CHIEF VALUE OFFICER – THE IMPORTANT EVOLUTION OF THE CFO | 3. DEVELOPING THE RELEVANT SKILL SETS
‘I think the CFO of the future if they are going to be a true value creator – are going to see themselves as an executive in the business, not as the “chief bean counter”’. CFO in Australia
3. Developing the
relevant skill sets
3.1 The imperative of developing the necessary skills The role of the CFO is one that is continually evolving. New skills are required, but older skills can afford to be ‘unlearned’. What is important is that there is a cadre of individuals with the relevant skills both for present and for the future. Historically, most CFOs will have followed one of two routes through the profession. Either they have progressed through the finance function of organisations to a financial controller / finance director role before moving onto their first CFO role, or they have followed a route through practice to then assume a CFO role. As has been demonstrated in this report, there is a potential skill ‘jump’ between the last roles in these pathways and the CFO role. One CFO likened the progression through the finance function to a triangle of roles, noting, ‘that triangle has shrunk at the bottom because of automation and technology. You can select people from the bottom to move them up and then move them up [again]. That can still happen. However, you are drawing from a smaller pool’. In several roundtables the discussion turned to the relevance of a CFO-specific, or more advanced, certification in the career progression of a finance professional. While this did not have uniform support, among many there was an agreement that such a certification could offer support in developing a range of relevant skills that currently stand outside the requirements of the core professional qualification and could consolidate a range of currently available continuing education opportunities for example, covering sustainability, non-financial reporting, technology and data. It could also reinforce the development of the interpersonal skills necessary for career progression.
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