Seeking to unlock value? Position your finance talent for success

Challenges have come at CFOs from all directions as companies have confronted overlapping, high-magnitude shocks¹  from internal and external factors. The financial and other types of disruption that started with the pandemic continue to be felt with economic uncertainty, inflation, and a potential recession looming in the minds of business leaders. Meanwhile, other pressures have fueled the need to change business models, expand into adjacent markets, and complete acquisitions or divestitures.²

Talent, in particular, has been on the frontlines to meet the demand for agility and flexibility, managing the emerging tools and new processes that enable them to adapt to the pace of change³  while continuing to provide insights for financial performance, control costs, and participate in long-term growth efforts. With caps placed on bonuses (for some organizations) and dramatic increases in finance personnel compensation in some markets, little wonder that finance professionals often seek new opportunities. The call becomes even more pronounced if the pressures in their current role are devolving from stress into post-pandemic fatigue.

Finding solutions for personnel challenges is top of mind for finance leaders as they look to equip their finance functions with the right people, tools, and capabilities to pivot, whatever challenge their companies might encounter. And in the process, CFOs can turn a traditional support function into a competitive advantage.⁴

Quarter after quarter, including more recently, Deloitte’s CFO Signals™ surveys show CFOs’ top internal risk is talent, from recruiting to development to retention.⁵  Another often recurring internal risk is execution of strategy, which requires not only high-performing talent but also relevant data and timely insights to make business decisions. Tackling the talent challenge in a holistic way can, in part, help finance leaders support their businesses with strategic planning and execution and other critical matters.

As CFOs look to position their finance function as a contributor to their organizations’ performance, following are some research findings from Deloitte’s quarterly CFO Signals surveys to consider as part of this process.
 

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For a more detailed look at the special focus on work, workforce, and workplace in the Q3 2022 CFO Signals survey, be sure to download the report.

Endnotes

¹ Deloitte, “Why CFOs are moving to a more dynamic finance function,” CFO Insights, July 28, 2022.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Deloitte, CFO Signals™: What North America’s top finance executives are thinking—and doing, 3rd quarter 2022, 2022, p. 10.
⁶ Ibid., p. 18.
⁷ Ibid., p. 19.
⁸ Ibid., p. 17.
⁹ Ibid., p. 17.
¹⁰ Ibid., p. 20.
¹¹ Ibid., p. 23