economic downturn, companies
are readjusting their workforce
priorities.
The preceding, of course, applies
to all workforces but is especially
relevant to the fi nance function.
As it strives to fulfi ll its increasingly
important role in supporting and
guiding the enterprise through
turbulent economic conditions,
the fi nance organization must
rethink how it attracts, retains,
develops and manages its people.
Driving High Performance Through Finance Workforce Mastery
1. A World of Opportunity: Driving
High Performance through Finance
Workforce Mastery
2. Globalization, a force that has
been shaping the political and
commercial world for decades,
has entered a new and more
complex phase.
3. It is no longer a concept exported to ensure their people continue Accenture’s High Performance
to the emerging world by the to pursue the right and ethical Finance Study
traditionally dominant economies of corporate governance activities. If How should companies respond to
the West. Now, emerging economies they are making workforce reductions this challenge? The Accenture High
have fully embraced globalization and or engaging in merger and acquisition Performance Finance Study offers
packaged it up, sending new versions activities, they now are forced more some guidance. Through this
back to the West. In this new phase than ever to make sure they have comprehensive study, Accenture
of globalization there are multiple the right talent with the right skills explores the most pressing challenges
centers of economic power and to achieve their future strategic facing finance executives around
activity—a concept Accenture objectives. And while in times of the world, how they are faring in
calls the multi-polar world. growth they may have been worried addressing these challenges, and
about their aging workforce retiring, the strategies and practices that
Even—and especially—during today’s
now they must adjust to keeping an leading organizations are employing
challenging times, the impact of the
aging workforce productive even to contribute to high performance
multi-polar world is being felt by
longer as employees stay on the job in the finance organization and
companies as they struggle to navigate
to make up for the steep losses they the enterprise at large.
the choppy waters caused by the
have incurred in their retirement
global economic downturn. In this In the most recent research effort—
savings due to the global market
environment, companies are our third—we surveyed more than
meltdown.
positioning themselves in one of three 350 finance executives in companies
ways, based on the degree to which The preceding, of course, applies representing 30 countries across
their business has been impacted by to all workforces but is especially a range of more than 20 industry
the economy: relevant to the finance function. sectors. To augment our survey
As it strives to fulfill its increasingly findings, we conducted in-depth
• Survive: Some enterprises are forced
important role in supporting and interviews with several finance
to focus primarily on short-term
guiding the enterprise through executives at other organizations
actions to manage costs, cash flow
turbulent economic conditions, to explore how they were dealing
and revenues, and to ensure survival.
the finance organization must with the challenges facing today’s
• Reposition: Armed with a rethink how it attracts, retains, finance organizations. We also tapped
strong balance sheet and healthy, develops and manages its people. specialists within Accenture for their
if reduced, revenues, other
Indeed, the speed with which the insights on high performance from
organizations are exploring ways
global market changes, the volatility roundtable discussions with hundreds
to use the downturn to strengthen
imposed by multiple currencies and of finance executives and from their
competitive advantage.
electronic exchanges, and the sheer work with finance organizations at
• Grow: The strongest companies complexity of operating on a global businesses and government entities
are actively building market share scale in countries or regions of around the globe. An important part
through mergers, acquisitions and varying degrees of development of this study focuses on the finance
international expansion, by adding place extraordinary demands on workforce, and the research has
customers and by strengthening an enterprise’s finance organization— revealed several people-related
their brand. and even more so during difficult challenges and opportunities on
economic conditions. It is the finance the road to high performance.
As part of their response to the
economic downturn, companies organization that must take the lead Since the time we conducted the
are readjusting their workforce in driving the enterprise toward most recent installment of our
priorities. With the need to reduce continuing value creation, ensuring research, much has changed in the
organizational costs, companies are that the enterprise possesses the fundamentals of the global economy.
pursuing such actions as taking a more strategies, capabilities and information However, what has not changed is the
global approach to sourcing talent and to succeed in a hypercompetitive fact that talent management is more
fundamentally redesigning processes global market even as it continues relevant than ever—especially those
to separate lower-cost transactional to control and contain costs. talent management capabilities that
activities from value-added analytical Perhaps the most important factor enable companies to adapt to varying
activities. They also are revisiting their in accomplishing this critical goal market conditions.
compliance and ethics activities is the finance workforce.
