If information without data is simply an opinion, then the need to improve business finance skills sits at the heart of influential HR.
No Finance Director will expect their HR team to be accounting experts, but the more confident you are with financial terms, the financial cycle in your organisation and how HR’s decisions can influence these, the more powerful your planning will become.
With a greater emphasis on business partnering within organisations, it will be your unique combination of people and finance knowledge that will add value at every turn for the managers and leaders you work with. And, you grow your career, the greater likelihood of working with a CEO who has a financial background; the annual Robert Half FTSE 100 CEO Tracker analyses the background and experience of current FTSE 100 CEOs and shows that 52 per cent of current CEOs have an accountancy or financial management background. In comparison, 21 per cent of FTSE 100 CEOs have a background in engineering or natural resources, nine per cent in retail, eight per cent in marketing, four per cent in technology, and six per cent in other industries.
So, where to start? If you feel business finance it a topic you’ve avoided, neglected, or you’ve not seen support that is aimed specifically for the HR profession, then we have good news.
We are holding business finance skills workshops in Suffolk in the Autumn. Hosted by our MD Nina Metson and Accountant Shelley Clarke, we’ll be going right square one, looking at jargon, job roles, finance reports and the levers HR can pull to influence business finances.
You can find more information here: