Experts to Discuss How to Attract and Retain Finance Employees During the Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference, May 20-21 in National Harbor, and September 11-12 in London.

Compensation, work/life balance and location are the top attraction drivers for finance function employees, according to a survey of 1,132 finance staff in the fourth quarter of 2023 by Gartner, Inc.

'Compensation is usually the top attraction driver and one of the main challenges CFOs have with retaining talent. Our survey showed that only 43% of finance employees are satisfied with compensation,' said Shannon Cole, Senior Director Analyst, Research, in the Gartner Finance practice. 'The importance of work/life balance and location as attraction drivers should give CFOs pause for thought about the potential challenges that may arise from return-to-office mandates.'

Finance talent needs will be explored in more detail at the Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference, taking place May 20-21 in National Harbor and September 11-12 in London.

After compensation, work/life balance and location, health benefits and vacation were the next most cited attraction drivers among finance employees (see Figure 1).Figure 1: Finance Employees' Top 5 Attraction Drivers [Image Alt Text for SEO]

Source: Gartner (May 2024)

'Fifty-eight percent of finance employees say they are happy with location, the attraction driver they are happiest with in the top five,' said Cole. 'However, this perspective may change as more companies increase their expectations around employee time spent in the office.'

Gartner experts caution that while return-to-office mandates do generate marginal increases to discretionary effort and employee engagement, they are likely to reduce intent to stay by a larger amount, particularly so among high-performing employees (-16%) and women (-11%).

'Finance employees have high confidence in the labor market right now. Moving away from a flexible working model will likely make it harder for finance leaders to attract new staff and comes with a significant attrition risk,' said Cole. 'Finance leaders should weigh the pros and cons rather than assume a return to previous ways of working is the right thing to do.'

Given that employees are confident in the labor market and prone to job-seeking behavior, maintaining an organization's competitiveness on the top attraction drivers will be key to both recruitment and retention of staff in 2024.

'Given the prevalence of hybrid working models since the pandemic, it can be argued that four of the top five attraction drivers for finance staff all relate to the employees' lives outside their offices,' said Cole. 'Aside from offering market-beating pay, paying close attention to the employee value proposition when they are not in the workplace should drive better attraction and retention.'

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Additional information is available to Gartner clients in the report: CFO's Guide to the 2024 Finance Talent Labor Market. Nonclients can read the report: Help Digital Talent Fit Into Finance.

About the CFO & Finance Executive Conference 2024

Gartner experts will explore the theme 'Autonomous Finance: Driving Transformation to Unlock Enterprise Value' during the Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference 2024, taking place May 20-21 in National Harbor and September 11-12 in London. Sessions will cover how organizations can navigate challenges - such as higher rates, challenged growth, scarce labor, cost pressure, security threats, and the scramble for AI use cases - by rapidly evolving, transforming, and redefining data, processes, technologies, staff capabilities and organizational models. Follow news and updates from the conferences on X using the hashtag #GartnerFinance.

About Gartner for Finance Leaders

The Gartner Finance practice helps senior finance executives meet their top priorities. Gartner offers a unique breadth and depth of content to support clients' individual success and deliver on key initiatives that cut across finance functions to drive business impact. Learn more at https://www.gartner.com/en/finance/finance-leaders. Follow Gartner for Finance on LinkedIn and X using #GartnerFinance to stay ahead of the latest expert insights and key trends shaping the Finance function. Visit the Gartner Finance Newsroom for more information and insights.

Media contact

Robert van der Meulen

Gartner

rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com

(C) 2024 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire