Press Releases

Survey Finds Financial Leaders More Involved in HR, IT

TORONTO, Aug. 2, 2018 /CNW/ - Financial leaders continue breaking the mold and expanding their influence throughout their organizations. In a Robert Half Management Resources survey, finance executives in Canada most frequently reported their roles have grown over the past three years to include more human resources (37 per cent) and information technology (36 per cent) efforts.

Financial leaders were asked, "In which one of the following areas outside of traditional accounting and finance responsibilities, if any, has your role expanded most over the past three years?" Their responses:

"With business demands, budgets and revenue sources evolving, firms increasingly look to their financial leaders for strategic analysis and comprehensive guidance," said David King, president of Robert Half Management Resources. "Company-wide initiatives ranging from benefits programs, compliance and recruitment to IT investment, systems implementation and cybersecurity rely on the expertise of financial executives to measure the fiscal impact of shifting industry trends and identify opportunities for growth across all areas of the organization."

For additional insights on staffing strategies financial executives employ, see The Labour Model for Finance in the Digital Age from Robert Half and Protiviti.

Robert Half Management Resources highlighted five skills today's financial executives need:

1. Leadership: Developing and retaining a talented team are top priorities for accounting and finance managers. Executives must excel in guiding their team, including managing and motivating a multigenerational workforce.
2. Collaboration: As their roles expand into nontraditional areas, financial executives can only succeed if they work well with colleagues in other departments.
3. Communication: Financial leaders must be comfortable sharing information with diverse audiences, from entry-level staff to the CEO and board of directors. Strong communication skills stopped being a nice-to-have long ago.
4. Technological aptitude: Executives don't need to know all the tricks of new tools, but they should have an innate curiosity about them and a short learning curve.
5. Change management: Change is scary, particularly when it comes to work. Leaders need to be able to share news, good and bad, and what it means for their teams.

About the Research
The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources and conducted online by an independent research firm. It is based on responses from more than 270 finance leaders from companies in Canada.

About Robert Half Management Resources
Robert Half Management Resources is the premier provider of senior-level finance, accounting and business systems professionals for companies' project and interim staffing needs. Customizing its approach for each organization, Robert Half Management Resources can provide a single consultant, a financial team or full-service consulting services, delivered through Protiviti, a Robert Half subsidiary. With more than 140 locations worldwide, Robert Half Management Resources works with companies of all sizes, including more than half of the top 100 companies from the FORTUNE 500^®. Visit roberthalf.ca/management-resources for more information.

SOURCE Robert Half Canada