As the global financial tsunami is affecting every industry, it is no exception for finance professionals to meet the challenges ahead in recruitment and talent retention.
Rising Importance of CFOs
In the ACCA Managing Human Capital Conference Series 2009 "The high performance finance professional – global challenges and opportunities", speakers representing the top management in finance and human resources shared insights on the important roles of finance professionals in the current economy.
According to the research conducted by ACCA on the CFO's new environment in China and Hong Kong, top management of the finance and accounting industry believes that the roles of the CFOs and the finance function are changing as a result of the global financial tsunami. The research has surveyed a total of 256 respondents from China and Hong Kong, most of whom are CFOs, financial controllers, directors of finance, and chief accountants. They think that CFO's role in their corporations is more important now compared with one year earlier.
From Crisis to Opportunity
The research shows that the finance function's approach to the financial crisis is to focus on optimization of cash, treasury and financial management, and on cost-cutting. Tony Osude, Head of Professional Development of ACCA, comments in the conference that the financial crisis has given opportunities for the developments of CFOs. They are taking more active management roles in risk identification and management, capital expenditure decisions, and overhead cost reduction initiatives.
Research results indicate that CFOs are more involved in the development of corporate strategy and the respondents said that the top areas that demanded CFOs' attention and time are managing costs, managing cash flow, contribution to strategic decision-making, and managing operational and strategic risk.
Preparation for Good Times
These finance and accounting professionals recognize the need for continuing training in order to equip them with skills and expertise to meet challenges ahead of the global recession. The areas to be given top priority in training in Hong Kong in the next 12 months are risk management, technical finance and accounting matters, and coaching and mentoring.
Darwin Li, Vice President, Finance, People Resource & Governance of McDonald's Restaurants (HK) Ltd, said in the conference that employee engagement is essential even during poor economy. "Talent is an asset that yields return in the long term. Investment in staff will in turn give benefits to the company." Hence, to prepare for the good times ahead, corporations should consider not to put too much pressure on training budget.
Pictures provided by: ACCA
Updated: July 2009
