A World of Opportunity: Driving

High Performance through Finance

Workforce Mastery

Globalization, a force that has

been shaping the political and

commercial world for decades,

has entered a new and more

complex phase.

2

Accenture’s High Performance Finance StudyHow should companies respond to

this challenge? The Accenture High

Performance Finance Study offers

some guidance. Through this

comprehensive study, Accenture

explores the most pressing challenges

facing fi nance executives around

the world, how they are faring in

addressing these challenges, and

the strategies and practices that

leading organizations are employing

to contribute to high performance

in the fi nance organization and

the enterprise at large.

In the most recent research effort—

our third—we surveyed more than

350 fi nance executives in companies

representing 30 countries across

a range of more than 20 industry

sectors. To augment our survey

fi ndings, we conducted in-depth

interviews with several fi nance

executives at other organizations

to explore how they were dealing

with the challenges facing today’s

fi nance organizations. We also tapped

specialists within Accenture for their

insights on high performance from

roundtable discussions with hundreds

of fi nance executives and from their

work with fi nance organizations at

businesses and government entities

around the globe. An important part

of this study focuses on the fi nance

workforce, and the research has

revealed several people-related

challenges and opportunities on

the road to high performance.

Since the time we conducted the

most recent installment of our

research, much has changed in the

fundamentals of the global economy.

However, what has not changed is the

fact that talent management is more

relevant than ever—especially those

talent management capabilities that

enable companies to adapt to varying

market conditions.

to ensure their people continue

to pursue the right and ethical

corporate governance activities. If

they are making workforce reductions

or engaging in merger and acquisition

activities, they now are forced more

than ever to make sure they have

the right talent with the right skills

to achieve their future strategic

objectives. And while in times of

growth they may have been worried

about their aging workforce retiring,

now they must adjust to keeping an

aging workforce productive even

longer as employees stay on the job

to make up for the steep losses they

have incurred in their retirement

savings due to the global market

meltdown.

The preceding, of course, applies

to all workforces but is especially

relevant to the fi nance function.

As it strives to fulfi ll its increasingly

important role in supporting and

guiding the enterprise through

turbulent economic conditions,

the fi nance organization must

rethink how it attracts, retains,

develops and manages its people.

Indeed, the speed with which the

global market changes, the volatility

imposed by multiple currencies and

electronic exchanges, and the sheer

complexity of operating on a global

scale in countries or regions of

varying degrees of development

place extraordinary demands on

an enterprise’s fi nance organization—

and even more so during diffi cult

economic conditions. It is the fi nance

organization that must take the lead

in driving the enterprise toward

continuing value creation, ensuring

that the enterprise possesses the

strategies, capabilities and information

to succeed in a hypercompetitive

global market even as it continues

to control and contain costs.

Perhaps the most important factor

in accomplishing this critical goal

is the fi nance workforce.

It is no longer a concept exported

to the emerging world by the

traditionally dominant economies of

the West. Now, emerging economies

have fully embraced globalization and

packaged it up, sending new versions

back to the West. In this new phase

of globalization there are multiple

centers of economic power and

activity—a concept Accenture

calls the multi-polar world.

Even—and especially—during today’s

challenging times, the impact of the

multi-polar world is being felt by

companies as they struggle to navigate

the choppy waters caused by the

global economic downturn. In this

environment, companies are

positioning themselves in one of three

ways, based on the degree to which

their business has been impacted by

the economy:

• Survive: Some enterprises are forced

to focus primarily on short-term

actions to manage costs, cash fl ow

and revenues, and to ensure survival.

• Reposition: Armed with a

strong balance sheet and healthy,

if reduced, revenues, other

organizations are exploring ways

to use the downturn to strengthen

competitive advantage.

• Grow: The strongest companies

are actively building market share

through mergers, acquisitions and

international expansion, by adding

customers and by strengthening

their brand.

As part of their response to the

economic downturn, companies

are readjusting their workforce

priorities. With the need to reduce

organizational costs, companies are

pursuing such actions as taking a more

global approach to sourcing talent and

fundamentally redesigning processes

to separate lower-cost transactional

activities from value-added analytical

activities. They also are revisiting their

compliance and ethics activities

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actually do. For example, 56 percent

of executives believed in making

coaching and mentoring an integral

part of everyone’s responsibilities,

but only 37 percent enforce the

practice. Fifty-fi ve percent of

respondents believed that leaders

should be proactive in building

relationships at all levels of the

organization, but only 36 percent

did so. Furthermore, encouraging

innovation and providing employees

with opportunities to share their ideas

was viewed as an important part

of the fi nance leadership role by

52 percent of executives, but only

38 percent said that such a culture

existed within their organization.

These are signifi cant gaps, especially

when one considers that these

practices were self-defi ned as

important by survey respondents.

Further, when we examine a second

tier of criticality, the gaps grow even

larger. For example, while nearly half

of the respondents (49 percent)

For instance, respondents

viewed regular and meaningful

communication between employees

and their supervisors and other

fi nance leaders as most critical to

maintaining a workforce capable

of delivering high performance.

But such communication occurred

in only 48 percent of the participating

companies. Similarly, having key

fi nance business processes

documented and understood by

employees was deemed critical by

58 percent of respondents, but only

44 percent said they had put it into

practice. Put simply, this means that

in over half of the companies we

surveyed, employees didn’t thoroughly

understand their own business’s

processes, and in many cases a lack

of documentation would thwart any

efforts to learn about them.

Our survey revealed even larger

gaps in other areas between what

executives know to be important

and what they and their enterprises

Signifi cant gaps in a critical workforceOur study indicates that fi nance

executives are not especially

enthusiastic about the state of their

fi nance workforce. Only 9 percent

of fi nance executives surveyed were

very satisfi ed with the effectiveness

of their organization’s fi nance

workforce and just one-fourth said

their fi nance workforce possessed

“deep and specialized” skills.

Despite these statistics, only one-

third of fi nance executives said

they planned to implement new

workforce programs such as leadership

development, retention, rewards/

compensation, career development

or performance measurement in the

next two years. In fact, our survey

showed that many companies were

lagging in implementing practices

they themselves consider critical to

building and sustaining a superior

fi nance workforce (Figure 1).

Regular and meaningful communication occurs

A formal performance management program is in place

Key processes are documented and understood

Industry benchmarked/competitive salaries and benefits are offered

Coaching and mentoring activities are an integral part of everyone’s responsibilities

Leaders proactively build relationships at all levels

Performance rewards tie to both individual success and enterprise profitability

Finance leadership encourages innovation and provides employees with the opportunities to share ideas

Training and training materials are readily available to employees when needed

Well-defined talent sourcing strategy is in place

Financial Planning and Analysis division reports into the finance function

Formal finance competency model is in place defining required skills

Critical feedback is provided in real time and is an embedded part of the finance function culture

Well-defined talent selection process is in place

Career advancement includes rotations through various roles within finance

Figure 1: Finance Workforce Practices: Top Tier in Importance versus Extent Employed

49%

60%48%

59%60%

58%

44%

56%45%

37%

56%

55%36%

44%53%

38%

52%

52%43%

16%

49%55%

48%

30%

33%48%

27%47%

33%47%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Employed by CompaniesSeen as Critical

4

believed having a well-defi ned talent

sourcing strategy is critical to the

fi nance function’s success, such a

strategy is in place in only 16 percent

of the companies surveyed. Similarly,

47 percent believed a well-defi ned

talent selection process is equally

important, but only 27 percent had

such a process in place. Companies

also said they struggle to build

competency models for the fi nance

function, which may explain why

so many lacked defi ned sourcing

or selection practices. In fact,

almost half (48 percent) of executives

surveyed thought having a formal

fi nance competency model that

defi nes required skills is important,

but just 30 percent had such a

model in place. Further, among the

42 percent who believed having a

formal fi nance model for different

career levels is critical, only 26

percent actually employed one.

Just as troubling are the things that

most fi nance executives do not view

as critical to high performance in the

global arena (Figure 2). For example,

at a time when the pressure to keep

overhead costs low is intense, we

would expect fi nance executives to

be more interested in using shared

services or centers of excellence.

After all, both of these tactics enable

companies to more effectively leverage

their existing resources. In addition,

by centralizing employees via shared

services or centers of excellence,

a company reduces redundancy

and duplicate roles, thereby directly

reducing overhead costs. However,

shared services and centers of

excellence were viewed as critical

to effective fi nance workforce

management by just 35 percent

of respondents.

