Fibe

With the best books for human resource management, you get the roadmap to the journey of financial wellness. 

Receiving financial guidance as employee benefits is more important than ever for employees seeking to improve their financial well-being and achieve short- and long-term financial objectives. Financial wellness is a term that refers to a person’s overall financial health and is one of many factors that contribute to employee well-being. 

With this change in expectations, more employers now assist employees in improving their financial wellness. HR professionals are broadening the concept of wellness. Wellness programs are now used by HR managers to recruit and retain employees and increase productivity. 

Employees can use the Financial Wellness Programs to evaluate their financial stress, create a monthly budget, pay down debt and reclaim financial control. They also help employees reduce stress, fatigue, anxiety and other conditions that lead to workplace conflict. 

A financial wellness program that is strategically implemented can be a win-win situation for both the organisation and the employees. HR’s challenge is to find cost-effective ways to assist employees in dealing with financial difficulties. 

Compensation and incentives are some strategies that reduce the financial burden on the employee by providing them the opportunity to earn more money. In the current economy, where side hustles are common, this extra income is an added benefit. With the best books on HR management, you can learn strategies to put such structures in place. 

If HR wants to ensure their employees’ financial well-being, they must provide them with the tools they need to make wise choices. The following are the five best books for HRM in India that can assist HR in assisting their employees’ well-being.

The Financial Wellbeing Book: Creating Financial Peace of Mind by Chris Budd

If an employee is dealing with the burden of financial stress, then prioritising work becomes a difficult task, and this directly impacts their productivity. To save companies from losing money, HR can implement strategies for the financial well-being of employees. This book includes a list of practical and strategic advisory standing on long-term financial planning. 

As a financial expert himself, Chris Budd believes that wealth management starts with knowing yourself. HR experts can gain insights into developing financial advice for their employees using this book without having to take a survey based on this guide. 

The Financial Wellness Mandate: Be the Employer of Choice by Offering the Benefits Today’s Workers Want and Need Most by Daniel R. Bryant

HR professionals who take the time to understand the financial challenges that employees face win the war for talent. Additionally, those who understand the trends shaping workplace benefits in improving financial outcomes for both workers and businesses. 

Expert in financial and workplace benefits, Daniel explains the importance of financial care and its inextricable link to employee financial wellness. As one of the most popular and best HRM books, it focuses on the undeniable power of behavioural economics. It takes a deep dive into why it matters how employees handle money, how employers consider benefits and the rise of consumerism. It also sheds light on employees’ ability to plan and deliver workplace benefits.

Investing in People: Financial Impact of Human Resource Initiatives by John Boudreau and Wayne F. Cascio

The book explains the following HR strategies:

• Selecting strategies for decision making 
• How and when to implement those strategies 
• How to improve decision-making
• Optimise organisational effectiveness
• Maximise the value of HR investments
• Link between financial and line-of-business metrics
• Methods for measuring and analysing every HR action
• Logic, Analytics, Measures, Process (LAMP) strategy for scale
• Ways for combining HR with business and budgeting strategy 
• Strategy for getting a commitment from non-HR business leaders

Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach by Joseph J. Martocchio

Back in the day, employees’ pay grades and incentives were subject to their seniority and their merit. The incentive strategies proved to be highly effective for employee motivation. In the modern-day corporate era, these strategies are still as effective. 

This textbook is an HR guide to partake in that age-all practice. If you are an HR professional, you can use this to build a competitive structure in the workplace that helps the business evolve and deliver excellent performance. It also tells you how to decide on a pay structure, maintain discretion about such compensation strategies, challenges and how to overcome them.

Build It: The Rebel Playbook for World-Class Employee Engagement by Glenn Elliott, Debra Corey

Glenn Elliott, the author, is a multi-award-winning Entrepreneur of the Year, CEO, and growth investor. The book has some great tools, tips and real-life examples from companies like NASDAQ, IBM, Unilever, KPMG, 3M and McDonald’s to help you get started today, not tomorrow. Here is what you will discover:

• How employee engagement improves company performance
• The key factors that influence engagement and how they interact
• What the world’s most daring companies have done to defy traditional HR rules and boost employee engagement

The book includes case and research studies from academics and human resources professionals who have excelled in enhancing employee participation through one or more sections of the bridge.

These books cover all the important aspects of human resources management with employee benefits as the focus. HR professionals must seize every opportunity to gain knowledge and insights from any available source. Nothing is a better source of knowledge than a book to keep you up-to-date in a rapidly changing world.

Contact us to set up Salary Advance and Earned Wage Access to ensure your employees have instant access to funds when needed. Employees can also apply for our Instant Personal Loan and get up to ₹5 lakhs at affordable interest rates. With simple criteria and minimum documents, you can apply for the loan in just a few clicks and enjoy quick access to funds. 

Visit our website or download our Personal Loan App on your smartphone to apply from the comfort of your home. 

FAQs on Best Books for Human Resource Management

What is the best book on employee benefits?

Here are some of the best books that elaborate on employee benefits:

• 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Kaley Klemp, and Chapman
• Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach by Joseph J. Martocchio
• A Passion for Wellness: Healthy Employees, Healthy Bottom Line by Rachel A. Sapoznik
• “Perspective” in Employee Benefits: From a Professional Practitioner by Lori Power
• The Financial Wellness Mandate: Be the Employer of Choice by Offering the Benefits Today’s Workers Want and Need Most by Daniel R. Bryant
• The Handbook of Employee Benefits by Jerry Rosenbloom

Which book is best for HRM?

Here are some of the best books on HR management that you can read: 

• Human Resource Management by Gary Dessler
• Strategic Human Resource Management: An HR Professional’s Toolkit by Karen Beaven
• HR Disrupted: It’s Time for Something Different by Lucy Adams
• Putting The Human Back Into HR: Success as an HR Professional Begins With You by Su Patel
• Redefining HR: Transforming People Teams to Drive Business Performance by Lars Schmidt
• HR for Hybrid Working: How to Adapt People Practices to Support Employees and the Organization by Gary Cookson
• People Processes: How Your People Can Be Your Organization’s Competitive Advantage by Rhamy Alejeal

With the rise in remote and hybrid working, there has been a rise in the culture of corporate outings in Bangalore. Numerous companies in and around the Silicon Valley of India allow you to enjoy a vacation without compromising your work, giving birth to an idea of workation (work + vacation). These places have scenic landscapes and cultural heritages to offer, along with favourable work conditions.

If you need a much-needed break from your monotonous life while continuing to work, here are some of the top workations near Bangalore you can check out. 

1. Chikmagalur

This rather unexplored hill station is best if you wish to enjoy trekking trails along the swirling clouds and lush coffee mountains. Here’s what you need to know:

• Found in the embrace of the Western Ghats of Karnataka, it nestles stunning waterfalls and enthralling peaks
• Your work life will remain uninterrupted with access to high-speed internet and luxurious homestays

Source: https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/chikkamagaluru/

Distance: 244 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: September to May

2. Shimoga

Shimoga is a beautiful escape from your urban work life to the scenic landscapes where thrilling mountains meet the picturesque coastal plains. In addition, enjoy the following:

• Numerous ancient temples enrich the cultural tapestry of the city
• Its homestays offer access to the internet that ensures all-time connectivity with your work life

Source: https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/shivamogga/ 

Distance: 311 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: October to March

3. Mysore

Mysore is home to magnificent palaces filled with royal grandeur and intricate art in stone. Here’s what you need to know about this place:

• During the famous Dasara celebration, the state festival of Karnataka, you can enjoy cultural events and music concerts 
• Witness a grand procession with a Jumbo Savari as its main attraction on the final day

The availability of hotels and homestays with internet connections makes it one of the most ideal workations near Bangalore.

Source: https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/mysuru/

Distance: 140 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: October and December to January and May

4. Wonderla

Looking for places to visit in Bangalore where you can work while being closer to nature? Simply book a stay at Wonderla Resort in Bangalore and enjoy these activities:

• Cycling 
• Other outdoor recreational activities in lush nature

In addition to all this, continued connectivity to mobile and the internet makes it one of the best Bangalore tourist places to enjoy a vacation while working.

Source: https://www.wonderla.com/offers/2-night-stay-play.html

Distance: 30 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: March to June

5. Hampi

Hampi, the capital of one of the most flourishing empires of southern India, is a historically and architecturally significant location to visit. Know more about this spot:

• It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site
• The town boasts of the famous Stone Chariot and Vishpaksha Temple

Source: https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/hampi/

Distance: 350 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: October to March

6. Coorg

Coorg is an alluring place to consider as a workation near Bangalore to rejuvenate and relax among scenic mountains. It has a lot to offer, some of which include:

• Befriending elephants at Dubare Elephant Camp
• Enjoying adventure sports in the Barapole River

Source: https://www.karnatakatourism.org/explore-coorg/

Distance: 270 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: December to February

7. Shivagange

While the hilly and rocky terrain of Shivagange offers various trekking trails, check out some essential facts about this place:

• It also goes by the name of Dakshina Kashi because of its religious significance
• It can be a great corporate outing in Bangalore as it is quite close to the city centre
• You can book hotels and homestays with proper internet connectivity to ensure unhampered working conditions

Source: https://www.karnataka.com/bangalore/shivagange/

Distance: 53 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: October to February

8. Skandagiri

Skandgari is the perfect corporate outing in Bangalore if you are looking to get away from the city’s stressful life for a few days and relax in nature. Here’s what you can do:

• Go on a nature walk of 6 to 8 hours in the hills
• Visit Tipu Sultan’s fortress, built on steep rocks

Source: https://www.karnatakatourism.org/skandagiri-trek/

Distance: 68 km (approx.) from Bangalore
Best time to visit: August to February 

When planning a workation or even a vacation, don’t let budgets be the constraint to spread your wanderlust wings. Finance your trip with the Fibe Axis Bank Credit Card and enjoy up to 3% cashback on every transaction. Link the card with your UPI account and make hassle-free purchases or bill payments! Apply for the card and get it now on the Fibe App.

FAQs on Workations Near Bangalore

Where is the best place to relax in and around Bangalore?

You can opt for a workation near Bangalore in the following places:

• Mysore
• Coorg
• Hampi
• Chikmagalur

What is the concept of workation in India?

Workations are getting popular in India due to the rise in remote working options. Here are some specifications to help you understand this concept:

• They blend work and vacation as you get to work during your office hours and enjoy your vacation before and after them
• You can plan a workation across various places in India like Manali, Goa, Udaipur, Gangtok, and Coorg, among others

Financial stress can have a hard-hitting impact on an individual’s personal and professional life. A recent Ernst & Young study shows that around 81% of Indian employees experience a financial shortfall between two consecutive pay cycles. 

A lack of financial literacy can force many to opt for loans at high interest rates. Many individuals go for this option simply because they fail to understand the impact caused by these credit facilities. Another study by PwC concludes that approximately 76% of employees feel this financial stress is hampering their workplace productivity. 

According to business, finance and banking experts, this percentage is not surprising. Most employers are abandoning their employees financially as they become more independent, thanks to technology. As such, financial well-being at work is one of the most crucial topics that need to be addressed on priority. 

Financial well-being at work is all about making good business decisions while maintaining a healthy work culture. It is about combining the interests of the company and investing in your employees simultaneously. Read on to understand more about financial wellness, employee benefits, and how it works together.

What is the meaning of financial wellness for employees?

Simply put, financial wellness for employees is when an employer actively works toward improving their employees’ financial standing. This goal can be achieved through wellness programs, initiatives or even education sessions intended to help employees reduce financial stress. 

As a business entity, employers must consider the financial well-being at work while striving to maximise profits. This is because a financially stressed employee is not optimally productive. 

As such, this core financial wellness for employee benefit also contributes to the company’s end goals. For perspective, financial well-being at work is all about a business’s ability to:

• Enable employees to manage their finances
• Educate employees on smart financial decisions
• Provide employees with tools to handle debt better
• Promote financial literacy
• Offer benefits that ensure financial wellness

Why are financial wellness programmes important?

One of the most critical aspects of a company’s success is employing and retaining employees in good financial shape. This is why many employers offer financial wellness programmes. In addition, employers provide tax-advantage benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans or even paid leave for sickness or after the birth of a baby. However, not all employers can afford these benefits.

For this, it’s essential to invest in financial wellness programmes. Moreover, financial wellness programmes benefit both employees and employers. For instance, assume that an employer’s financial wellness programme benefits the employee by improving their money management skills. 

In this case, it helps the employer reduce health insurance costs, liability issues, and employee turnover. Workplace financial wellness programmes can help employees understand all aspects of their finances, such as debt relief, savings, and retirement planning. 

Employers who cannot provide the required financial support can provide some tax-saving incentives for participating in a financial wellness programme. For example, employees may feel better control of their finances when an employer offers educational resources online or via classroom presentations. In addition, financial wellness at work can mean educational sessions or tie-ups with agencies dedicated to improving an employee’s financial well-being.

What are the financial wellness programme benefits for an employee?

There are umpteen advantages for employees working at such organisations. For one, financial wellness programmes are an excellent way for employers to avoid a federal fine. With financial well-being at work, employees get added incentives to get their finances in order.

Secondly, improved financial literacy is one of the common financial wellness programme benefits. Employees learn how to handle their finances and learn to leverage modern financial solutions. 

That said, financial wellness for employee benefit is increasingly important in modern organisations. Digital financial solutions have made it easier for employees to get distracted, mismanage their finances, and take unnecessary risks. Thankfully, promoting financial wellness at work can help employers safeguard their talent from financial stress.  

Fibe offers such solutions and we enable companies to deliver on their financial wellness promises. Whatever the goal, we can help you institute programs that offer employees holistic financial support. Best of all, our services ensure hassle-free integration with the plug-and-play system, making it easy to deploy.

Download the instant loan app, or log in to our website and make the most of the Fibe advantage.

FAQs on financial wellness programs

What are the financial benefits to employees?

With financial wellness programs, employees can handle finances better and reduce their finance-related stress. Such programs increase their financial literacy and help them take better decisions about:

• Saving and investing
• Spending habits
• Borrowing and repaying credit

What are examples of financial wellness programs?

Some examples of financial wellness programs include:

• Tax-saving seminars
• Investing programs
• Financial literacy workshops
• Insurance seminars
• Easy access to credit

Why is employee financial wellness important?

Investing in employee financial wellness improves the overall workforce flow through the organisation. It is important as it leads to

• Enhance employee health
• Boost productivity & efficiency
• Better workforce engagement & Retention

How can companies encourage financial wellness for employees?

Companies can support financial wellness by signing up for Fibe’s financial wellness programs. With more than 800 corporate tie-ups, our programs have many customisable products at no cost or low-cost EMIs.

Like physical wellness, financial wellness should occupy a central place in our list of life goals. Unlike physical wellness though, it is often ignored or taken casually by people. According to research, with 69% of workers being stressed about their finances and 72% worrying about their finances at work, it’s not hard to see why financial wellness is a serious topic to discuss. It is also proven that an employee who maintains a balanced financial life will be more productive and more focused on their work.

Financial wellbeing or wellness is a person’s overall financial health and the absence of money-related stress. It refers to how secure your money is. It’s an integral part of overall employee wellbeing, consisting of physical, mental, and financial wellness.

Generally, financially healthy people have the following four elements in place:

• Their income covers their costs and permits them to handle their debt repayments
• They have reserve funds for monetary crises or emergencies like basic home repairs, medical charges, or job misfortune
• They save and look forward to long-term monetary objectives 
• They have the liberty to choose for themselves and enjoy their lives

Financial wellness can be classified into three major types:

1. Financial health

Financial health describes an individual’s financial situation involving several dimensions: savings of your employees, fixed expenses, and how much he tends to save in a month

Sound financial health indicates a steady flow of income, a few transactions in investments with solid returns, and a steady cash balance. Fibe can help improve your financial health by budgeting, building a contingency fund that can be used in case of emergencies, and paying off your debts as soon as possible.

