Unsatisfactory pay and career opportunities, coupled with management issues, were the top attrition drivers for talent in finance functions, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc.

A global study of 462 finance employees who had changed employers in recent years, conducted through June 2023, revealed the top talent attraction and retention challenges facing CFOs and finance leaders.

“CFOs consistently rate talent challenges as one of their primary concerns,” said Shannon Cole, senior director analyst, research, in the Gartner Finance practice. “While compensation is the top attrition factor for finance employees, and it may be difficult for CFOs to change that, there is certainly an opportunity to slow attrition in the function by addressing inadequacies in how their teams are managed.”

Through the second quarter of 2023, compensation remained the top attrition driver for finance function employees (since 2020) followed by future career opportunities, respect, people management and manager quality (see table 1.)

Table 1: Top 5 Talent Attrition Drivers in Finance Functions Through 2Q23

Survey Question: "Which attributes were most important in your decision to leave your previous employer?" (N=462)
Source: Gartner (November 2023)

Finance leaders can make the most immediate impact on the attrition drivers ranked two through five, and Gartner experts have shared some additional information to help guide this.

Future Career Opportunity
Over the past five quarters, finance employees who leave due to dissatisfaction with future career opportunities most frequently cite few open or available job opportunities. To a lesser extent, employees who left their companies were dissatisfied with career paths that were unclear or not a good fit, did not receive timely advancement opportunities or were passed over for promotion.

“To meet their transformation ambitions, finance leaders need far more digitally savvy talent than they can hire, and at the same time likely have a pool of disengaged employees looking for better opportunities: providing on-the-job learning that boosts the function’s digital competencies could yield multiple and mutual benefits,” said Cole.

Respect
Finance talent has consistently cited a perceived lack of respect as one of the top reasons for leaving an organization.

“Finance employees place a very high value on feelings of respect in the workplace, likely influenced by the culture and profession of public accounting,” said Cole. “Accountants are dedicated to their duty, which they show by working extra hours and weekends when needed to meet reporting deadlines. When these employees don’t feel respected within their companies, it very quickly becomes a strong driver for attrition.”

Manager Quality and People Management
Satisfaction with the organization’s reputation for people management, and the employee’s firsthand experiences with manager quality are also among the top drivers of attrition.

“The primary dissatisfactions are that managers don’t communicate well enough, there is a perceived lack of manager interest in their development, and a lack of precise performance standards and objectives,” said Cole.   

Additional information is available to Gartner clients in the report CFO’s Guide to the 2023 Finance Talent Labor Market. Nonclients can read more in the complimentary report Help Digital Talent Fit into Finance.

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