What these fi gures suggest is that

many companies are not only ill-

prepared to compete for talent in the

global market, they are also at risk of

making bad hires—engaging people

who may not have the skills the

fi nance function needs to support the

strategy and operations of the larger

enterprise. In addition, the lack of

rigor and process around talent

sourcing and selection may prevent

organizations from fully surveying the

pool of available talent. Indeed, our

research shows that companies are

more likely to fi ll fi nance management

positions from within the fi nance

function (47 percent) than from

outside the enterprise (38 percent),

perhaps missing the best available

talent (something that’s especially

critical during down times, when good

talent may be more plentiful due to

downsizing efforts by other

companies).

Employee satisfaction surveys are regularly conducted and results are shared

Finance management positions are often sourced from within finance

Formal finance competency model is in place for different career levels

Finance leadership provides employees the time necessary to complete training

Individuals are encouraged to proactively seek training on new topics and technologies

Formal finance training program is in place with a curriculum linked to developing required skills

Role descriptions are clearly aligned with key processes

Creative benefits are offered based on strategic surveys of employees’ needs/desires

Global and local communities of practices have been established and are effective at sharing knowledge

Centers of Excellence are employed for scarce skills such as M&A work, complex deal pricing or tax strategy

Finance shared services are utilized

Organizational charts are kept up to date and are easily accessible

A knowledge management tool has been provided (such as a database for capturing and sharing intellectual assets)

Finance function focuses on re-training the existing finance workforce rather than the hire/fire approach

Finance management positions are often sourced from the external market with experienced professionals

Finance management positions are often sourced from line management

Figure 2: Finance Workforce Practices: Bottom Tier in Importance versus Extent Employed

46%

49%

43%

47%

42%26%

40%37%

33%40%

40%25%

28%38%

35%38%

37%34%

40%35%

35%46%

34%42%

20%32%

31%31%

38%22%

16%15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Employed by CompaniesSeen as Critical

Using the Accenture Talent

Management Framework to guide

discussions, the Accenture team

met with fi nance leaders globally

to understand the specifi c talent

challenges they faced in defi ning,

discovering, developing and deploying

talent. Issues uncovered ranged from

an aging workforce and lack of

mobility in some locations to a

skills shortage and high competition

for talent in others.

To create a common platform for

discussing talent at a global level, a

fi nance competency model and talent

review toolkit was developed to gather

key data on the fi nance workforce,

analyze workforce trends and begin

to close the gap between the

organization’s existing capabilities

and those of fi nance masters. The

competency model mapped key

skills and competencies to roles

in corporate, transactional and

business unit fi nance.

A resulting talent management road

map provided the strategic direction

for the CFO to begin to create a

fi nance workforce that could take the

organization toward high performance.

Among the elements the road map

included were the following:

• Leadership development plan.

• Plan to embed the competency

model in all talent management

practices from recruitment to

training and performance

management.

• Link between talent management

and enterprise performance

management and key performance

indicators.

• Employee value proposition.

• Guidance for evaluating and

improving employee engagement.

• Career management, including

career path mapping.

• Coaching and mentoring.

organization runs. Without an

adequate supply of those skills, or

without a suffi ciently high-octane

level of skills, the fi nance engine

sputters, misfi res, and struggles to

perform at a high level. To build the

type of fi nance workforce necessary

for the enterprise to excel in today’s

challenging global environment,

companies must have a highly

effective approach to talent

management, built around four

key areas (Figure 4): defi ning talent

needs, discovering talent sources,

developing talent’s potential, and

deploying talent strategically.

Defi ning talent needsA truly effective fi nance

workforce begins with a company

fi rst understanding the business

strategy and the fi nance

organization’s strategy, and

subsequently defi ning the talent

necessary to deliver on those

strategies (beginning with a clear

understanding of the talent currently

on hand). To get the greatest return

from human capital investments,

a company must know where it

has leverage—which workforces

and areas of the business have the

greatest strategic impact and are

critical to maintaining the company’s

distinctive capabilities. For most

companies today—especially global

organizations grappling with the

challenges of the multi-polar world—

the fi nance organization has become

a strategically important workforce

and a valuable contributor to a

company’s growth and profi tability.

One example of a company that

recognized the importance of the

fi nance function and its talent is

the enterprise created by the merger

of two large companies. The CFO

of the newly formed entity faced a

major challenge in improving both

the effi ciency and effectiveness of

the new fi nance organization. Working

with Accenture, the CFO embarked

on an ambitious effort to defi ne a

new strategy for fi nance, which

included developing a new global

fi nance talent strategy.