2. Financial behavior

The financial behavior of an employee is his attitude towards his financial situation. It involves successfully managing finances to achieve both short-term and long-term financial goals. Fibe helps you control your finances and face a financial shock. We also help organizations to incorporate financial wellness programs. This can improve the employees’ financial behavior and give them a feeling of care.

3. Financial literacy

Financial literacy can help you impart financial education to the employees. This will help them learn skills, which will help them achieve financial stability, lower their financial stress, and improve their financial health. In addition, this will boost their confidence in money matters, debt management, preparation and planning for retirement, etc.

Since the employees will be under less financial stress, this will reduce absenteeism and reduce the organization’s health care expenses. It will also increase employee retention and their output in the organization.

Why should you care about financial wellness?

• Imbalanced finances could be stressful

Money can be a constant source of stress for people these days. Worrying about finances can result in health issues for employees, varying from depression and anxiety to ulcers and even heart problems. Some respondents said they thought about skipping or did skip doctor visits because of financial concerns. Fibe helps reduce the employees’ financial stress. It can lead to a healthier and happier workforce, leading to higher productivity. 

• Managing finances takes time

Managing finances is both stressful and it’s time-consuming. Employees bring their worries into the workplace when they can’t control their financial health. Some employees even miss work due to money woes or financial emergencies. It is found that lack of sleep, financial concerns, and family members’ care are negatively associated with productivity. When they worry about their financial wellbeing, they lose focus and become less productive at work. The organization must take care of their employees’ time management, helping them manage their financial wellness.

• Employees want support

Employees nowadays want their managers to help support financial wellness and want financial planning benefits. In addition, they want to avoid financial stress since it leads to increased absenteeism, presenteeism, and illness, affecting their productivity. Therefore, Fibe helps improve employees’ financial wellness.

• Financial wellness improves engagement

Employers should provide cost-of-living to their employees, especially to lower-paid employees. Employees who receive this are 15 percent more engaged, on average. They may alleviate their stress, allowing them to work with focus.

This gesture also shows the employees that the organization cares about them, inspiring loyalty and motivation. And when they feel so, they’re 38 percent more engaged. So, investing in financial wellness boosts the overall wellbeing of employees, increasing their health, productivity, and engagement.

Enabling Financial Wellness & Financial Wellbeing

It is very challenging for any organization to formulate a financial wellness program that fits the bill for all employees. Learn more about some strategies to make an excellent Financial wellness program by connecting to Fibe. We can take care of all of your organization’s financial wellness needs.

Download the personal loan app, or log in to our website to experience the Credit Suite!

HR’s passion for employee welfare and finance’s love for financial metrics in an organisation aren’t two distinct functions operating in different universes. The two departments co-exist and function together along with sales, production, marketing and other departments. While HR is tasked with hiring and training the production force, it requires digesting quite a lot of financial information to yield efficiency in its day-to-day operations. An increasing number of organisations are realising the importance of HR and Finance working together. According to an EY Global Survey:

• 80% of Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) and HR leaders hold that working together leads to better performance.
• Companies that are high-performing spend 50% more time to better integrate HR and Finance. 

Another study revealed some compelling stats about where the wind is blowing in the corporate sector with respect to the C-level, IT, Finance and HR. Of the total number of respondents:

• 35% of the participants were planning to introduce a shared HR and Finance function within a year.
• 46% of the participants from HR and Finance found their collaboration improving significantly.
• While 42% of the participants saw a considerable increase in productivity and performance.   

The Interdependence: Marriment of Finance and HR

HR and Finance, in an organisation, don’t operate in watertight silos where one is disallowed to invade the operations of the other. The majority of the roles are either overlapping or interdependent when it comes to HR and finance, besides their conventional well-designated functions. For instance, recruiting and hiring involves a considerable number of procedures that add to direct and indirect costs whereas payroll management requires the combined focus of both of them. The data collected by Finance becomes the input for HR to make sound decisions for employee satisfaction and profit maximisation which in turn impacts financial statements. 

The primary task of any HR department is to deliver results for the maximisation of the efficiency of the personnel. This is possible only when HR is fully integrated into the business process and is involved in the financial aspects of the business. 

Why the Metrics Matter for HR? 

John Love, Executive Vice President at TML Group posited a great insight on the HR-Finance marriage: 

“If HR professionals want to move up into senior management roles and make a difference as a partner in the business, an understanding of finance and accounting is essential.”

HR professionals seeking to understand the language of business, i.e. finance also learn what revenues drive their company and what costs tether it. HR people need to be a business person before they become an HR leader. A report released by the Human Resources Professionals Association(HRPA) and Knightsbridge Human Capital stated the viewpoints of top CEOs. As per them, even though senior HR executives stand on equal footing by contributing valuably and acting as trusted advisors to the firm, they often fall short of understanding the actual business challenges. Left on their own, HR is incapable of understanding the cost implications of a program while Finance may grow inconspicuous of its impact on workplace demographics. 

Jerry Curtin, Director of human resources for Standard Process Inc. remarks, “When HR can validate benefits investments with real metrics, finance is beyond happy.” 

Sharing of Data: Shared Goals

HR and Finance both need to have control over the employee data to understand key factors impacting their capabilities, such as:

• Employee absenteeism
• Employee turnover
• Payroll
• Common business-wide system engagements

Having different sets of data sources can prove fatal to their missing opportunities leading to a lack of efficiency. Once available, real-time financial analytics can help HR to be able to offer competitive salaries and benefits. Experts cite a collaborative approach to data sharing as a powerful tool to encourage integration. HR expert Cristine Sauter confirms the same, “HR and finance can create incentives that reward exemplary work while increasing morale, production and customer satisfaction… all of which have a huge effect on the bottom line and profit.”   

Tackling  High Employee Turnover

Employee retention is a common ground for both HR and finance to save on indirect costs of recruiting again and again. And high employee turnover is a big issue bothering businesses today.  Organisations can suffer losses between 30% to 200% of an employee’s salary each time they replace an employee. Recent findings have shown that 80% of the employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions which are a direct result of mismatched communication between the two departments.

Optimising Costs

In cases where the largest spend is on human capital, it becomes pertinent for HR and Finance to balance cost management along with attractive programming. Working together, they can control the indirect costs involved in recruiting, hiring and training new employees. Moreover, they can bring in incentives to reward exemplary performance to boost the morale of employees, thus increasing productivity and ultimately customer satisfaction. Obviously, customer satisfaction affects sales and profit. Profit is what drives the business operations and is the common goal of all the departments.  

Planning Strategies

To quote statistically, 84% of the value that a business holds is contained in its intangible assets – the people and their ideas. While HR is well-positioned to manage those assets from the people’s perspective, understanding financial metrics can facilitate their progress better.  Working on shared goals helps avoid duplication of work and conflict among the departments leading to poor productivity and low engagement. When collaborative planning sets in, open communication pervades leading to better coordination of operations. An organisation fluid in its operations is better positioned to tackle competition. 

Management is an all-pervasive activity. The good news is that HR and Finance are working towards finding a common functionality to support each other and in turn, add to the organisational goals. To close the case, Effective use of capital, greater revenue and cutting on costs should be the main aim of HR and Finance. As of now, HR just needs to talk and understand numbers to woo Finance into working together. 

Download the personal loan app here, or log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.

The conventional function of HR, being people-centric, makes it more of a front-office function juggling with minds and ideas. While separated from HR, Finance controls the figures and numbers at the back-office end. This divorce between two essential functions in an organisation slows down processes impacting the business’s ability for growth and adaptation. Peter Spence, associate technical director at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants comments, “The way that most firms are structured are along silo lines, so you are starting from a bad place.” 

For a considerable time, HR and Finance have been two very distinct strategic functions vying for the same set of organisational goals. Finance seeks to allocate resources for such goals, while HR helps recruit, hire and educate people towards achieving such goals by utilizing the allocated resources. It is, therefore, critical for any organisation to understand that the motivation behind the two functions is the same. Several factors including competition, the complexity of operations, and automation in businesses have brought in opportunities for the two departments to sync their efforts and statistics into an incentive-focused working across HR and Finance teams. 

Currently, the wind seems to be blowing in the right direction. A Research from Oracle and MIT Technology Review, Finance and HR: The Cloud’s New Power Partnership stated that 35% of the respondents surveyed were planning to form a shared Finance and HR function within a year while 46% of the respondents felt that the collaboration between the two departments had improved significantly. There has never been a more favourable time for the two to work towards a robust strategic alliance as businesses evolve and automation sets in. 

Considerations Involved

A firm before employing a collaborative solution for HR and Finance needs to ask itself a few questions to decide the scale and scope of shared activities: 

#1 What is the primary focus of the organisation? 

It is important for the departments to first understand how the organisation earns its revenues and how the money moves within the organisation, especially for HR. Once HR and Finance understand where and how they contribute to these activities, they would be able to develop a more effective collaboration. Jerry Curtin, director of human resources for Standard Process Inc., confirms the same, “When human capital is the single-largest spend, it takes the collective effort of HR and Finance to balance cost management with attractive programming.” 

#2 Do the departments understand each other’s functioning?

For HR it is important to understand the financial aspects involved to run a business and to have a grasp on areas such as: 

• Budgeting and profitability management
• Understanding of financial statements

For Finance the areas worth investigating include:  

• Hiring and recruiting costs
• Compensation
• Benefits
• Workforce planning initiatives such as financial wellness programs, training, and development. 

The overlapping functionalities are the areas where HR and Finance need to work on. The senior leadership must lay emphasis on coordinating data with each other before taking policy decisions. HR decision-makers well aware of the real-time financial reports are able to quickly determine the number of sales professionals they can afford to hire, with what skill-set and what compensation package.  

#3 Does your current infrastructure support the integration?

Traditional business firms still tend to stick to the obsolete systems where HR and payroll records are considered a separate function from Finance. Finance is forward-looking and HR looks at the past trends and their impact. Both of them use different systems. HR professionals and CFOs need to determine whether their current system requires a complete overhaul, or whether minor changes in the setup would be enough to bring in the required agility in business processes. 

#4 Has your workforce got the right skills?

Whether or not the employees are ready to accept this change is another important issue. Once reconciled, the employees need to be trained to employ the new practices and technologies put into place for HR-Finance integration within the organisation. 

The ‘Touchpoints’ of Integration 

The workforce of any organisation is its greatest asset and HR’s role in managing it is quite an expense. Therefore, the collaboration between the one managing the expense (Finance) and the one incurring it (HR) is quintessential for better performance. The collaboration can be worked upon in a number of functions such as payroll management, human capital forecasting, recruitment and training, skill assessment, employee turnover risks, and finally, developing shared analytics and resources to make plans in the short and long term. 

Organisational Benefits

HR and Finance Integration can strategically transform businesses in a two-way equilibrium once they start speaking the same language. While the firm earns a return on investment, it saves on valuable resources via useful insights and better productivity. HR can analyse the past trends and compare them to the current stats to evaluate and revise its decisions. Data sharing eliminates duplication of work and mismanagement issues like HR hiring employees without informing Finance or else, Finance planning budget cuts without discussing the case with HR. 

Also, as employee turnover and absenteeism decline, employee morale is boosted and the goodwill of the firm is ensured. Financial Wellness programmes being employed by organisations these days are a direct attempt where HR and Finance come together for the workforce. Employee morale, profit maximisation, and customer satisfaction can be the long term pros of HR-Finance integration. 

HR and Finance need to focus on workforce engagement as the key indicator of performance. Disengaged employees add to costs, lessen productivity and push up turnover stats. HR-Finance integration can solely be achieved by an in-depth understanding of the shared financial metrics to facilitate sound communication between the two. At the given rate of technological development and automation, it is only feasible for HR and Finance to sort their differences and move together in the same direction to give their best to the organisation.

Download the personal loan app here, or log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.