Is your company doing the same? A Gartner survey of 200 CFOs on March 17 revealed that 81% intend to offer benefits to their hourly employees that exceed any contractual obligations during the coronavirus outbreak.
As many as a third intend to offer full monetary compensation during the period, the advisory firm said.
“Many view this as a good ethical gesture, and this is also about seeing the bigger picture and finding creative ways to ensure business continuity in times of crisis,” said Dennis Gannon, vice president, advisory for the Gartner Finance practice.
Not only do companies want to emerge from the crisis with an experienced and engaged workforce, they also want to mitigate the risks of employee fraud and misconduct that rise significantly during times of uncertainty, he added.
Which scenario for paying hourly workers is most likely that you are considering?
“It remains the CFO’s first responsibility to do everything they can to support their organization and its employees in such a difficult time,” said Gannon. “That also means seeing the opportunity to reinvent old and broken processes, especially when that can keep the business running and keep staff engaged.”
Other ways of supporting employees
In addition, CFOs reported a variety of actions they are considering to support employees, according to Gartner.
· expanding work from home and sick policies, and adjusting work schedules and non-illness related flexibilities (such as for childcare needs) to ensure tasks and projects get completed
· tracking state benefits for hourly workers
· considering offering childcare for employees who have to continue coming to work
· offering remote working equipment such as modems and routers if needed
· allowing employees to donate sick leave to one another
Minimising downside impact
The financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic is just beginning to emerge and there are many unknowns and uncertainties, the advisory firm said.
CFOs are beginning to shift their attention from crisis mode towards minimising the downside impact, the firm added.
Most CFOs (51%) have not yet adjusted internal targets even though there is little chance they will be met this year, survey results indicate.
“There’s no good way for most CFOs to reset targets with any certainty,” Gannon noted. “Instead, many CFOs are assuming that targets won’t be met and are taking steps to ensure ongoing working cash flow to support operations, such as securing access to credit and planning for possible repatriation scenarios.”
Managing the finance function during pandemic
In terms of managing the finance function, CFOs were broadly optimistic with 90% reporting that only a minimal amount of accounting close procedures cannot be executed off-premises, said Gartner.
CFOs are most focused on critical third parties, and how they can work together to adapt working processes to function well during the coronavirus disruption, the research firm noted.
For example, many CFOs have used this crisis as an opportunity to transition towards automated clearing house (ACH) payments instead of check writing, said Gartner, adding that they’ve also shifted towards videoconferencing options for auditing physical inventories.
“Now is the time to deepen collaboration with vendors, auditors, or customers,” Gannon advised. “Take advantage of relevant solutions that have been put off in the past.”
