The Financial Controller and CFO's Toolkit, 3rd Edition

Chapter 14Attracting and Recruiting Talent

OVERVIEW

CFOs and financial controllers need to improve their ability to recruit in order to select talented staff. This chapter explores how to become a finance team of choice, the importance of a succinct advert, the value of staying the distance in the recruiting marathon, and the importance of a successful induction.

In every workshop, I ask one question, “Who has made a recruiting decision they have lived to regret?” Every finance manager puts his or her hand up. The carnage caused is relived in their facial expressions. Why does this happen so often?

I suspect that many readers will recall instances when the interviewee has arrived and you realize, with a degree of horror, that you have not yet reviewed the CV, nor prepared enough for the interview. You where on the back foot, andthe smart interviewee was now in control, painting a picture that impressed you and hiding any issues that might have caused you concern.

Far too often, managers, when looking at their calendar, throw up their hands when they realize that they have another recruitment interview to do. It is the last thing they need at this point in time. Recruitment should be seen as the most important activity a CFO and financial controller ever does. It should be the most prepared exercise we ever do, for the following reasons:

• Recruiting properly is like putting a fence on the top of a cliff—it is better to spend 40 hours recruiting a candidate properly than ...