2
4. Significant gaps in For instance, respondents actually do. For example, 56 percent
a critical workforce viewed regular and meaningful of executives believed in making
Our study indicates that finance communication between employees coaching and mentoring an integral
executives are not especially and their supervisors and other part of everyone’s responsibilities,
enthusiastic about the state of their finance leaders as most critical to but only 37 percent enforce the
finance workforce. Only 9 percent maintaining a workforce capable practice. Fifty-five percent of
of finance executives surveyed were of delivering high performance. respondents believed that leaders
very satisfied with the effectiveness But such communication occurred should be proactive in building
of their organization’s finance in only 48 percent of the participating relationships at all levels of the
workforce and just one-fourth said companies. Similarly, having key organization, but only 36 percent
their finance workforce possessed finance business processes did so. Furthermore, encouraging
“deep and specialized” skills. documented and understood by innovation and providing employees
employees was deemed critical by with opportunities to share their ideas
Despite these statistics, only one- was viewed as an important part
58 percent of respondents, but only
third of finance executives said of the finance leadership role by
44 percent said they had put it into
they planned to implement new 52 percent of executives, but only
practice. Put simply, this means that
workforce programs such as leadership 38 percent said that such a culture
in over half of the companies we
development, retention, rewards/ existed within their organization.
surveyed, employees didn’t thoroughly
compensation, career development
understand their own business’s
or performance measurement in the These are significant gaps, especially
processes, and in many cases a lack
next two years. In fact, our survey when one considers that these
of documentation would thwart any
showed that many companies were practices were self-defined as
efforts to learn about them.
lagging in implementing practices important by survey respondents.
they themselves consider critical to Our survey revealed even larger Further, when we examine a second
building and sustaining a superior gaps in other areas between what tier of criticality, the gaps grow even
finance workforce (Figure 1). executives know to be important larger. For example, while nearly half
and what they and their enterprises of the respondents (49 percent)
Figure 1: Finance Workforce Practices: Top Tier in Importance versus Extent Employed
60%
Regular and meaningful communication occurs 48%
59%
A formal performance management program is in place 60%
Key processes are documented and understood 58%
44%
Industry benchmarked/competitive salaries and benefits 56%
are offered 45%
Coaching and mentoring activities are an integral part 56%
of everyone’s responsibilities 37%
Leaders proactively build relationships at all levels 55%
36%
Performance rewards tie to both individual success 53%
and enterprise profitability 44%
Finance leadership encourages innovation and provides 52%
employees with the opportunities to share ideas 38%
Training and training materials are readily available 52%
to employees when needed 43%
49%
Well-defined talent sourcing strategy is in place
16%
Financial Planning and Analysis division reports into 49%
the finance function 55%
Formal finance competency model is in place defining 48%
required skills 30%
Critical feedback is provided in real time and is an 48%
embedded part of the finance function culture 33%
Well-defined talent selection process is in place 47%
27%
Career advancement includes rotations through various 47%
roles within finance 33%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Seen as Critical Employed by Companies
3
5. believed having a well-defined talent What these figures suggest is that Just as troubling are the things that
sourcing strategy is critical to the many companies are not only ill- most finance executives do not view
finance function’s success, such a prepared to compete for talent in the as critical to high performance in the
strategy is in place in only 16 percent global market, they are also at risk of global arena (Figure 2). For example,
of the companies surveyed. Similarly, making bad hires—engaging people at a time when the pressure to keep
47 percent believed a well-defined who may not have the skills the overhead costs low is intense, we
talent selection process is equally finance function needs to support the would expect finance executives to
important, but only 27 percent had strategy and operations of the larger be more interested in using shared
such a process in place. Companies enterprise. In addition, the lack of services or centers of excellence.
