How the Impending Recession Will Shape Shared Services' Decision-making

The predictions of the upcoming recession are everywhere. As shared services and GBS leaders, it’s easy to start worrying about what the impact will be on the future of business growth and talent. Finance, and Accounts Payable in particular, will play a key, end-user facing role during this time. 

Are there any specific challenges and opportunities ahead that finance leaders need to think about? 

To discuss this key point, Jordan Mullins sat down with  Emily Nash-Walker, Global Head of Partner Experience, at Tradeshift. Emily is an expert in enterprise digital transformation and shared services, with experience gained at various blue chip organizations where she enables partners to automate, digitize, and grow. 

Economic slowdown and talent - what’s typical and what’s changed

While the financial trends show that we're entering an economic slowdown, some of the traditional recessionary signs, such as a slowdown in hiring, might look different this time around. One key indicator is “the great resignation”. In the current market, talent is actually leaving for better opportunities. 

Given that organizations are finding it difficult to hire the right talent, how will hiring decisions change? Emily talks about “the why” behind this movement in the employment market. 

“People move for a number of different factors. One is that we've all just re-evaluated how we work in a global pandemic and maybe there are people that have decided that they want to do something different. We must really lean into this self-awareness and make sure those folks are supported as they move on to what they want to do. Why? Because you want a happy workforce. 

The other thing that's a challenge is that entry-level skilled workers are just difficult to find - particularly in the United States, although many other countries in the western world also express similar challenges.” 

The latter point is the reason several well-known global enterprise companies make the decision to put their shared service center in a location outside of their headquarters – usually a geographical area that's growing and has the manpower needed for scaling.

“I think that there are going to be some traditional activities that are going to occur as we prepare for this economic slowdown. Things like reviewing spending will be mainstream. Leaders will be making sure any spend is in fact needed, and that there's a solid ROI on it.” Emily remarks.

Big picture over the mundane

When hiring talent, the biggest thing that we as corporations must ensure is that we're focused on the bigger picture. Often, the focus gets fuzzy because of repeatable mundane tasks, which talent rarely enjoys no matter where in the world the worker is. Instead, Emily advises that shared services and outsourced talent needs to be hired and trained to truly become a member of your team. One that has a clear career path. The best way to do that is by establishing not just what the process at hand looks like for them, but also what that long term vision looks like. It’s important to share an 18 to 24 month view of your goals with your team as well. 

Pivoting and promoting resilience 

Work has changed a lot over the last three years. We’ve heard people use the words “uncertain times” way too often during the pandemic! Emily cautions that we need to be able to pivot and roll with the punches for a bit longer. “One of the things that I have learned is that, unfortunately, we are experiencing some “interesting times”. But, what does work look like on the other side of this? That's where we really want to focus. So, while the challenging economic times will pass … some of the underlying themes may feel hard - these are realities.”

Occupancy < Automation

With the lack of entry-level workers that many firms need to worry about, comes a real need to set up and manage intelligent automation. This is something that Emily cautions is key to recognize and adjust to. “What I don't think we all take enough of a hard look at is that, when it comes right down to it, businesses are not going to pay a king's ransom to meet occupancy rates, and they're going to look to automation instead,” Emily warns.

If you like the audio medium, and would like to hear a detailed interview that dives much further into the impacts of the recession on hiring and finance, listen to the SSONext podcast with Jordan Mullins and Emily Nash-Walker on Spotify.