CFOs: It is Time to Discover the Art of Human Capital Optimization

CFOs need to own optimizing human capital in Finance. How do CFOs, acquire, motivate, and collaborate with HR leaders to offer The Right Talent and Professional Development tools and programs to create and maintain a team of “A” players in the Office of the CFO? According to several hundred Finance Leaders in 8 cities across the country from Washington DC to Newport Beach, California who recently attended CFO Roundtables powered by the CFO Alliance and Oracle:

• Define the skills your Finance team needs now and in the future to be successful.

• Understand that the “right” talent in Finance is changing
  • Recruit team members with soft skills
    • Influencing and communicating
  • Recruit and develop specific expertise in the areas of technology and analytics.

• Collaborate with HR to perform an internal skills assessment of your Finance team and identify where skills gaps exist.
• Collaborate with HR to determine the best way to prioritize and address skills gaps
  • Hire vs. investments in existing employees.

• Structure the Finance Team to support Sales, Marketing, and HR
  • Internal Internships
    • Consider loaning a Finance team member to HR, Marketing and/or Sales.
    • Offer to take on an internal intern from HR, Marketing, and/or Sales.
  • Help each Finance team member define his or her path
    • Leverage online educational platforms to identify and close skills gaps.

• Collaborate with HR to define a company career path for each team member and proactively manage progress.
• Focus on effectively managing across generations.