I’ve been recruiting on behalf of Financial Controllers for many moons.
You typically fall into two camps when it comes to managing the crazy stress of financial year end:
- You recruit temporary staff
- You don’t recruit temporary staff
All businesses are different. I get that it’s not always black and white. But here are some of the trends I’ve experienced working with both camps.
You recruit:
- Proactively start the recruitment process in May to ensure you recruit the ‘cream of the crop’ of temporary talent
- Provide a clear buffer between the start date and project deadline to allow time for the temporary person to thrive
- Reduce team stress and create a happier team culture
- Work less overtime
- Spend more time working on the business strategy
- View the additional cost as an investment rather than an expense
You don’t recruit:
- Always have a mountain of work pending, number crunching slaves to financial year end pressures
- Are stressed out and have higher employee attrition rates
- Less patience with your team
- Spend less time profile building, adding value and driving strategic direction
- Often less inclined to be earmarked for a promotion
Am I biased? Probably.
But I see firsthand the smart Financial Controllers embedding contractors into their business and as a result driving their competitive edge. They’re already working with me to recruit the cream.
So, what are you doing to drive your competitive edge?