For decades, organizations have put their trust in archaic tools to handle the bulk of their financial processes. However, the current tech-savvy workforce is fed up with traditional finance tools like legacy systems and spreadsheets. Millennials demand a seamless and flexible financial management experience that delivers results without taking too much effort and time.
Since nearly 75% of the workforce will be filled with millennials by 2025, businesses cannot afford to dismiss their demands. Rather than fearing technology and automation, organizations should fear the inability to leverage technology to strengthen their financial management process.
Here are four easy ways organizations can use their financial technology to retain their millennial workforce.
1. Embrace automation
Financial management software is central to the business and can never be replaced easily. It is generally deeply integrated with other systems like payroll, ERP, logistics, and more. Privacy risks and heavy compliance responsibilities block the adoption of financial software. The fact that rip-and-replace systems are cost- and time-intensive makes businesses hesitant to change.
Contrary to popular belief, businesses need to neither spend a fortune nor wait for ages to implement a financial management system. Automation makes the financial management process more transparent and efficient. A robust financial software with not only eliminate bad paper trails and reduce manual intervention but also ensure legal compliance and mitigate risks. So it’s better to use one of the top loan origination solutions for your lending business to make the paper works easier and more efficient.
Most departments like HR and Sales have already grasped the importance of interacting, engaging, and motivating millennials with automated processes. The finance department needs to follow in their footsteps and fulfill the expectations of their tech-savvy workforce by automating repetitive financial processes.
2. Make processes mobile-friendly
Millennials depend heavily on their mobile phones than their preceding generations. A recent study on millennials shows that nearly 80% of millennials sleep with their mobile phones next to their bed. So, what does this mean for organizations that are planning to adopt a financial management system?
As the saturation of mobile use among millennials is undisputed, the right financial management system must offer a compatible mobile app that works with a range of mobile devices and operating systems without any hiccups.
Millennials have little to no patience for time-consuming processes and might not see the value of staying in a business that is filled with inefficient processes. So, these mobile applications need to work swiftly and efficiently without frustrating the end user.
3. Offer a seamless experience
Millennials are more likely to make purchases on whatever device they are currently using. For instance, 60% of millennials are likely to make a purchase using a chatbot if it is embedded into a website that they are already browsing.
Now more than ever, organizations need to offer their workforce a seamless on-the-go experience to reduce stress and keep them engaged. A modern financial management system must allow users to access, submit, and manage financial data and expense reports from any device.
If a business travel expense flows directly from mobile device to the expense reporting system, it will not eliminate the hassle of manual data entry but also save time and offer travelers a better experience. While a cloud-based financial management tool might solve all these issues, a complete cloud adoption might not be the right option for all organizations.
Businesses who have invested heavily in on-premise systems can continue to derive more value out of them by using a hybrid model which combines cloud and on-premise deployment. To offer end users a seamless experience without leaving a bad impact on the organization’s bottom line, it is critical to pick the right mode of deployment.
4. Pick a flexible solution
Millennials value flexibility and work-life balance more than anything else. According to the latest research from GBRE and Sabre, 72 percent of millennial business travelers want to be able to carry out certain functions like changing details of itinerary and re-booking travel details on their own.
It is not just restricted to business travel, in everything from petty cash approval to expense and budget approval, millennials demand a self-service option to increase their sense of control. But how can organizations ensure that employees comply with organizational policies and regulations?
Today, most financial management platforms allow businesses to create unique business rules that automate compliance and highlight potential risks. Additionally, these tools also provide a complete audit trail to make security audits effortless. These intuitive features enable organizations to offer their users the ease of self-service while eliminating any chance for risks.
Summary
Millennials are not fond of traditional practices and demand more convenience. It is evident that modern financial management software offers all features that millennials look for, and it is only a matter of time before your workforce starts expecting the ease and efficiency offered by these tools.
The longer organizations prolong the implementation of these tools, the impact of negligence will rise with it. In order to stay competitive and retain their millennial workforce, organizations need to acknowledge and adapt to the demands of this tech-savvy generation. As financial activities continue to get more chaotic, modern financial tools help organizations retain their millennial workforce.
