The Great Resignation is here - and CFOs should be worried
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
This is the channel "Trends in Finance and Accounting" which has more than 118,000 subscribers! Click "Subscribe" to receive a notification and an e-mail when I publish new articles on this channel every Thursday and the occasional Saturday.
To follow my entrepreneur journey you can head over to my Instagram account.
If you want shorter snippets of the future of finance and accounting then check out my Twitter account.
We're entering what could quite likely be the most significant labor shortage in living memory. Multifaceted crises
People make companies work
Businesses don't function without people. In the past, this would have seemed so obvious that it might be considered tautological, but that is no longer the case. In 2021, with digital transformation at full pelt and automation changing the nature of work, many business leaders seem to have forgotten that people are the only asset that truly matters.
When those people are suddenly in short supply, recruitment and retention become existential threats to businesses. The hospitality sector is already experiencing this both acutely and severely, with a lack of staff making it impossible for many venues to even open their doors.
'White collar' industries could yet face risk on the same scale. The pandemic (which, it should be remembered, is still very much ongoing) not only shut down economies - it also caused a dramatic shift in priorities for individuals in every walk of life. Suddenly careers, commutes, and 40 hours a week working for someone else appear to be far less appealing options to millions of people.
We need to tell better stories
The Great Resignation should at the very least be a wake-up call to business leaders. We must all take our share of responsibility for failing to create environments in which people want to work, on mutually agreeable terms, and in the service of a shared vision. A mass loss of faith in employment says far more about us and the way we run our businesses than it does about the workforce.
We need, therefore, to reset our priorities. We need to think again about the principles on which we build our organizations, and on the stories, we tell about them.
CFOs should be at the heart of this effort. I firmly believe that the Finance Function should be in the driving seat of business development and at the heart of the modern business - in fact, I've written thousands of words about exactly this. If we are to be worthy of that position, CFOs need to understand the operational importance of labor supply, and the resources and intellectual work required in order to build sustainably staffed organizations.
I think digital transformation is at the heart of this effort. Automation and associated technologies are already radically changing the working lives of Finance professionals, and this shift represents an opportunity to rethink the way our organizations work. Technology should be put in the service of people, and we should all share the benefits. In terms of the Finance Function, that involves freeing people from the burden of technical or repetitive accounting tasks and giving them time and space to move further up the value chain through business partnering. Scale this idea up to an organization- or industry-wide level and perhaps we could foster a new understanding of what work might entail.
Do this today
Talent, recruitment, and retention are not "just" the domain of HR. Every C-level executive should have talent at the very top of their list of priorities and at the forefront of their minds.
CFOs are no different - in fact, as we've seen, I think they have an absolutely crucial role to play. Today, book some time with your counterpart in HR for a discussion about how you can align your efforts. Begin conversations with all of the relevant parties about the 'brand story' that your company is presenting to candidates and to existing talent. And finally, consider speaking to your marketing colleagues about leveraging the social presences of your existing employees. I'm (clearly) a firm believer in the power of LinkedIn, and it has clear benefits for recruitment. Posts and engagement from your current employees can help to create a 'halo effect' that builds brand sentiment and attracts candidates.
What are you doing to face the Great Resignation? Let me know in the comments.
This was the sixth article in my latest series "Beyond Finance" and you can read the previous article(s) below.
If you didn't get a chance yet then take some time to catch up on my latest article series "Changing perspectives on Finance". You can find all seven articles below.
Recommended by LinkedIn
If you want to learn about the changes that are happening in Finance and Accounting these years then I have a few recent articles for you that you might find relevant. Check them out below!
You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box” where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the Finance Business Partner Forum which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community where we will continue to discuss this topic.
All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders" (the last article in the series about our new capability model)
Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering? (part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive on the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)
Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset (part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)
From Business Partner To Working Within The Business (part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)
Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation? (part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)
How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight (part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)
Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder and a partner at the Business Partnering Institute and owner of the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn with more than 10,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company Maersk. I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner” and a long-time Finance Blogger on LinkedIn with 65.000+ followers and 140.000+ subscribers to my blog. Recently I became an advisory board member at Born Capital to help identify and grow the next big thing in #CFOTech.
Finance Professional | Business Partner | Website Developer | Chartered Accountant | Strategic Business Partner | Data Analysis
3yI really liked this article and wonder if the overall arching reason for the great resignation is as you said a shift in perspective and priorities (what is now deemed important) and concept of feeling valued.
Audit Project Manager
3yI hope more CFO's read this and take it to heart!
I help entrepreneurs improve cash flow💰 and grow their businesses by providing financial strategy advice and accounting services 💻
3y“The great resignation” always surprises me, because I come from a country with. 35% unemployment rate. It’s definitely a problem that needs to be resolved
Director - LMS Advisory, Advising SME's on Growth, Strategic Planning, Maximising Profit & Cashflow. Financial enabler. AI/Tech enthusiast | LMS | KeepMyBooks | WihseFP |Cerebiz |
3yEvery business (no exceptions) should be working on making their workplace a better place to work than before the pandemic. You said it perfectly Anders Liu-Lindberg , peoples priorities have changed. Stay relevant, embrace flexibility, and don't regress to bad work habits. Provide opportunities for work with purpose.
Business Contracts Administration, 🐾Foster Parent🐾 & Long Island Sound⛵️Sailor
3yIs it too little, too late? 🕰 Now, biz is worried about finding / keeping good employees..after years of the opposite?! It takes time to rebuild trust. It takes seconds to destroy it. There is no loyalty. So what came 1st? The chicken 🐣 or the egg?