Women are missing at the CFOs positions, claims a study released by the IFMR Graduate School of Business at Krea University and Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). The study that captures the priorities, challenges of “new-age” CFOs, claims that in FY 2022, there was no woman CFO in Nifty 50 companies, and the number was less than 5 per cent in Nifty 250 companies.
“Leaders need to walk the talk. The avowed commitments made by boards to increase diversity at executive levels do not reflect in the actual appointments,” claims the study.
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Titled “The Future CFO: Changing Roles, Changing Goals”, the study is based on quantitative and qualitative insights from dozens of Indian CFOs and outlines the changing role of CFOs, key capabilities and competencies needed for CFOs. The study also highlights changes in the demographics of Indian CFOs over the last five years. It says that MBA is a career accelerator and the finance executives with an MBA degree experienced faster career growth.
Claiming that the roles have changed, the study says, from traditional CFO-led activities—accounting and auditing, financial analysis and planning, investor relations, financial risk management, product pricing and regulatory compliance, CFOs now find themselves more involved in corporate strategy, organisational transformation, digitisation, enterprise risk management and ESG implementation.
“86 per cent CFOs gave high importance to digital technologies such as analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud-based systems that are increasingly deployed to help CFOs transition from ‘systems of record’ to ‘systems of engagement and intelligence’. This calls for new-age competencies largely driven by new-age technologies,” claims the study.
Pointing the challenges faces by CFOs, the study revels that availability of skilled person-power remains one of the biggest worries for CFOs.
“CFOs need to build relationship capital through greater people-oriented skills including communication and collaboration with teams across the organisation,” added the study. It further says, “CFOs need to be storytellers to present the larger corporate purpose as well as business, operational and financial strategy to multiple stakeholders.”
The study calls for educational institutions and professional bodies to curate new-age programs across these focus areas and new-age skills to enrich the capabilities and competencies of finance professions in the country.
Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Professional Learning at Krea University, said, “Technology is fast becoming the language of business, and sustainability its underlying grammar. Rapid digitalisation and a sharper focus on ESG have triggered a renaissance in the CFO office. Today’s CFOs play multiple roles—they are trusted partners to CEOs on not just financial but also strategic matters, conscience-keepers of Boards in enhancing stakeholder trust, storytellers deriving hindsights, insights and foresights from financial data, and PE-minded investors strengthening core businesses with investments in next-gen start-ups. This study delves into the skills, attributes and actions required of new-age CFOs to transform their organisations into purpose-led brands, drive profitable growth, enhance stakeholder satisfaction, and increase competitive differentiation.”
Preeta Misra, Senior Director, Dun & Bradstreet India said, “The relationship between a CEO and a CFO is critical for any business. Our study found that the ability to envision the business growth is the most important trait for a CFO. To be a trusted partner to the CEO, CFOs need newer skills to address newer demands of the market. The finance team now needs to become a multi-disciplinary team to champion organizational transformation, to manage existing challenges and capitalize on newer opportunities.”
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