UK’s shared services facing ‘potential’ talent deficit - ACCA

Ambitious young professionals working in shared services have a huge appetite for fast career progression, according to a global study from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Generation Next: managing talent in finance shared services survey uncovered that nearly 90 per cent of young professionals want a job in a different area of finance in their next career move or later on.

In shared services 71 per cent want a promotion and 54 per cent expect their next move to be external.

The research takes a closer look at the aspirations of young finance professionals working in shared services today and builds on ACCA’s Generation Next research, which polled close to 19,000 professionals under the age of 36.

Maggie McGhee, director of professional insights at ACCA, said: “These trends clearly have implications for the shared service function. If the emerging talent is more transitory than previous generations, and looking to progress with new challenges at a faster rate, there is a potential for a draining of talent from this sector if employers cannot match the career aspirations of this generation.

“Finance may not necessarily be the intended destination of young professionals, and many have entrepreneurial ambitions that they often want to fulfil very early on in their career. In many cases, as opportunities for professional growth are perceived to be limited in this sector, many are looking for a way out. While shared services increasingly represents a career destination in its own right for those in more senior positions, leadership must ensure the attractiveness of a longer-term career permeates throughout the shared services organisation at all levels.”

In the UK in particular, young professionals in shared services see technology as an unprecedented opportunity to focus on much higher value-added activity (90 per cent of respondents in Ireland compared to 84 per cent of respondents globally.

John Williams, head of ACCA UK, said: “This is a generation who believe they are well equipped to deal with change driven by technology and globalisation. Young people in the UK are more conscious of the impact of technology on entry level roles. 64 per cent think technology will replace those roles in the profession, in line with shared services average but above global sentiment across a variety of sector (57 per cent).

“Young people in the UK are also amongst the most eager to move out into the retained finance function (81 per cent), higher than the global average of shared services respondents (65 per cent). This is a critical call to action to shared services employers to go out there and build their organisation’s brand as a key way to attract and retain talent. For this, using technology as a recruitment opportunity may be worth considering as innovation in the work place may appeal to the tech savvy nature of younger generations.

“75 per cent of young professionals want to continue in a more senior position in their next move, compared to 71 per cent globally’ concluded McGhee. “Employers must work out talent development programmes that can satisfy ambitions for career progression and aspirations for building up a broader portfolio of skills that are relevant beyond pure finance.”