Global venture capital funding in the first half of 2021 shattered records as more than $288 billion was invested worldwide, Crunchbase numbers show. That’s up by just under $110 billion compared to the previous half-year record that was just set in the second half of 2020.

A greater number of those venture-backed companies have gone public valued above $10 billion so far this year — just half-way in — than in all of 2020. 

Read the full article at: news.crunchbase.com

Venture capital money is flooding the human resources space as employers seek new ways to recruit, hire and retain their workforces.

Human resource technologies — which can run the gamut from background checks to benefits and everything in between — already has seen nearly $3.6 billion in venture funding for 260 deals this year, according to Crunchbase data. That dollar amount already surpasses all of last year, which witnessed not even $2.2 billion invested in 500 funding deals.

Read the full article at: news.crunchbase.com

Acquiring the right talent or obtaining the correct career move can be a little arduous and daunting method for anyone. Moreover, when you work in a high-profile industry or sector and are looking for a unique set of specialist skills, the process becomes even more difficult. 

Hiring new workers can be a time-consuming and costly process for companies, making significant resources but rarely provides any guarantees. 

Moreover, employers understand completely the importance of top talent, who can accelerate their company forward and increase profits. On the other hand, the Human Resource department faces a challenging task in ensuring a steady flow of talent into the business while also hiring individuals who are suitable for the job and culture of the organization. 

Read the full article at: www.hrcsuite.com

Despite a tumultuous 2020, a recent survey of CFOs conducted by AppZen showed that the majority have strong feelings of optimism about the future. Business leaders are confident that growth is on the horizon, mainly driven by the adoption of new technologies in their organisations. The survey of over 200 CFOs, senior finance executives and CEOs revealed that automated solutions will be prioritised by finance leaders, to modernise procedures as they embrace accelerated digitalisation. Respondents are also valuing tech-savvy recruits over those with only traditional accounting and finance skills.

Digitalisation and the modern CFO

The global pandemic has undoubtedly amplified the need for digital transformation. Increasingly, for new technologies to be implemented, the modern CFO must be involved in decision-making from the start, especially when evaluating digital solutions. The changing role of the CFO was illustrated by the survey results, which showed that CFOs are now trailblazing ahead of CEOs and CIOs, championing digital transformation projects not only in finance departments but company-wide.

Read the full article at: www.financedigest.com

The chief financial officer (CFO) plays a critical role in any major organization. The specific duties of a CFO can vary somewhat from one company to the next. However, in general, a CFO is tasked primarily with ensuring an organization remains financially strong.

It’s also worth noting that the nature of a CFO’s role within a company is changing throughout various industries. Across many companies, CFOs are becoming involved in duties and aspects of the organization where they traditionally have not had influence. If you own a company, it’s important to understand precisely how these changes are coming about. You’ll want to know which qualities to prioritize when hiring a new CFO. Even if your company ultimately decides to outsource its CFO, you will still want to make sure that whoever you work with is solid in the three categories listed below.

Read the full article at: www.under30ceo.com

Filling a sales position means finding a candidate who understands the sales pipeline and their role in managing it. After all, the sales pipeline is an important part in a company’s success, as creating and maintaining it is essential for earning new sales and delighting customers.

Sales pipelines help business owners discover five key insights, one of which is where they have resource gaps and overallocation. This means sales managers and owners have data on where they need more salespeople — and why. The pipeline has multiple stages, starting with prospecting, then continuing through lead qualification, demos and meetings, proposals, and beyond.

As with any part of the sales process, or running a business in general, data is key. When considering the sales pipeline, metrics matter. These metrics include lead source, deal size, and a lead’s current location in the pipeline. For more on sales pipelines, check out this infographic.

Read the full article at: www.salesforce.com

The only way to win in a post-Covid-19 world is to relentlessly focus on creating the best team possible. This has always been important during periods of economic contraction and business uncertainty. The difference now is that the rewards and the risks have never been greater. Covid-19’s disruptions, a shortage of in-demand talent and millennial-led trends will force a permanent rethinking of how companies are structured. The organizations that can do more with less — by attracting better talent and better engaging them — will likely see massive productivity improvements when compared to the average company, where 60 percent of the company is not engaged or actively disengaged.

The most adaptive organizations are thinking about talent in the same way they think about their ideal customer. Companies spend significant time and money working to understand the customers they want to attract and finding ways to reach them. The best possible hire you can make today does not need your job, and they will not seek your company out to sell themselves. They expect to be sought out and sold.

Read the full article at: www.entrepreneur.com

While exceptions can be made, industry experience matters more for upper-level finance hires than for other hires in an organization.

Ask any group of talent acquisition professionals how essential industry experience is when hiring senior to C-level finance talent, and you get responses ranging from “less important than financial expertise” to “a strategic advantage and priority.” Although opinions vary, we’ve seen more success in hiring for senior finance positions when candidates have relevant industry experience. And, it becomes even more crucial for upper-level roles in highly regulated industries such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and hospital management. 

Unlike a mid-level accountant who can take the time to learn the business and systems, a new CFO is expected to hit the ground running and quickly ascertain how effectively the company is delivering on its business objectives. An industry-experienced CFO can quickly serve as a strategic partner to both the C-level team and non-financial areas of the business such as marketing and operations. They also have a deeper understanding of the financial position of the company relevant to the marketplace. 

Read the full article at: www.cfo.com

Gone are the days where the CFO title was synonymous with a shy number cruncher tucked away in a distant (and lonely) finance department. The ideal business partnership now involves striking the balance between an extremely ambitious, fearless, go-getter CEO coupled with an equally grounded strategic CFO. Each position has a distinct and crucial role that they play within the company. As someone who has played the role of both CEO and CFO, I believe the most successful businesses enable these two roles to balance each other and collaborate together.

