Several firms, particularly in recent years, have stressed that their most valuable resource is people. Nonetheless, there can be a major disconnect between a company’s cultural statement and the realities of day-to-day commercial life. While most chief financial officers recognise the importance of personnel to a business, they frequently overlook opportunities to go beyond viewing people as merely a resource. A firm should be established through recognising, cultivating, and caring for individuals in such a way that the company is made up of people who are totally involved in each other and the organization’s success.
Hire the Best
You must recruit the best if you want to be the best. Not all businesses expand rapidly enough to generate a large number of internal opportunities, and employees may be forced to wait for natural attrition or retirement to progress. The inclination is to avoid employing top-tier applicants since they are unlikely to be patient enough to wait through this procedure. As a result, quality is sometimes traded for retention, but this does not have to be the case.
An effective CFO recognises that hiring an outperforming employee for three years is preferable to hiring an average or underperforming employee for ten years. A CFO should not be afraid to bring in great, ambitious people who can have a short-term beneficial influence on the firm before moving on to another external position if there are no internal opportunities for progression. Top talent may assist in the development of new procedures and the promotion of greater levels of performance throughout the finance division and even the entire organization—a win for both the firm and its workers.
Making Long-Term Investments
Managing people and actually investing in them necessitates a major commitment of time, openness, and the hard work required to help your staff improve. For example, failing employees are frequently not given the truth about their performance or counselled through their difficulties since it is perceived to take too much time and effort.
Outperforming employees are frequently given more money and labour, but are not properly acknowledged or appreciated for their efforts or competence. A wise CFO would recognise the potential to develop a firm that values coaching people, discover novel methods to reward performance, and give feedback that helps employees become better professionals.
Bring Balance Through Stewardship
To do so, a CFO must balance two opposing interests with employees. To begin, the organisation must hire, train, coach, and retain the finest people at an affordable cost in order to achieve long-term success. Yet, this must be balanced against the CFO’s ability to grow, develop, and nurture these individuals. A competent CFO will embrace this conflict and care equally about the company’s and the employee’s success.
An good employee may even be encouraged to quit if the firm is unable to give the possibilities they deserve, even if the company suffers in the near term. One cannot overstate the value of the trust that is established when employees understand the company truly has their best interest at heart.
Care For The Whole Person
An astute and considerate CFO recognises an employee’s worth and commits to caring for that individual. Humans are more than simply workers; they are dads, moms, brothers, football coaches, widows, and so on. They are content, lonely, determined, and nervous. Employment is an important aspect of life, yet it is only one aspect of existence.
Life is all that each individual takes to work each day. And it is the CFO’s privilege and responsibility to see each individual for who they are, to be compassionate when they suffer, and to delight when amazing things happen in their life. There must be a balance between the professional and the personal, but a CFO who cares about their staff as well as the company’s performance will inspire devotion and loyalty, making them a recognised and effective leader.
Developing a firm one person at a time will alter the CFO, their staff, and act as a catalyst for the company’s success. It requires time, commitment, and effort—not to mention a caring CFO.
Sources: Forbes Finance Council
