For months now, CFOs have been grappling with surging production costs and extreme cost pressures. The Federal Reserve is continuing its inflation fight, raising interest rates to combat expanding prices. 

“Anyone who thinks that we haven't entered yet that economic downturn needs to reassess their point of view. I mean it’s happening, it’s already happened, and it certainly can get worse,” said Sarah Spoja, CFO of fintech unicorn Tipalti, an accounting software company, in an interview with CFO Dive. 

Nearly half of CFOs in a recent Gartner study cited hiring and retaining staff as their most difficult task over the next 12 months. Hiring woes are especially prevalent for smaller businesses — 38% of which plan to freeze hiring or furlough existing employees, according to a recent survey by Nationwide, an Ohio-based insurer. 

Spoja, who became Tipalti’s first CFO in 2018, says that retaining the right staff should be the number one focus for CFOs. 

Set an example with your own team

“CFOs have a very unique perspective and their teams have a very unique perspective, in that, the people who choose to go into these roles of the finance function are folks who are really curious about the broad business — how a company makes its money, how it competes with its competitors — you have a team of people who are really engaged in the broader business of the company,” said Spoja. 

If finance chiefs are able to have a transparent relationship with their finance teams, this will reflect across the entire organization, Spoja explained. Disengaged employees are costing their organizations $20 billion for every 10,000 workers, according to a Workhuman and Gallup report — and it is a lot more expensive to replace workers than it is to retain them. 

“I think CFOs don't always spend as much time as they should engaging with their own teams and making sure that they're getting the visibility that they need to be able to really understand where the company is going and how the company is addressing any challenges that exist because of the macro economy,” said Spoja. Once a CFO is able to communicate and drive engagement with their own finance teams, this will be reflected across the entire organization, she said. 

“In the office of CFO, you have an opportunity because you have people who are curious and want to be a part of the solutions to help companies not only survive any macro economic downturn, but also thrive through it,” Spoja said. 

Keep a close eye on the industry

Speaking from her own experience in the top finance seat of Tipalti, Spoja said that she herself keeps a close eye on the industry. “There’s a number of fintechs who have had to do rather large layoffs, and we look to see whether that can be an opportunity for us to get great talent.” 

Fiserv, for example, pared more employees in recent weeks as they sought to grapple with economic turmoil.

When it comes to hiring, there is a wide mix of issues that can affect the process but a company’s own stage of development will likely impact the type of prospective employees that it will attract, she said.

Junior level people want to come in when the company is still growing because they can see the potential in how their career will take off, she said. However, it is easier to hire senior level employees when your company is either flat or falling, because it could provide them with an opportunity to step into bigger roles that they have not had before.

“At the end of the day, people join companies because they believe in the vision, they like their managers, and they will be fairly compensated for the work that they're doing. It is a combination of those efforts — but you have to get the fairly compensated piece correct,” said Spoja.