also said they struggle to build rigor and process around talent After all, both of these tactics enable
competency models for the finance sourcing and selection may prevent companies to more effectively leverage
function, which may explain why organizations from fully surveying the their existing resources. In addition,
so many lacked defined sourcing pool of available talent. Indeed, our by centralizing employees via shared
or selection practices. In fact, research shows that companies are services or centers of excellence,
almost half (48 percent) of executives more likely to fill finance management a company reduces redundancy
surveyed thought having a formal positions from within the finance and duplicate roles, thereby directly
finance competency model that function (47 percent) than from reducing overhead costs. However,
defines required skills is important, outside the enterprise (38 percent), shared services and centers of
but just 30 percent had such a perhaps missing the best available excellence were viewed as critical
model in place. Further, among the talent (something that’s especially to effective finance workforce
42 percent who believed having a critical during down times, when good management by just 35 percent
formal finance model for different talent may be more plentiful due to of respondents.
career levels is critical, only 26 downsizing efforts by other
percent actually employed one. companies).
Figure 2: Finance Workforce Practices: Bottom Tier in Importance versus Extent Employed
Employee satisfaction surveys are regularly conducted 46%
and results are shared 49%
Finance management positions are often sourced from 43%
within finance 47%
Formal finance competency model is in place for different 42%
career levels 26%
Finance leadership provides employees the time necessary 40%
to complete training 37%
Individuals are encouraged to proactively seek training 40%
on new topics and technologies 33%
Formal finance training program is in place with 40%
a curriculum linked to developing required skills 25%
Role descriptions are clearly aligned with key processes 38%
28%
Creative benefits are offered based on strategic surveys 38%
of employees’ needs/desires 35%
Global and local communities of practices have been 37%
established and are effective at sharing knowledge 34%
Centers of Excellence are employed for scarce skills such 35%
as M&A work, complex deal pricing or tax strategy 40%
Finance shared services are utilized 35%
46%
Organizational charts are kept up to date and are 34%
easily accessible 42%
A knowledge management tool has been provided (such 32%
as a database for capturing and sharing intellectual assets) 20%
Finance function focuses on re-training the existing 31%
finance workforce rather than the hire/fire approach 31%
Finance management positions are often sourced from 22%
the external market with experienced professionals 38%
Finance management positions are often sourced 15%
from line management 16%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Seen as Critical Employed by Companies
4
6. Achieving mastery over organization runs. Without an Using the Accenture Talent
finance workforce challenges adequate supply of those skills, or Management Framework to guide
Indeed, most companies in our without a sufficiently high-octane discussions, the Accenture team
survey indicated they had critical level of skills, the finance engine met with finance leaders globally
shortcomings in key finance sputters, misfires, and struggles to to understand the specific talent
capabilities—not only in the finance perform at a high level. To build the challenges they faced in defining,
workforce as mentioned earlier, type of finance workforce necessary discovering, developing and deploying
but also more broadly across for the enterprise to excel in today’s talent. Issues uncovered ranged from
finance organization management, challenging global environment, an aging workforce and lack of
enterprise performance management, companies must have a highly mobility in some locations to a
finance and accounting operations, effective approach to talent skills shortage and high competition
corporate finance, and enterprise risk management, built around four for talent in others.
management. This situation could be key areas (Figure 4): defining talent
To create a common platform for
preventing finance organizations from needs, discovering talent sources,
discussing talent at a global level, a
operating at an optimal level. developing talent’s potential, and
finance competency model and talent
deploying talent strategically.
However, a subset of the companies review toolkit was developed to gather
in our survey reported having more Defining talent needs key data on the finance workforce,
advanced capabilities, on average, A truly effective finance analyze workforce trends and begin
across the five major capability workforce begins with a company to close the gap between the
areas mentioned above. We call first understanding the business organization’s existing capabilities
these organizations “finance masters,” strategy and the finance and those of finance masters. The
and the differences between masters organization’s strategy, and competency model mapped key
and non-masters are striking. For subsequently defining the talent skills and competencies to roles
example, masters were much more necessary to deliver on those in corporate, transactional and
likely than non-masters to employ strategies (beginning with a clear business unit finance.
all but one of the leading workforce understanding of the talent currently
A resulting talent management road
practices identified as critical by on hand). To get the greatest return
map provided the strategic direction
Accenture, especially (Figure 3): from human capital investments,
for the CFO to begin to create a
a company must know where it
• A formal finance competency finance workforce that could take the
has leverage—which workforces
model that defines required organization toward high performance.
and areas of the business have the
finance workforce skills. Among the elements the road map
greatest strategic impact and are
included were the following:
• Finance leadership that encourages critical to maintaining the company’s
innovation and offers employees distinctive capabilities. For most • Leadership development plan.
opportunities to express and share companies today—especially global • Plan to embed the competency
ideas. organizations grappling with the model in all talent management
challenges of the multi-polar world— practices from recruitment to
• A formal finance competency model
the finance organization has become training and performance
designed for different career levels.
a strategically important workforce management.
• The ready availability to employees and a valuable contributor to a
of training and training materials company’s growth and profitability. • Link between talent management
when needed. and enterprise performance
One example of a company that management and key performance
• A knowledge management tool that recognized the importance of the indicators.
supports the capturing and sharing finance function and its talent is
of intellectual assets. the enterprise created by the merger • Employee value proposition.
of two large companies. The CFO • Guidance for evaluating and
• Regular conducting of employee
of the newly formed entity faced a improving employee engagement.
satisfaction surveys in which
major challenge in improving both
the results are broadly shared. • Career management, including
the efficiency and effectiveness of
• Documentation and explanation career path mapping.
the new finance organization. Working
of key business processes. with Accenture, the CFO embarked • Coaching and mentoring.
In particular, masters are strongly and on an ambitious effort to define a
tightly focused on talent management. new strategy for finance, which
These organizations know that finance included developing a new global
skills are the fuel on which the finance finance talent strategy.
5
7. Figure 3: Finance Workforce Practices Extent Employed: Masters versus Non-Masters
Practices Employed by Participating Companies Masters Non-Masters
Workforce performance
Global and local communities of practices (i.e., informal networks of people with shared interests) have been 46% 34%
established and are effective at sharing knowledge
A knowledge management tool has been provided (e.g., a database for capturing and sharing intellectual assets) 42% 17%
Training and training materials are readily available to employees when needed 67% 41%
Coaching and mentoring activities are an integral part of everyone’s responsibilities 54% 37%
A formal performance management program is in place 62% 60%
Critical feedback is provided in real time and is an embedded part of the finance organization culture 54% 33%
Career advancement includes rotations through various roles within finance 42% 32%
Finance competencies
Formal finance competency model is in place to define required skills 62% 28%
Formal finance competency model is in place to define different career levels 58% 24%
Formal finance training program is in place with a curriculum linked to developing required skills 33% 25%
Finance organization structure
Finance shared services are utilized 67% 45%
Financial Planning and Analysis division reports to the finance organization 67% 55%
Centers of Excellence are employed for scarce skills such as merger and acquisition work, complex deal pricing 37% 40%
or tax strategy
Employee engagement
Industry benchmarked/competitive salaries and benefits are offered 71% 46%
Creative benefits are offered based on strategic surveys of employees’ needs/desires (flex-time, floating 58% 33%
holidays, tuition, childcare, etc.)
Employee satisfaction surveys are regularly conducted and results are shared 71% 48%
Regular and meaningful communication occurs 58% 47%
Organizational charts are kept up to date and are easily accessible 62% 40%
Leaders proactively build relationships at all levels 58% 35%
Key processes are documented and understood 67% 42%
Role descriptions are clearly aligned with key processes 50% 26%
Performance rewards tied to both individual success and enterprise profitability 58% 45%
Workforce adaptability
Individuals are encouraged to proactively seek training on new topics and technologies 62% 33%
Finance leadership encourages innovation and provides employees with the opportunities to share ideas 71% 37%
Finance organization focuses on retraining the existing finance workforce rather than the hire/fire approach 42% 29%
Finance leadership provides employees the time necessary to complete training 50% 36%
Talent management
Well-defined talent sourcing strategy is in place 42% 14%
Well-defined talent selection process is in place 54% 24%
Finance management positions are often sourced from within finance 62% 48%
Finance management positions are often sourced from line management 29% 14%
Finance management positions are often sourced from the external market with experienced professionals 50% 37%
6
8. Discovering talent sources • What attrition rate am I incurring projections allow the company
Once a company has identified (loss and shrinkage)? to make strategic decisions about
its critical talent needs, the next whether to hire new employees, enlist
• Do I understand future demand for
challenge is to consider where that contractors or outsource the work. Dan
skills (supply/demand balancing)?
talent could come from. Indeed, Hilbert, the Valero executive in charge
participants in our survey indicated For example, the Texas-based of the project feels, “For the first time,
one of the biggest opportunities oil-refining giant Valero Energy talent pipelines can now be developed
presented by globalization is access Corporation won Workforce years in advance to meet specific
to a broader base of skilled workers Management magazine’s award for future talent needs. It’s pretty
at competitive costs. In Accenture’s innovation in 2006 for developing revolutionary stuff.”
experience, leading companies one of the first talent supply chains.1
This capability has become essential in
typically use a supply chain approach Beginning in 2002, Valero used the
a multi-polar world, as organizations
to talent sourcing, asking questions chain to reduce the time required to
everywhere need to understand global
such as: fill an open position from 120 days
talent markets, how to access new
to 40 days, and to reduce the cost
• What talent do we have (inventory)? talent and where they should consider
per hire from $12,000 to $2,300.
alternative talent sourcing strategies.
• What sources of talent supply are This improvement came while the
To maintain a future flow of talent
available? company was growing phenomenally,
and to inculcate the adaptability
from 2,000 employees in 2000 to
• Should I push inventory on my necessary to respond to changing
about 22,000 by 2006, with annual
suppliers (contingent sources of market conditions, this understanding
revenues of $75 billion.
talent)? must become second nature for
The most significant results, however, organizations in pursuit of high
• Where should my people be located
were strategic. The talent supply performance.
(warehousing)?
chain now enables Valero to forecast
• Can I source from lower-cost demand for talent three years out, at
locations? the division and job-title level. These
Figure 4: A Strategic Approach to Finance Talent Management
Talent Mindset
Define your
talent needs
Deploy your
Measure Discover
talent—right your sources
place, right and align of talent
time
Develop your
talent potential
Talent Culture
7
9. Developing talent’s potential comprehension to mastery) that expanded to cover employees in 84
A capability for developing talent each employee should strive for countries; and more than 100,000
involves ensuring that finance in relevant competency areas certificates have been awarded to
employees continually acquire new and aligned each role to training more than 62,000 active users.
skills and capabilities and prepare opportunities. Ultimately, the finance
Deploying talent strategically
to take on new responsibilities. It organization believes the new career
Companies with leading capabilities
establishes a central link between development support solution may
create the best possible match
the development of employees’ drive higher employee satisfaction,
between their employees’ talents
talents and the accomplishment as well as encourage greater use of
and aspirations and the needs of the
of the organization’s purpose and other existing career development
business—both in terms of day-to-day
strategy. In that way, employee assets (such as training courses),
activities and in the longer term. Such
development is both ongoing and improve performance of employees
enterprises show imagination in giving
strategic. Although an employee by clearly articulating and aligning
their people opportunities to move
development capability embraces expectations, and lead to higher
within the organization, discovering
specific educational or training retention, because employees will
new capabilities within themselves
initiatives, leading companies achieve have access to information that
and gaining insights from previously
much of their finance employees’ provides greater clarity on career
unfamiliar parts of the business.
essential development simply as part opportunities and development
Leaders also are adept at enabling
of their daily work, through work roles within the finance organization.
the sharing of knowledge and best
and special assignments, and through
Siemens also has developed mastery practices, and in making their people
relationships with others.
in developing the potential of its aware of how they can use their
For example, a US-based financial talent. Working with Accenture, talents to best improve the
institution set out to create a the company created a sustainable organization’s performance.
comprehensive career development training solution that allows it
For example, a global healthcare
support program that would address to embed, retain and increase
company has 1,200 finance people
employee demands for greater the competencies of its finance
around the world, all of whom report
transparency and clarification workforce in a rapidly changing
to the finance organization but are
of role expectations and career business environment. The new
assigned to support different business
development opportunities. As a first training approach, supported by
units or functions. This approach
step, the bank’s talent management Web-based training technology,
enables finance to more effectively
group and Accenture conducted a covers six main training areas:
support the business while also
series of focus groups with senior organization compliance and
allowing its finance professionals
leaders and key finance professionals. management; accounting; reporting;
a chance to develop their skills and
These focus groups enabled the team controlling; taxes; and treasury.
expertise along a well-defined career
to identify the knowledge, abilities It is targeted to be used by more
path. “If somebody is sitting out in
and backgrounds of those employees than 100,000 Siemens employees
Chile, for example,” explains a finance
who were successfully performing worldwide, and has helped Siemens
executive at this company, “he’s the
each finance role. With Accenture’s keep finance employees continually up
finance manager there, making sure
help, the bank then used these to date in the face of constant change.
the business in Chile is very successful.
characteristics to establish a The program has also allowed Siemens
This is his primary measure of success.
robust competency model and to consolidate finance knowledge from
However, he’s [also] part of the finance
career development architecture around the organization into one set
organization—his career, his future, his
for finance employees. of training programs, as well as to
home is in finance—and the standards
define specific curricula appropriate
With the new finance competency and processes he works with are set
for each group in the finance
model in place, Accenture helped by me and the finance leadership
organization. Employees benefit by
the bank to translate key elements team.” This, according to the finance
gaining access to Web-based training
of the model into a “front-end” career executive, addresses one of his
and a consistent knowledge base with
development support tool. This tool greatest challenges—getting everyone
content updated quarterly—a vast
served as an online reference source in a highly decentralized organization
improvement over the earlier time-
for finance employees, allowing them moving in the same direction without
consuming classroom training with
to research information pertaining tampering with well-established and
inconsistent and partly outdated
to their role or any other role in the effective reporting relationships—while
content. The new training program
organization. For example, the new giving the employee the ability to
has been in place for 33 months (as
model identified the work experiences, move laterally or vertically within the
of February 2009). During that time,
education and certifications that are organization in pursuit of career
the course catalog has grown to 261
prerequisites for success in particular development.
hours of training in 150 courses for
roles. Similarly, the model defined
73 training units; the program has
levels of proficiency (from basic 8
10. Driving high performance with Encouragingly, a group of leading
a superior finance workforce companies have already demonstrated
Mastery of finance workforce mastery of the most significant
management issues is much more finance workforce challenges and
than a “nice-to-have.” Our survey opportunities. These masters have
results, combined with Accenture’s deeper skills in several key aspects
experience with leading companies of workforce management and in
around the world, indicate that the particular lead the way when it comes
quality, productivity, and structure to talent management. Our research
of the finance workforce play a vital study and the insights gained from
role in the finance function’s ability Accenture’s extensive consulting
to achieve its objectives and create experience reveal a simple yet
value for the larger enterprise. compelling pattern: Masters identify
Achieving objectives and creating the talent they need to pursue their
value are among the most important strategies, innovate in the sourcing
cornerstones of high performance. of that talent, and then develop and
deploy talent in alignment with their
However, many finance organizations most important business goals. This
in pursuit of high performance proven approach enables finance
are encountering an increasingly masters to avoid jettisoning the
challenging environment. In particular, wrong staff in the name of cost
the forces of globalization have given cutting (thus compromising their
rise to aggressive new competitors, competitive position), get the best
have added complexity to the out of every resource they have
successful management of global access to, and create the kind of
organizations, and have opened workforce necessary to accelerate
up new talent markets and sourcing the achievement of high performance
models to navigate. Add to that the when economic conditions ultimately
challenges associated with a global improve.
economic downturn, and it is
not surprising that many finance
executives struggle to make the
most of this new world.
Indeed, our research shows that
finance executives are aware they
face several important workforce-
related challenges and opportunities,
yet in many cases they are not taking
the actions they should to lead their
people to the highest possible levels
of performance. For example, when
it comes to improving communication,
documenting and teaching key
business processes, mentoring
and building relationships, and
encouraging innovation, executives
participating in our research were
much more likely to recognize the
need than to be doing anything about
the problem. The same was true of
having well defined talent sourcing
and selection strategies, considered
by many to be basic capabilities for
building a superior finance workforce.
9