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The CFO role has become bigger than ever before, with 82% of the finance honchos noting that they have taken on additional responsibilities, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG); mergers and acquisitions (M&A); and corporate development duties in the past two years, according to a recent survey by Egon Zehnder.
“CFOs have also undertaken risk management duties and co-leadership of the enterprise with the CEO, among other mandates, making the role truly multifunctional. Looking to the future, the trend of increased responsibilities will only continue,” according to a survey by . When asked about the competencies that will matter most over the next five years for the role, CFOs ranked driving change, shaping strategy, and developing talent as the top ones. In particular, female CFOs were adamant about driving change—57% named this the key competency compared to 40% of male CFOs.
CFOs were also clear about areas they would like to see come off their remit. A majority of CFOs in the Services sector (57%) would like to exclude HR/talent from their responsibilities, while IT is what many CFOs in Financial Services (57%) would opt out of.
Work-life balanceOnly one-fifth of CFOs say their work-life balance is poor.
Despite their expanding workload and changes in the role, most CFOs in the survey rated their work-life balance as “OK” (51%) or good (29%). Chalk up adaptability and master scheduling to their superpowers. “My calendar is available to all of my reports, and I make sure to block off personal time. This helps both scheduling and influences them to take personal time as well,” a CFO shared.
From an industry perspective, Services CFOs report the best work-life balance, with 41% rating it “good,” compared to only 25% of Consumer CFOs.
Finding talent
Two-fifths of CFOs say it’s harder to attract top financial talent today than it was two years ago.
Layoffs, tough labour markets, increase in demands of roles, and skills gaps are some of the major reasons behind this struggle for talent, according to CFOs. But the challenge to attract financial talent varies by region. In the Middle East, 56% of CFOs believe it has become harder to attract top financial talent. In Latin America, CFOs are split. While there has been no difference in the past two years for 42% of them, 44% of CFOs report it has become harder.
There are also some variances by industry. Half of Industrial Companies and 46% of Consumer Companies note it’s harder to source financial talent today, while 34% of Services and 31% of Financial Services CFOs say it’s easier.
New opportunities
Forty-three percent of CFOs are being approached for new opportunities more often, but their main motivations for considering a new role aren’t driven by a larger company (neither by sales nor market capitalization) or higher compensation. CFOs who reported being approached for new roles more often are being sought after every few months (47%), monthly (28%), and even weekly (8%). Financial Services was the only industry where CFOs report being approached less often than every few months for new CFO opportunities.
Looking at gender, women report being approached a lot more often (17%) when compared to men (12%), suggesting that companies have been taking steps to attract gender-diverse CFOs.
With growing competition for CFO talent, what sets a company apart, according to 60% of respondents, is a high-quality executive team as well as growth prospects (for 45% of respondents). The focus on who they’ll work with over company size and revenue signals that companies that are more intentional about executive development are better positioned to attract top talent than those that aren’t. “How important it is that the CFO is VERY close to all other C-suite positions given the increased role’s complexity. The CFO is the best person to have the overview of the full value chain,” noted the CFO of a listed transportation company.
Career aspirations
Most CFOs aspire to be CEOs—either right now or in the future. But a few steps may remain to get there.
The survey found that 60% of CFOs want to be chief executives, and 7 in 10 say they are ready to become CEO now. Said the CFO of a public company: “Since all business decisions ultimately have a financial implication for the organisation, the CFO’s role gives an opportunity of a 360-degree view of the business, and hence is the most logical role to ultimately grow into the CEO’s role.”
CFOs who also serve as non-executive directors on boards (80%) were more likely to believe they are ready to be CEO now, compared to 67% of non-NEDs, and multi-time CFOs (77%) were more likely to say they are ready now than first-time CFOs (67%). Some industries also have CFOs who feel more ready for the role than others. A little over half of Technology and Communications CFOs (55%) say they are ready to be CEO now compared to 82% of Healthcare and Pharmaceutical
CFOs, who are ready to take the reins immediately. The level of readiness also varies depending on ownership structure: 74% of public company CFOs feel ready now (the number is even higher for companies in the $6-10B revenue range), compared to only 56% of CFOs of family-owned companies.
But there are some hurdles to the top post. Nearly half (46%) of CFOs surveyed say networking and visibility is the biggest barrier to them becoming CEO, followed by customer and market knowledge and operational expertise.
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