A CEO leads with a vision, but visions don’t come without a cost. As the business environment continues to fluctuate and many industries are becoming more competitive, each and every decision a CEO makes must be analyzed from differing perspectives. Informed viewpoints increase the likelihood of making the soundest decisions possible. That’s why CFOs now find themselves working alongside their CEOs, applying their financial knowledge of the company to ensure feasibility of strategic decisions. Naturally, a new and active dynamic has developed between both roles, where the CEO steers the company in a certain direction while the CFO hits the breaks in financially unsound territory.

Read the full article at: strategiccfo360.com

Each year, I talk to business owners and CFOs all over the country, and when I ask them what their biggest challenge is, the answer is almost always the same: How do I find and keep the best talent? Especially for businesses that are looking to scale operations but maintain the ethos and culture that got them to where they are today, answering that question can be particularly difficult.

Defining Your Culture

To scale effectively, you can’t just hire people based on their skillset. Whether someone can do the work should only be part of the equation. During the hiring process, it’s arguably more important to know that an applicant aligns with your company’s core values. Unfortunately, most businesses have not officially defined the culture or values that have made their business successful, and if they have, these values are often just represented in a flashy poster on their wall as opposed to actually informing everyday operations.

Read the full article at: strategiccfo360.com

Private equity is catching a lot of flak at the moment — from politicians who see the investment class as plutocratic, investors who seek stronger regulatory scrutiny of the industry and insiders who aim to break the glass ceilings keeping women from rising through their ranks.

The industry has made some progress on the latter issue. A Preqin study released in February showed the percentage of female board seats at private equity firms climbed to 5.2% in 2018 from 4.1% in 2017.

Read the full article at: www.thedeal.com

Approaches to HR planning has changed significantly, and they will continue to do so. Amongst the many impacts Covid-19 has had, it’s proved that remote working is not only possible for the banking sector, but that in the right circumstances it can be more productive than traditional working models. This will create significant demand amongst the talent market for a continuation, and has of course forced businesses to change their approaches to how they think about things like the geographies in which they recruit from and how they retain top talent.

Struggling to identify top talent?

Highly talented staff are like gold dust. So in the high pressure world of finance and banking, we know that your organisation will be keen to find them, nurture their potential, and keep them with you through dedicated development programmes and heightened access to opportunities. But how do you identify your high potential talent in a robust, evidential and non-biased way in the first place? 

Read the full article at: internationalbanker.com

Across the world finance professionals are tackling the effects of the pandemic. They are working to understand the immediate implications to society and the economy, whilst looking ahead to the long-term problems that may affect the financial industry. Financial expertise is needed to navigate businesses through the current climate and ensure survival  and resilience.

A new generation has arrived in the workplace offering a valuable and fresh financial perspective on the COVID-19 fall out. So, meeting the needs of Gen Z is more important than ever. Attracting and retaining young finance professionals is key to future survival, whilst embracing technological innovation. However, today 59% of employers lack workers with soft digital skills, like critical thinking, and 51% are experiencing a shortage of hard digital skills, such as coding and data analysis.

Read the full article at: www.financederivative.com

The finance function has been front and center in helping organizations navigate the business upheaval of the past year-plus. While the dust hasn’t exactly settled, many CFOs are starting to focus more on the future. That includes thinking about what kind of skill sets and experience they need to recruit in the rapidly emerging recovery, and where and how to secure that talent.

But many CFOs have come to understand that they’re quickly running out of time to create an action plan to compete for in-demand accounting and finance talent.

Read the full article at: www.forbes.com

Last year, many executives opted for early retirement when COVID-19 hit. Others were let go by their companies due to perceived redundancy in roles or the need for financial cutbacks.

More than a year later, the economy is bouncing back and companies (both new and old) are trying to recruit quality leaders. And they’re discovering that hiring the right executive is more challenging than ever. But now is the time to invest in visionary, long-term leaders who can help your company adapt to the new future of work.

The consequences of the wrong executive hire

The consequences of making a bad hire at the executive level can be felt across the entire organization. The wrong leader — especially in the C-suite — can have lasting repercussions that continue long after they’ve left your company.

Read the full article at: theundercoverrecruiter.com

The rise of remote work has expanded the talent pool, enabling finance departments and HR teams to find top candidates anywhere around the world. And while it may not be easy to form a globally diverse team, the benefits are often worth the effort.

“There are plenty of studies about how diversity drives better business outcomes,” said Godelieve van Dooren, CEO of South East Asia Growth Markets at Mercer, based in Singapore. “You get different skillsets and therefore more innovation, and you have more balanced teams that can come up with better solutions for a diverse client base. Is it hard work? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.”

In addition to driving better business outcomes, globally diverse teams, located in different time zones, have the potential to work on projects around the clock, and they’re better positioned to establish a company presence in various hubs around the world.

Read the full article at: www.fm-magazine.com

As a high-level leader, it can be hard to gauge and determine exactly what your finance team wants and needs from you.

When should you give them more attention? When should you pull back? Do they want some gentle handholding or to be pushed harder for greatness?

Of course, there may not be one set answer that works in every case. But CFOs can get insight on how to navigate these murky waters from former CEO and author Terry Bacon. In his book, What People Want: A Manager’s Guide to Building Relationships That Work, Bacon surveyed more than 500 employees to find what they want and don’t want from a manager or leader.

Read the full article at: www.cfodailynews.com