When HR and CFO Join Forces

CFOs are starting to take a hard look at the bottom line. A line that is both financially and innovatively driven by “the company it keeps.” In order for a CFO’s company to have financial success, it needs to hire highly talented employees and keep retention rates in the top five percentile of competitive companies. This means more closely aligning finance and strategy by becoming an integral part of the human resource equation. PrideStaff Financial takes a look at how CFOs can join forces with their HR departments.

It can’t be said enough—communication is the golden ticket.

As managers evolve into higher positions, people retire and are replaced with unfamiliar employees and leaders become the top C-Suite executives, there is a growing pattern of broken lines of communication as one gets to the top. This creates a domino effect of poor communication that leads to high turnover, confusion about business metrics and overarching goals, and ultimately financial loss. As a CFO, it’s important to remember that setting goals and making decisions are not the only part of the job. Top-tier decisions need to be implemented correctly, but as they trickle down the line of succession, information is lost in translation and usually left up to lower-level managers to figure out. Human resource managers are your golden tickets to hiring strong company leadership and staff.  As you set company goals, involve your HR department so they understand them. This will in turn lead to more effective strategic and succession planning, talent sourcing, employee satisfaction and retention. It also allows your HR team to glean information from the executive team as to what resources, capabilities, and skill sets will be needed to keep the company competitive.

Share key metrics.

According to a recent Harvard Business Review, a CFO has excellent insights into key business priorities that should dictate the company’s people strategy. HR teams need a lot of questions answered in order to determine a strong hiring trajectory—especially if there is an issue with retention. Key questions include:

·                     Are you trying to onboard new hires faster?

·                     Do you want to add more prospects or clients to the pipeline?

·                      Do we need to improve product?

The type and quality of talent HR recruits is essential to achieving these and other company goals.

CFOs need to advocate for all employees.

As the CFO, it is your responsibility to know what is going on at all levels of your company. This includes having the strongest and most reliable HR staff possible. Most advocacy needs or concerns are routed through HR, and if they are the source of the problem, that doesn’t bode well for healthy communication and effectiveness. When the right staff are in place, focus should then turn to employee career development. This requires thinking “long term,” as there is often no immediate return on investment (ROI), but the long-term investment is immeasurable. As the CFO, advocating for career development and giving weight to the initiative will help get executive buy-in.

According to a 2014 Ernst and Young report, high-performing companies feature a strong CFO and HR connection. Cultivating this relationship will improve working relationships and lead to significant improvement in workforce productivity and company earnings.

PrideStaff Financial is a 5-star diamond award recruiting firm. Our staffing consultants can help your business with its strategic planning goals. Contact us today to learn more.