Tom Stewart, chief knowledge officer at AchieveNEXT, discusses key insights from the global “2021 CFO-CHRO Sentiment Study,” including what’s top of mind for finance and people leaders in the coming year.
Audio also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
After a year like no other, CFOs and CHROs are looking to the future with a robust dose of optimism. A recent global survey by AchieveNEXT found that finance and HR leaders expect to grow both revenues and headcount, as well as develop better governance policies in response to a new, post-pandemic climate.
“The biggest internal roadblock is talent.”
Tom Stewart
Chief Knowledge Officer
AchieveNEXT
In this episode of the Workday Podcast, Tom Stewart, chief knowledge officer, AchieveNEXT, discusses key insights from the “2021 CFO-CHRO Sentiment Study” and what’s top of mind in the coming year for the C-suite executives who participated.
Below are highlights from Stewart, edited for clarity. Be sure to follow us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. You can also find other podcast episodes here.
“72% say they expect to close the books on a growing year. But the interesting sub-number on that is 50% say that they expect double-digit growth. … They also expect to see similar but not-quite-so-fast growth in headcount. So they're going to be adding to the top line. And there are some exceptions to this, but, basically, it's across industries.”
“The biggest internal roadblock [for CFOs and CHROs] is talent. … Both the nose counters and the bean counters, if you will, said that acquisition of and retention of talent was a big source of economic concern.”
“It's really nice to see that more people are talking about talent costs and sort of microeconomic ‘How do I run my business?’ issues than, ‘What in the world is happening outside that's going to crash down on my business?’”
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