Creating A New Workspace
CFOs are moving to transition to today’s new workplace. They are addressing the need for “smart” buildings, adjusting to new work styles, meeting safety concerns, maintaining a common culture and reducing excess real estate capacity. How should CFO’s be thinking of this new challenge?
“In talking to CFOs, they don’t talk about facing a “new workplace”. The workplace to them is not an end point or a target. It’s become an evolving moving target. It requires CFOs to think through, balance and get right a combination of factors. The challenge is to select the right ones that will work for your company and culture. It can be hard to do. But when it is done right, I’ve seen tremendous upside realized.”
John Gimpert, Conference Co-Chair & National Content Director, CFO Leadership Council
Develop a plan & strategy
Understand the desires and attitudes of your employees. Think about how your business needs to operate. Determine which employees will need to return to the office full-time vs. employees who can remain remote or even creating a hybrid environment is a key first step. Figure out what hybrid model, if any, works for you. Increase automation around the workplace and find cost effective ways to improve operations, make it easier to support the remote workforce. Focus on improving ways to communicate and increase interaction across all employees regardless of location.
Evaluate our real estate footprint
Make real estate decisions regarding office space and what might be a permanent change or what might last for the next few years. There are options to reduce worksite capacities and increase the number of permanently remote positions. Or find ways to pinpoint where you can reduce costs. Will you need to utilize the same office space due to decreased capacity and increased social distancing? Or can you reduce real estate footprint (and costs) with the increase of remote positions? Include a level of flex in your plan since the confidence of your people will likely improve over time.
Maintain culture
Without employee buy-in, the best plans could lead to trouble. Develop a communication plan that demonstrates an understanding of the expectations of your team, with how the company needs to operate. Culture is about shared values, attributes and characteristics of a company. Leading with empathy and finding ways to bring teams together in safe, social interactions is key. Maintain a culture that focuses on the wellbeing and safety of employees, an understanding of their needs and aligning policies.
Continue shaping your successful strategy
The CFO Leadership Council has formed an expert panel ready to challenge your strategic thinking even further. Part of our 11th annual conference, A New Hope, June 7-9, 2021. Malgorzata Szturmowicz of Booksy, Cythia Stephens of Templafy, Bona Allen of Kajima Building and Design, Inc. and Mindy Barker of Barker Associates will take the “stage” on Wed June 9th @ 3:20pmET. Grab your seat & bring your questions.
About A New Hope
Our 11th annual CFO Leadership Conference, A New Hope is being held June 7-9, 2021. A virtual 3-day experience with a theme of breakout energy, forward progress, growth & achievement! This year’s conference is about the initiatives CFOs are taking on as they face off to today’s new reality. CFOS are moving quickly to position their finance function and company for success. Our conference will bring to you the finance executives who are undertaking these initiatives and executing on them flawlessly with success. They will share their stories in leadership. Reserve your spot today! www.cfolc.com/conference
All Conference Sponsors are offering a $49 discount. Be sure to grab one. Click here to get started.
About The CFO Leadership Council
What began as a personal experiment back in 2006 has evolved into a prominent community, 2000+ members strong, across North America. The CFO Leadership Council offers both in person and online options featuring expert panelists and interactive sessions that foster meaningful connection and drive practicable outcomes. Our collection of resources, similar to this article, contain pragmatic insights and advice created directly by our members and industry experts. Recordings of CFOLC webcasts are made available to our current CFOLC Premium & Virtual members. For a full list of programs, visit www.cfolc.com.
Want to Continue the Conversation?
We’d love to hear from you. Post a comment about your experiences or provide feedback below to continue the discussion about how creative leadership in the current climate. Or contact Kristin Todd, Vice President of Marketing, [email protected].