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You are here: Home / Dear CEO & Board: You can’t afford to hire the wrong CFO.

August 16, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 9 Comments

Dear CEO & Board: You can’t afford to hire the wrong CFO.

Hiring the wrong CFO can be detrimental to your business.

Costs of hiring the wrong CFO include:

    1. Risk to your company reputation.
    2. A weak CFO will not help your company with what it needs.
    3. Not being able to get the most out of your CFO as soon as possible.
    4. Opportunity cost – the wrong CFO misses the opportunities to add value to the company.

Yet, many companies fear doing a proper search because

    1. Cost of a CFO Search.
    2. Effort and time required to do a CFO Search properly.
    3. 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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Maureen O'Connell says

    June 13, 2014 at 8:14 AM

    Every CEO and Board committee member needs to read this. Crystal clear post.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. More companies are ready for their first Real CFO « Samuel's CFO Blog says:
    August 19, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    […] Having a Real CFO, especially for the first time, requires not only hiring the Right CFO. (See Dear CEO & Board: You can’t afford to hire the wrong CFO.) […]

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  2. “Get a CFO on board when you are ready to take on the world” « Samuel's CFO Blog says:
    October 27, 2011 at 7:24 AM

    […] Hiring your CFO. How do you hire them? Read this. How do you NOT hire a CFO? Read […]

    Reply
  3. Is it time to replace your CFO? « Samuel's CFO Blog says:
    November 3, 2011 at 7:32 AM

    […] a CFO is hired, they are the right fit for the job. (Unless a company hires the wrong CFO). However, change is a constant. Companies change. Industries change. Economies change. Not only is […]

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  4. How do you replace your CFO? « Samuel's CFO Blog says:
    November 10, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    […] highly recommend using an executive search firm. (I always recommend working with a search firm when hiring a CFO, and even more so in this sensitive situation.) A reputable search firm understands the […]

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  5. 4 Reasons you should use an Executive Search Firm when hiring your CFO « Samuel's CFO Blog says:
    December 1, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    […] search for their next CFO by themselves. This is a mistake. In past blog postings, I have detailed the reasons you cannot afford to hire the wrong CFO, asked if it’s time to replace your CFO and how do you replace your […]

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  6. Top 7 of Samuel’s CFO Blogs in 2011 « Samuel's CFO Blog says:
    December 29, 2011 at 7:44 AM

    […] 7) Dear CEO & Board: You can’t afford to hire the wrong CFO […]

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  7. 4 Reasons you should use an Executive Search Firm when hiring your CFO | Stanton Chase International's Executive Newswire says:
    March 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM

    […] search for their next CFO by themselves. This is a mistake. In past blog postings, I have detailed the reasons you cannot afford to hire the wrong CFO, asked if it’s time to replace your CFO and how do you replace your […]

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