their organisations had conducted
employee skills mapping to identify gaps and had tried to understand if
employees found their work fulfilling. These are both critical components for
creating meaningful work experiences.
Ruchi Bhowmik, Global
Vice Chair – Public Policy at EY said: ‘Embracing new technology will help ease
many of the pressures on today’s accountancy and finance professionals from increasingly
complex, but routine tasks, issues and bring a new sense of purpose to their
roles. At EY, our professionals are already leveraging technology and analysing
data in a way that helps elevate their daily work, build essential skills, and
lead to rich and meaningful careers.’
Helen Brand OBE,
chief executive of ACCA, said: ‘Satisfaction in work is a fundamental building
block of a happy and successful life. For accountancy and finance
professionals, digital tools offer new possibilities for meaningful work that
will outlast the economic challenges posed by the global pandemic.’
Meaningful work for
the digital professional can be found here:
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