Achieving mastery over fi nance workforce challengesIndeed, most companies in our

survey indicated they had critical

shortcomings in key fi nance

capabilities—not only in the fi nance

workforce as mentioned earlier,

but also more broadly across

fi nance organization management,

enterprise performance management,

fi nance and accounting operations,

corporate fi nance, and enterprise risk

management. This situation could be

preventing fi nance organizations from

operating at an optimal level.

However, a subset of the companies

in our survey reported having more

advanced capabilities, on average,

across the fi ve major capability

areas mentioned above. We call

these organizations “fi nance masters,”

and the differences between masters

and non-masters are striking. For

example, masters were much more

likely than non-masters to employ

all but one of the leading workforce

practices identifi ed as critical by

Accenture, especially (Figure 3):

• A formal fi nance competency

model that defi nes required

fi nance workforce skills.

• Finance leadership that encourages

innovation and offers employees

opportunities to express and share

ideas.

• A formal fi nance competency model

designed for different career levels.

• The ready availability to employees

of training and training materials

when needed.

• A knowledge management tool that

supports the capturing and sharing

of intellectual assets.

• Regular conducting of employee

satisfaction surveys in which

the results are broadly shared.

• Documentation and explanation

of key business processes.

In particular, masters are strongly and

tightly focused on talent management.

These organizations know that fi nance

skills are the fuel on which the fi nance

5

6

Figure 3: Finance Workforce Practices Extent Employed: Masters versus Non-Masters

Practices Employed by Participating Companies Masters Non-Masters

Workforce performance

Global and local communities of practices (i.e., informal networks of people with shared interests) have been

established and are effective at sharing knowledge

46% 34%

A knowledge management tool has been provided (e.g., a database for capturing and sharing intellectual assets) 42% 17%

Training and training materials are readily available to employees when needed 67% 41%

Coaching and mentoring activities are an integral part of everyone’s responsibilities 54% 37%

A formal performance management program is in place 62% 60%

Critical feedback is provided in real time and is an embedded part of the finance organization culture 54% 33%

Career advancement includes rotations through various roles within finance 42% 32%

Finance competencies

Formal finance competency model is in place to define required skills 62% 28%

Formal finance competency model is in place to define different career levels 58% 24%

Formal finance training program is in place with a curriculum linked to developing required skills 33% 25%

Finance organization structure

Finance shared services are utilized 67% 45%

Financial Planning and Analysis division reports to the finance organization 67% 55%

Centers of Excellence are employed for scarce skills such as merger and acquisition work, complex deal pricing

or tax strategy

37% 40%

Employee engagement

Industry benchmarked/competitive salaries and benefits are offered 71% 46%

Creative benefits are offered based on strategic surveys of employees’ needs/desires (flex-time, floating

holidays, tuition, childcare, etc.)

58% 33%

Employee satisfaction surveys are regularly conducted and results are shared 71% 48%

Regular and meaningful communication occurs 58% 47%

Organizational charts are kept up to date and are easily accessible 62% 40%

Leaders proactively build relationships at all levels 58% 35%

Key processes are documented and understood 67% 42%

Role descriptions are clearly aligned with key processes 50% 26%

Performance rewards tied to both individual success and enterprise profitability 58% 45%

Workforce adaptability

Individuals are encouraged to proactively seek training on new topics and technologies 62% 33%

Finance leadership encourages innovation and provides employees with the opportunities to share ideas 71% 37%

Finance organization focuses on retraining the existing finance workforce rather than the hire/fire approach 42% 29%

Finance leadership provides employees the time necessary to complete training 50% 36%

Talent management Well-defined talent sourcing strategy is in place 42% 14%

Well-defined talent selection process is in place 54% 24%

Finance management positions are often sourced from within finance 62% 48%

Finance management positions are often sourced from line management 29% 14%

Finance management positions are often sourced from the external market with experienced professionals 50% 37%

projections allow the company

to make strategic decisions about

whether to hire new employees, enlist

contractors or outsource the work. Dan

Hilbert, the Valero executive in charge

of the project feels, “For the fi rst time,

talent pipelines can now be developed

years in advance to meet specifi c

future talent needs. It’s pretty

revolutionary stuff.”

This capability has become essential in

a multi-polar world, as organizations

everywhere need to understand global

talent markets, how to access new

talent and where they should consider

alternative talent sourcing strategies.

To maintain a future fl ow of talent

and to inculcate the adaptability

necessary to respond to changing

market conditions, this understanding

must become second nature for

organizations in pursuit of high

performance.

