Identifying, attracting, and retaining finance talent has become a Herculean task made all the more difficult by a dwindling workforce, lack of industry interest, and uncertain geopolitical conditions. However, companies recognize the need to expand while protecting themselves against the competition.
Accounting & finance talent is in huge demand, and companies cite hiring and retaining them as their most important hurdle to success. Companies also pointed to digital transformation and macroeconomic factors such as inflation as key barriers that could hamper growth.
CFOs and financial executives cited staffing as their number one concern. In response, they’re developing creative solutions to what could otherwise become a disaster of epic proportions.
CFOs and financial executives FIND staffing solutions for overcoming shortages
Three critical staffing solutions are driving the transformation in finance:
- Flexible staffing. CFOs and financial executives are more likely to consider flexible staffing as an alternative to hiring FTEs. According to CFODive, “CFOs are examining flexible staffing as a way to fill out their finance or accounting teams, with 53% stating this was an ‘effective strategy’ to protect their companies against marketplace threats, per the study. A further 69% stated their company currently taps fractional resources inside their accounting and finance teams, while 39% noted that these teams were fully made up of fractional or part-time resources.
- Technology encourages task automation for repetitious tasks, which frees staff to attend to issues that technology cannot solve. A Health leaders virtual panel of CFOs recommends that financial executives turn to automation where feasible by adopting “technology platforms to optimize workflow further and mitigate the need for manual work efforts.”
- Talent Pipelines. More significantly, another option has been to create a talent pipeline by developing a two-pronged approach and implementing a succession plan. First, CFOs and financial executives commit to identifying great people to take over essential roles when needed. They cultivate in-house talent by establishing career paths, providing professional development, increased responsibility, and candidate mentoring. They also work closely with a recruiter to have great people ready for seamless onboarding.
Other staffing solutions that can make an impact
No one-size-fits-all approach to staffing exists. For that reason, companies are turning to CFOs and finance executives to:
- Gather and analyze historical data to predict staffing pattern needs.
- Evaluate staffing patterns to determine which roles can be combined, reorganized, or eliminated — and which will be next for identifying successors.
- Consider hiring talent with a mix of degrees and certifications by determining if everyone in the department needs to have an MBA or if certifications and endorsements will round out the team just as well.
- Participate in job fairs at colleges and local high schools to find candidates. More importantly, it generates interest in the accounting and finance industry.
- Develop internal career paths for top talent already employed with you, and retain them by addressing their needs.
When combined with intentional succession planning, financial talent identification and retention puts organizations in a position where they can monitor and maintain organizational health — even when faced with labor shortages, inflation, and changing leadership.
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