·
69% workforce believe their productivity has increased
when working from home, SAP Concur Survey Reveals
·
Only 11 percent of Indian companies utilise fully
digital solutions for expense management indicating an immense gap in digital
adoption
· Manual processes
in expense management and the resulting inefficiencies may be causing India
estimated productivity losses of US $2.25
billion per year.
A new SAP® Concur® commissioned study has revealed
that 88 percent of the workforce in India prefer to have the
flexibility of working from home. In addition to this, 69 percent of Indian
employees believe their productivity has increased while working remotely –
highest in the APAC region as compared to countries like Australia , New
Zealand , South Korea ,
Malaysia and Thailand . These
figures show positive signs of large scale acceptance of the upcoming ‘new
normal’ in the country at a time when COVID-19 pandemic has forced the
companies to implement remote working almost overnight.
According to the study, merely 11 percent of Indian organisations have
embraced end-to-end digital finance and administrative processes. These manual
processes take up significant employee time that can otherwise be used for
productive work. Across India ,
36 percent of mid-large sized companies are still using manual processes for
submitting business expenses.
The survey, entitled
“Finance in the New World of Work”, aims to inform business, finance, and HR
decision makers of the economic cost of poor finance and administrative
processes and systems in the region. It also identifies the gaps in
organisations’ expense management, business travel, and remote work processes.
Asia Insight,
which conducted the survey, used International Labour Organization (ILO) statistics on output per worker and
the number of information workers,
and the study’s results, to calculate and derive that saving just 10 percent of
the time spent on filing and approving claims would translate to US$2.25
billion of potential GDP revenue gain for India each year, assuming all the lost hours
are diverted to productive work. Mid to large-sized organisations could save
tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars over the same period.
Elaborating on the insights from the study, Mankiran Chowhan,
Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, SAP Concur, said, “2020 is proving
to be a turning point for companies in terms of managing employee experience
and productivity. While employees working remotely are being supported
digitally in many areas, there still exists a major gap in digital adoption for
crucial yet often overlooked finance and administrative processes. Owing to
this, employees have to devote significant time for menial tasks that could
otherwise be used for productive, business value-added work. Bringing in
digital transformation for expense claims or invoice processing can have a huge
multiplier effect on business and cost control and at the same time provide the
operational agility needed for business continuity.”
Finance
Transformation is Lagging
Many
Indian firms still run manual finance and administrative processes– resulting
in inefficiencies that lead to productivity losses.
·
Indian employees spent
an average of 6.1 hours per month filing expense claims – more than half of a
typical workday. Managers had it worse – they spent an additional 7.3 hours
reviewing and approving expense claims with the total time adding up to an
astonishing 13.4 hours a month.
· As many as 36
percent of respondents submit expenses manually by filling out a form and
enclosing physical receipts. Such a manual process is tedious, error prone, and
incongruous with the digital lifestyles employees are leading today.
· Beyond the
inefficiency costs, the study also found that current expense management
systems’ support for modern payment methods is inadequate. More than a third
(39%) of respondents said they want their expense management software to
integrate with external apps to enable added functionality like reimbursement
of payments made through super apps (umbrella apps containing other apps).
Gearing Up the Workforce for Remote Work
Remote work will be the
default mode of work for many organisations in the foreseeable future.
·
Embracing this change, 88 percent of employees in India have
expressed their preference to have the flexibility of remote working.
·
69 percent of Indian employees believe their
productivity has increased while working from home, considerably higher than
their other APAC counterparts with overall average of 60 percent.
·
While 76 percent employees in India said
their organisations provide subsidies or completely pay for mobile plan,
broadband internet and IT peripherals (greater than the APAC average of around
68 percent),
·
22 percent employees in India want their organisations to
pay for all expenses needed for a productive working environment at home (also
highest amongst all countries in APAC against a consolidated average of just 15
percent).
·
Survey respondents want their employers to enable easy
remote claims and travel management, improve collaboration, and provide better
IT equipment and services.
Room for Improvement in Business Travel
Once the current pandemic
situation begins to normalise, business travel will slowly pick up pace.
Corporate travel systems that enable staff to book flights and accommodations
digitally and via mobile, perhaps even on their usual personal travel booking
platforms and apps, would certainly help in keeping the employees pleased.
However, for many organisations, business travel management is piecemeal and
disjointed, leaving 27 percent of employees less than satisfied with the time
and effort incurred. In addition to this, 57 percent of Indian respondents
expect their companies to improve on the ability to personalise all elements of
business travel, while 52 percent want to spend less time in the entire process
of booking in addition to access to real time alerts.
Recommendations for Transforming Finance Operations
79 percent of Indian
employees strongly link their overall finance and administrative experience and
their overall satisfaction of working for their organisations. This suggests
that if businesses want to retain their talent, they need to improve their
finance and administrative processes. This is also an opportunity for
organisations to embrace remote work for better business outcomes. Here are three
recommendations for businesses:
1. Align Systems
and Tools to Optimally Support Remote Work- Organisations must make
their infrastructure and processes conducive for remote work. This includes
digitising paper receipts, allowing vendors to invoice organisations
directly for their employees’ purchases, and deploying experience
management tools for better collaboration. Companies should also review their
expense policies to ensure staff are properly reimbursed for items or services
used to facilitate remote work. Digital applications that are mobile-friendly
and offer great user experience will also help in enhancing the overall
employee experience.
2. Automate Expense and Business Travel
Management- Automation takes repetitive, manual aspects out of
routine finance and administrative tasks, saving employees time so they can
focus on meaningful work. It also saves time for the finance team by
eliminating paperwork and detecting erroneous or fraudulent claims. Just as
importantly, automated solutions provide visibility and control, and facilitate
compliance.
3.Make Business Travel More Streamlined and
Personalised- Travel managers should revamp their travel management
systems by:
· Enhancing
controls: Reviewing their travel policy to better control costs;
moving to digital receipts; and aligning their expense and travel policies
· Improving
visibility: Integrating their travel and expense systems to facilitate
data flow; considering app-based bookings that still stay within corporate
policy; and improving budget and spend reporting
· Bolstering
duty of care readiness: Ensuring they know travellers’ locations at all
times and be in a position to render assistance
Adoption of the above recommendations will lead to an efficient, agile,
and innovative finance organisation capable of delivering exceptional employee
experience, which can better support the business in delivering value to
customers, helping it become more resilient for the new era.