HR and Finance
Many people believe that human resources and the finance department work on complete opposite sides of an organization. This is mostly likely due to the fact that these departments speak completely different languages and are focused on very different aspects of the organization. HR speaks the language of people and values people as its most important asset. Finance, on the other hand, understands the language of numbers and ROI, and they value assets that can be easily quantified. Despite these differences, though, HR and finance need to work together in order for an organization to be successful.
Supporting Each Other
As wellness programs continue to grow in popularity, HR has the responsibility of supporting employee well-being through the organization’s wellness program. This helps to creates a happier and healthier workforce, which gives the organization a competitive advantage. Having happy and healthy employees generally means lower turnover rates and improved business results, all of which directly benefits finance as it means more money to grow the business. Finance also supports HR by providing things like budget, new hiring activity, and training for the existing workforce. This allows HR to focus on keeping top talent engaged, improving retention, and ensuring people are placed in positions where they will be successful.
Working Together on Benefits
HR and finance both have information, insights, and perspectives that, when combined, can improve a wide variety of organizational functions. Working together on benefits is a great example of this. The head of finance can give the HR manager an overview of information like cash flow and deficits that could affect the talent management budget. The head of finance can also help figure out if insurance plans that offer premium discounts, cash rewards, gym memberships and other incentives are worth it financially.Then, the HR manager can also keep finance up to date on benefits trends that may cause sudden cash flow changes, like a spike in new health care enrollments or wellness program incentive payouts. For the best results, be sure your finance department understands the legal aspects pertaining to health insurance, as well as the costs of current health care and its implications for the company.
For more information on how HR and finance can collaborate, visit the Financial Force or The Benefits Guide!
