This advice first appeared in Raconteur’s Beyond the Balance Sheet newsletter, an agony aunt for CFOs. Sign up here to receive it weekly.
Every week, finance executives write to Beyond the Balance Sheet, Raconteur’s CFO agony aunt, seeking practical guidance on the challenges they face. Lately, a recurring theme has emerged: how can CFOs attract, retain, and manage top talent while protecting culture and driving performance? Here, we’ve compiled expert insights and peer advice on navigating people, performance and culture.
How do I handle toxic talent?
One of my senior analysts is technically brilliant but constantly undermines others, dominates meetings and kills team morale. Losing them would hurt, but keeping them hurts too. How do I handle someone who delivers results but damages culture?
In situations like this, the priority is to protect both performance and culture. Start by having a direct one-to-one conversation to understand the root cause of the behaviour – whether it’s frustration, a lack of self-awareness or something else. Recognise their technical contribution, but make clear how their conduct undermines collaboration and impacts the whole team’s effectiveness.
I refer to these people as the toxic rock star of an organisation. They bring in all the money and do great work, but culturally are incredibly challenging.
Consider the stories you are telling as a business. If this person is being constantly celebrated for their results then the message being communicated to the workforce is that attitude and behaviour doesn’t matter.
Another approach is to review performance frameworks. Consider how people get promoted or compensated to ensure the firm is not solely rewarding technical brilliance. Methods of recognition need to clearly acknowledge not just what people do but the way in which they do it.
How can I be a critical friend?
As the role of finance continues to evolve, successful business partnering isn’t just about alignment, it’s about challenge. It’s important to become a critical friend: confident enough to ask tough questions, yet skilled enough to preserve trust and collaboration. What leadership traits should I be cultivating to be an effective partner today?
For me, personally, it comes down to listening skills. Not just talking to different people across the company but actually hearing what they need and responding with empathy. Being a good finance leader means leading with care. It’s about helping people solve problems, not just translating the numbers.
Be on top of the key issues in the business and collaborate with other decision-makers to uncover them, resolve them and explore what opportunities there are.
Be interested in the people as well as the issues. Let others get to know you. Not everyone will like you, but if they know you to be open and honest you will build trust and respect which are critical to working together productively. You won’t get far if people are fearful of you, but you will if they trust you and value your support.
How can finance compete with big tech for talent?
Big tech offers higher salaries, flashier perks and cutting-edge projects, making it hard for non-tech firms to attract top-tier engineers, data scientists or digital experts. Finance teams need digital talent – but what can we do to compete?
There’s no doubt the competition is the fiercest it’s been yet. If organisations want to secure individuals that can genuinely transform their business, they need to cultivate a technology-friendly culture.
Moving towards flat management structures to openness and customer-centricity over rigid, hierarchical environments that are focused on command and control is one tried-and-tested approach to achieving this.
Given that innovation is born from a mix of structure, creativity and great communication, an open culture where individuals can collaborate around a table will always outperform one that’s siloed, stuffy and opaque
Premium salaries are just one aspect of a job and today’s workforce wants much more. In fact, according to our latest Salary Guide, 84% of IT and technology professionals would accept flexible working arrangements in lieu of a salary increase. More paid time off (81%) and career progression opportunities (80%) were also cited as alternatives.
For finance chiefs looking to compete for digital talent with big tech brands, it’s crucial that they promote the benefits on offer outside of pay. For medium and smaller-sized companies, offering flexibility is often more achievable, while training and growth opportunities tend to be better tailored to the individual, allowing for a more immediate and meaningful impact.
That’s where smaller businesses can get a competitive edge over big tech firms. It’s not always about offering the ‘flashiest’ perks and benefits; relevance matters far more.
How do I change people’s minds?
What do you do when you receive pushback on an idea? It feels like every time I present new concepts to the management team, I face resistance. What can I do to challenge existing processes and encourage a change in mindset among the C-suite?
The ability to question the status quo is one of the most important qualities of a CFO. This requires having an unshakeable confidence in one’s own conviction. If you show even the slightest inkling of uncertainty then someone in the room will pounce on that.
You should not underestimate the power of good communication. It also takes a significant amount of preparation to convince the board or management team to come around to an idea. You have to build common ground over time and help them understand new concepts. You also have to accept that not everybody is always going to agree
Securing buy-in from the business is a huge part of any CFO’s success. But this can be made more challenging if you don’t approach the situation with a few key things in mind. When getting push back on an idea, first try to find common ground with the other stakeholders. Are there common goals, objectives or motivations that can be agreed on before tackling some of the more difficult or nuanced topics?
Next, support your big idea with metrics to explain the ‘why’ behind the ask. A business case is only as strong as the data used to support it.
Finally, you want to avoid pulling rank. While tempting, this tactic ultimately slows down progress and reduces team buy-in.
This advice first appeared in Raconteur’s Beyond the Balance Sheet newsletter, an agony aunt for CFOs. Sign up here to receive it weekly.
Every week, finance executives write to Beyond the Balance Sheet, Raconteur's CFO agony aunt, seeking practical guidance on the challenges they face. Lately, a recurring theme has emerged: how can CFOs attract, retain, and manage top talent while protecting culture and driving performance? Here, we’ve compiled expert insights and peer advice on navigating people, performance and culture.
