Hiring the wrong CFO can be detrimental to your business.
Costs of hiring the wrong CFO include:
- Risk to your company reputation.
- A weak CFO will not help your company with what it needs.
- Not being able to get the most out of your CFO as soon as possible.
- Opportunity cost – the wrong CFO misses the opportunities to add value to the company.
Yet, many companies fear doing a proper search because
- Cost of a CFO Search.
- Effort and time required to do a CFO Search properly.
- Cost.
As CEO or Board Member, you may think that you know people (that know people) that know CFOs. And you ask yourself “How hard can it be?”
Let’s face it. The cost of hiring the wrong CFO is way more than the fees you will pay for a proper CFO Search.
Well. Have you ever hired the wrong CFO? Wonder why they were wrong for you? The CFO was not right for your company because you didn’t do a proper CFO Search.
Now, there are options to how to do a proper CFO Search. You can work with me, work with any good executive search firm, or even manage the process internally.
However, you must have the following elements in your CFO Search.
Assessment: You need to assess what your company really needs from the CFO, both today, and in the future. You need to assess whether your leadership is really ready for a good CFO that will add value and be a leader in the business. You need to assess what skills, knowledge and abilities your new CFO will have to have to be successful in your environment. If your last CFO failed, ask yourself if you did a proper assessment first before hiring him or her.
Search: “Who you know” will not cut it. You need to do a proper search for CFO caliber people that can meet the needs you’ve assessed. If you don’t do a proper search, you will not end up with the best possible CFO for your business.
Onboarding: For a new CFO to be successful, it is important to invest in ensuring that the CFO has what they need to be successful. Onboarding allows your new CFO to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become most effective for your organization.
If you’re ready for your next CFO, do yourself and your company a favor. Hire the right CFO this time.
Every CEO and Board committee member needs to read this. Crystal clear post.