As a recruiter, I spend a considerable portion of my week on the phone connecting with the construction sector’s best Accounting and Finance talent, in hopes of pairing them with organizations I work with.
When I’m talking with these bright and hardworking professionals about the prospect of switching jobs, I’ve noticed a strong majority of them have the same items on their wish lists.
1. They Want to be Strategic Business Partners
The day-to-day workload of an accounting and finance professional is chock-full of reporting. Compiling reports and crunching numbers is a large component of the job, but the talent I talk to don’t want their responsibilities to end with the completion of a report.
They’re looking for opportunities that require them to build the narrative of the report by working as a strategic partner to the C-suite. Sure, the numbers are important, but by pulling out the insights and driving the business strategy they inform, talent can showcase their value to their organizations.
By highlighting the ways in which senior level accounting and finance professionals can become strategic partners with your C-Suite, you’ll expand the talent pool for your job opening.
2. An Evolving Job Description
Personal growth is a term that gets flung around quite a bit in the executive search world, but its meaning can be pretty vague. For the talent I speak with, personal growth means an evolving role. They are interested in opportunities where the core responsibilities and competencies on Day 1 are different than those of Day 365.
Role stagnation is a big turnoff for forward-thinking accounting and finance talent. By providing a blueprint for how they can expect to grow their role over time, your organization will have a much better chance of capturing their interest in joining your team.
3. Insight into Other Functions
Nearly every senior candidate I speak with tells me they want to avoid being siloed in their next role. It’s a common pain point in the industry, as in many organizations the finance and accounting departments don’t get much access, let alone input, into other areas of the company.
If you’re hoping to attract top talent, you’ll want to ensure candidates won’t be siloed at your company. They want to provide input into other functions such as risk, compliance, HR, and operations. Having your finance teams collaborating with these functions will give them greater enjoyment for their role, and will also provide value to your organization.
By fostering more collaboration, the functional areas will learn to work more efficiently and build a greater understanding of the work and value the other departments provide for the company.