• What attrition rate am I incurring

(loss and shrinkage)?

• Do I understand future demand for

skills (supply/demand balancing)?

For example, the Texas-based

oil-refi ning giant Valero Energy

Corporation won Workforce

Management magazine’s award for

innovation in 2006 for developing

one of the fi rst talent supply chains.1

Beginning in 2002, Valero used the

chain to reduce the time required to

fi ll an open position from 120 days

to 40 days, and to reduce the cost

per hire from $12,000 to $2,300.

This improvement came while the

company was growing phenomenally,

from 2,000 employees in 2000 to

about 22,000 by 2006, with annual

revenues of $75 billion.

The most signifi cant results, however,

were strategic. The talent supply

chain now enables Valero to forecast

demand for talent three years out, at

the division and job-title level. These

Discovering talent sourcesOnce a company has identifi ed

its critical talent needs, the next

challenge is to consider where that

talent could come from. Indeed,

participants in our survey indicated

one of the biggest opportunities

presented by globalization is access

to a broader base of skilled workers

at competitive costs. In Accenture’s

experience, leading companies

typically use a supply chain approach

to talent sourcing, asking questions

such as:

• What talent do we have (inventory)?

• What sources of talent supply are

available?

• Should I push inventory on my

suppliers (contingent sources of

talent)?

• Where should my people be located

(warehousing)?

• Can I source from lower-cost

locations?

7

Figure 4: A Strategic Approach to Finance Talent Management

Talent Mindset

Talent Culture

Define your talent needs

Discover your sources of talent

Develop yourtalent potential

Deploy yourtalent—rightplace, righttime

Measure and align

8

expanded to cover employees in 84

countries; and more than 100,000

certifi cates have been awarded to

more than 62,000 active users.

Deploying talent strategicallyCompanies with leading capabilities

create the best possible match

between their employees’ talents

and aspirations and the needs of the

business—both in terms of day-to-day

activities and in the longer term. Such

enterprises show imagination in giving

their people opportunities to move

within the organization, discovering

new capabilities within themselves

and gaining insights from previously

unfamiliar parts of the business.

Leaders also are adept at enabling

the sharing of knowledge and best

practices, and in making their people

aware of how they can use their

talents to best improve the

organization’s performance.

For example, a global healthcare

company has 1,200 fi nance people

around the world, all of whom report

to the fi nance organization but are

assigned to support different business

units or functions. This approach

enables fi nance to more effectively

support the business while also

allowing its fi nance professionals

a chance to develop their skills and

expertise along a well-defi ned career

path. “If somebody is sitting out in

Chile, for example,” explains a fi nance

executive at this company, “he’s the

fi nance manager there, making sure

the business in Chile is very successful.

This is his primary measure of success.

However, he’s [also] part of the fi nance

organization—his career, his future, his

home is in fi nance—and the standards

and processes he works with are set

by me and the fi nance leadership

team.” This, according to the fi nance

executive, addresses one of his

greatest challenges—getting everyone

in a highly decentralized organization

moving in the same direction without

tampering with well-established and

effective reporting relationships—while

giving the employee the ability to

move laterally or vertically within the

organization in pursuit of career

development.

comprehension to mastery) that

each employee should strive for

in relevant competency areas

and aligned each role to training

opportunities. Ultimately, the fi nance

organization believes the new career

development support solution may

drive higher employee satisfaction,

as well as encourage greater use of

other existing career development

assets (such as training courses),

improve performance of employees

by clearly articulating and aligning

expectations, and lead to higher

retention, because employees will

have access to information that

provides greater clarity on career

opportunities and development

within the fi nance organization.

Siemens also has developed mastery

in developing the potential of its

talent. Working with Accenture,

the company created a sustainable

training solution that allows it

to embed, retain and increase

the competencies of its fi nance

workforce in a rapidly changing

business environment. The new

training approach, supported by

Web-based training technology,

covers six main training areas:

organization compliance and

management; accounting; reporting;

controlling; taxes; and treasury.

It is targeted to be used by more

than 100,000 Siemens employees

worldwide, and has helped Siemens

keep fi nance employees continually up

to date in the face of constant change.

