CFO Sentiment Study Sheds Light on Leadership and Human Capital

With the 5th Annual Study In Progress, We Take a Look Back on Last Year’s Results.

Our friends at The CFO Alliance are kicking off their 2015 5th Annual CFO Sentiment study to help identify the biggest issues and opportunities for CFOs across america.

This study will reach a finance executives across many fields.We encourage you to participate in this year’s survey and share your input among the community. Take the survey here.

“What better way to build confidence in the C-Suite and boardroom than to be able to compare and contrast your sentiment, strategies and levers you intend to pull to run your companies in 2015 with that of your peers,” said Nick Araco, Co-Founder and CEO of The CFO Alliance.

The Sentiment Study covers a broad range of topics like “Economic Outlook,” “CFO Leadership Evolution,” “Tactics to Drive Growth,” and “Human Capital Strategy,” among others. Last year’s study showed CFO’s taking a more hands on approach in their role, with 60 percent of respondents saying they expected to have greater involvement in matters related to corporate direction, strategy, and creating long term shareholder value.

Among the many fascinating insights, what we found most interesting was the overall positive sentiment and broad support of investing in their employees over 2014. This aligns with our overall feedback from other functional area executives in our network. Our opinion is that this will be even stronger in 2015.

Last year’s study also showed goals of becoming more customer-centric as well as acquiring and inspiring the right human capital. 66 percent said they plan to increase spending on employee wages and benefits. Up from the 57 percent who reported anticipated higher spending in the 2013 survey.

“The last remaining advantage companies have right now are their people. For 2015, the battle to recruit, train, and challenge their people will be the hardest battle of all, regardless of size of company or industry,” Araco said. “Talent is that critical factor. Companies are going to have to understand and innovate around those human capital strategies in order to compete. This study will help you determine where you are, where you will need to be, and how you’re able to do it.”

Video highlighting the results:

This year’s sentiment study will close on December 22 and is open to all who wish to share their thoughts on the upcoming year. If you are a CFO, or know of a CFO who has valuable insight to share, we ask that you pass this along to them.