Hard-working, proactive, collaborative, adaptive, ethical and credible all make the list of personal characteristics shared by successful CFOs, says recruiting experts Hays Accountancy & Finance.
According to a survey of 500 CFOs, conducted for the recruiter’s ‘DNA of a CFO’ report, two-thirds (66%) of CFOs said being hard-working has aided their career success.
This was followed by a proactive nature (63%), collaborative (59%), adaptive (57%), ethical (55%) credible (50%), goal focussed (47%) and confident (45%).
“Finance teams traditionally have heavy workloads and lots of deadlines to meet, which places a great deal of importance on the value of hard work,” says Lynne Roeder, Regional Director of Hays Accountancy & Finance.
“We frequently see board directors and non-executive directors including an appetite and capacity for hard work in their selection criteria when recruiting their next CFO. A board will turn to their CFO to be a trusted adviser, someone that helps the organisation create a ‘no surprises’ environment and who can prioritise opportunity and mitigate risk.
“For any aspiring CFO, demonstrating that you combine talent and expertise with a great work ethic can help you stand out from your competition.”
When it comes to career development, 65% of CFOs said they have recently attended a networking event.
“CFOs appear to value being able to share their thoughts and concerns with other finance leaders, and learn from them,” says Lynne. “Sounding boards are very helpful to them.
“But only 28% are using social media sites for career development. This is despite the fact that LinkedIn groups, in particular, can be an excellent way to share industry knowledge and best practice.
“This will be, in part, down to not finding the time due to a heavy work schedule. However, we believe that the use of social media by CFOs will change significantly in the future. You only have to look at the appetite from the next generation to see how technology will play its part in helping CFOs of the future share information.”
Reassuringly, the majority the CFOs in the Hays survey are generally happy with their role since most would either like to stay in their current post or take on a bigger finance job, such as CFO of a larger organisation. An ambitious 28% have their sights set on making Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Managing Director or General Manager, while 5% dream of starting their own business. 29% already sit on the board.
Encouragingly, over three quarters (76%) say that if they had their time all over again, they would still choose to become CFOs.