The program has also allowed Siemens

to consolidate fi nance knowledge from

around the organization into one set

of training programs, as well as to

defi ne specifi c curricula appropriate

for each group in the fi nance

organization. Employees benefi t by

gaining access to Web-based training

and a consistent knowledge base with

content updated quarterly—a vast

improvement over the earlier time-

consuming classroom training with

inconsistent and partly outdated

content. The new training program

has been in place for 33 months (as

of February 2009). During that time,

the course catalog has grown to 261

hours of training in 150 courses for

73 training units; the program has

Developing talent’s potentialA capability for developing talent

involves ensuring that fi nance

employees continually acquire new

skills and capabilities and prepare

to take on new responsibilities. It

establishes a central link between

the development of employees’

talents and the accomplishment

of the organization’s purpose and

strategy. In that way, employee

development is both ongoing and

strategic. Although an employee

development capability embraces

specifi c educational or training

initiatives, leading companies achieve

much of their fi nance employees’

essential development simply as part

of their daily work, through work roles

and special assignments, and through

relationships with others.

For example, a US-based fi nancial

institution set out to create a

comprehensive career development

support program that would address

employee demands for greater

transparency and clarifi cation

of role expectations and career

development opportunities. As a fi rst

step, the bank’s talent management

group and Accenture conducted a

series of focus groups with senior

leaders and key fi nance professionals.

These focus groups enabled the team

to identify the knowledge, abilities

and backgrounds of those employees

who were successfully performing

each fi nance role. With Accenture’s

help, the bank then used these

characteristics to establish a

robust competency model and

career development architecture

for fi nance employees.

With the new fi nance competency

model in place, Accenture helped

the bank to translate key elements

of the model into a “front-end” career

development support tool. This tool

served as an online reference source

for fi nance employees, allowing them

to research information pertaining

to their role or any other role in the

organization. For example, the new

model identifi ed the work experiences,

education and certifi cations that are

prerequisites for success in particular

roles. Similarly, the model defi ned

levels of profi ciency (from basic

Encouragingly, a group of leading

companies have already demonstrated

mastery of the most signifi cant

fi nance workforce challenges and

opportunities. These masters have

deeper skills in several key aspects

of workforce management and in

particular lead the way when it comes

to talent management. Our research

study and the insights gained from

Accenture’s extensive consulting

experience reveal a simple yet

compelling pattern: Masters identify

the talent they need to pursue their

strategies, innovate in the sourcing

of that talent, and then develop and

deploy talent in alignment with their

most important business goals. This

proven approach enables fi nance

masters to avoid jettisoning the

wrong staff in the name of cost

cutting (thus compromising their

competitive position), get the best

out of every resource they have

access to, and create the kind of

workforce necessary to accelerate

the achievement of high performance

when economic conditions ultimately

improve.

Driving high performance with a superior fi nance workforceMastery of fi nance workforce

management issues is much more

than a “nice-to-have.” Our survey

results, combined with Accenture’s

experience with leading companies

around the world, indicate that the

quality, productivity, and structure

of the fi nance workforce play a vital

role in the fi nance function’s ability

to achieve its objectives and create

value for the larger enterprise.

Achieving objectives and creating

value are among the most important

cornerstones of high performance.

However, many fi nance organizations

in pursuit of high performance

are encountering an increasingly

challenging environment. In particular,

the forces of globalization have given

rise to aggressive new competitors,

have added complexity to the

successful management of global

organizations, and have opened

up new talent markets and sourcing

models to navigate. Add to that the

challenges associated with a global

economic downturn, and it is

not surprising that many fi nance

executives struggle to make the

most of this new world.

Indeed, our research shows that

fi nance executives are aware they

face several important workforce-

related challenges and opportunities,

yet in many cases they are not taking

the actions they should to lead their

people to the highest possible levels

of performance. For example, when

it comes to improving communication,

documenting and teaching key

business processes, mentoring

and building relationships, and

encouraging innovation, executives

participating in our research were

much more likely to recognize the

need than to be doing anything about

the problem. The same was true of

having well defi ned talent sourcing

and selection strategies, considered

by many to be basic capabilities for

building a superior fi nance workforce.

9

10

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High Performance Delivered

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direction and successfully delivering

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fi nance management capabilities. We

offer a range of fi nancial consulting

services, focusing on the areas

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performance management, fi nance

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We have the breadth of experience,

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www.accenture.com/fm or contact:

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1Cheese, Peter; Thomas, Robert

J.; Craig, Elizabeth, The Talent

Powered Organization: Strategies

for Globalization, Talent Management

and High Performance, Kogan

Page (2007)

http://www.accenture.com/

talentpowered