The market is in a period of uncertainty.
With a predicted recession from Q4 2022, according to the Bank of England, lasting for the next five quarters, and the continued skills shortage that grips the UK, more than ever organisations are looking to their finance teams to help them navigate the next few years in international trade.
I have, therefore, identified the three critical drivers in building a strong and flexible finance team today.
Identify Finance Leaders with Wider Capability
The first challenge is making sure your team is led by a finance director, not only savvy in dealing with international finance but flexible, with versatile communication skills and leads with empathy.
Pre-pandemic, empathy was often seen as the lesser of leadership character traits, something that was a ‘nice to have’ when hiring team leaders.
However, the pandemic caused empathy to take on a critical role in company culture according to an article by the World Economic Forum, due to employee burnout and isolation.
Leaders had to become better communicators. Video calling allowed leaders to ‘check in’ with their team and manage their wellbeing more often. The effects of the pandemic on mental health meant that leaders needed to be more empathetic and trusting of their employees, giving them the freedom and flexibility to get the job done on time, no matter where or when. This strengthened relationships and improved employee wellbeing at such an uncertain time.
These skills are needed now more than ever. Employees are demanding the same freedom and flexibility and are happy to explore other opportunities if their current company culture hasn’t adapted.
As a specialist accounting and finance recruitment agency, Paul Card Recruitment has helped many business leaders to identify and appoint the right finance directors over the years. We have seen excellent results with i3 profiling, a tool that we use with retained clients to ensure the right appointment is made. i3 profiling is unique to each individual and helps to identify natural ability, ensuring you find the right leader who possesses the leadership traits that are now necessary.
Finding Finance Talent with Language Skills: A Driver of International Trade
This brings us on to the second challenge, finding candidates with the language skills necessary for international trade.
Research published by Aston Business School in 2021 showed the impact of language skills on the success of international trade, that they are a “key driver for boosting exports for UK SMEs”. The research revealed that SMEs are 30% more successful in exporting, when they make use of language skills in their workforce.
However, clients have often voiced concerns about a shortage of accounting and finance professionals with the required language skills in the North East.
Finding candidates with both is becoming increasingly difficult, and you can spend a significant amount of time and money looking in the wrong places.
You may have heard the phrase “hire for attitude, train for skills”. Well, this is something I have begun to apply to language skills. Some of our clients have stressed the importance of language capabilities and are happy to provide training for the accounting skills for mid to lower-level roles.
This significantly widens the talent pool, and this is where an experienced, specialist recruiter can help you. We have an extensive database of finance professionals, as well as connections with local training providers, colleges and universities with many students studying foreign languages or international students studying finance. We then help you in identifying candidates with the language skills but also the traits and skills to adapt to a finance role.
Build and Develop Your Talent Pool Ahead of Time
Ensuring you have a pipeline of talented finance candidates who are ready to step into your organisation is key to enduring the next few years.
According to a 2022 report by Korn Ferry, candidates have been seen to accept lower pay offers, if the company has a strong brand and ethos.
That isn’t to say you shouldn’t offer competitive salaries, but it may be time to re-examine your employer brand and employee value proposition.
An employee value proposition (EVP) is a part of employer branding related to how companies attract skilled professionals, it is your offering to your employees as to what is ‘in it for them’ if they join your company.
Re-imagining your EVP to attract today’s candidates will be a game-changer for the future, however, current trends in recruitment show that candidates’ values have shifted. Flexibility, work-life balance and diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) are now essential to embed into your EVP.
Firstly, define your ideal employee persona. What are they looking for? You could even interview your current staff on what they value and ask for their feedback on your current EVP. Then begin to craft your EVP statement, to share and promote across your website and social media, demonstrating how you live those values.
Of course, the easiest way to build and enhance your EVP, is with the assistance of the right specialist recruitment company. With a deep knowledge of your industry, your recruitment team will give you a behind-the-scenes insight into your ideal candidates and their needs, as well as allowing you to access their extensive database of finance and accounting professionals.
We have been connecting finance and accounting professionals with the best companies in the North East for many years, feel free to give myself or the Paul Card Recruitment team a call today and see how we can help you build a resilient and reliable finance team.
Paul Card
Managing Director