What does the war

for talent and

increased
digitisation of the
finance function
mean for the
CFO?
With recruitment challenges and the impending VAT
launch, finance in the Middle East is at a crossroads.
How will this impact the CFO role?
From the recruitment of top finance talent to understanding what it takes to be
a modern CFO in todays fast-changing world, this report looks at the career
challenges faced by finance professionals in the region today and the
solutions available to overcome these obstacles.
RECRUITING TOP FINANCE TALENT
The first, and yet potentially highest hurdle for building a skilled
and forward-looking finance workforce in the region, is
recruitment.
There is still a war for talent in finance across the region,
commented Gareth El Mettouri, associate director at recruitment
company Robert Half UAE. The shortage is such that we see
candidates in positions where they are considering multiple
employment options. They may be looking at up to four potential
offers.
Robert Halfs recent survey of 75 CFOs based in the UAE
revealed indeed that 29 percent find recruitment very
challenging and 60 percent somewhat challenging. Over a and empower new recruits with the latest technology.
third (35 percent) of the organisations surveyed say that the
primary reason they find it difficult to find talented professionals
today is the lack of niche, technical experts.
VAT launch creating additional pressure
However, ahead of two key events that will soon impact the
financial landscape in the region the introduction of value
added tax (VAT) in 2018 and the build-up to Dubai Expo 2020
the need for skilled new hires is greater than ever.
Both of these initiatives will drive demand for tax specialists and
management accountants in the lead-up to their introduction and
after, creating stronger demand for financial professionals who
can help organisations deal with the changes new tax regimes
will introduce, said the Robert Half report.
In this context, what can business leaders do to attract top
finance talent? First of all they need to make sure they are
aligned with the competition, El Mettouri said.
Businesses must think hard about the benefits they offer as an
employer. To attract expats for instance, they need to offer good
benefits in their package like schooling or housing contribution.
They may also want to offer flexible working, pay for additional
qualifications or consider if they would fund an MBA.
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Recruiting more Millennials
El Mettouri said that to attract candidates, recruiters are also
turning to more innovative methods like social media or the use
of professional platforms like LinkedIn. This is increasingly
important given the growing Millennial workforce in the region,
he explained.
This is another consideration for the recruitment of finance
talent. With its demographic youth bulge the Middle East is
preparing to welcome a wave of younger workers with different
expectations and attitudes from previous generations.
To attract tech-savvy Millennials into finance roles, GCC
organisations need to ensure they relax hierarchical structures
According to a survey by the UK-based Ashridge Business
School of 300 young people in GCC countries, Millennials want
visionary and democratic rather than commanding
managers; they want to develop people and leadership skills
to succeed and can help older colleagues with technology.
Furthermore, and this is very specific to the region, Millennials in
GCC countries value qualifications and formal training.
CLOSING THE SKILLS GAP: THE MODERN CFO
Attracting more Millennials to the profession is key, not just for
businesses but the growth of the whole region amid a lack of
appropriate skills.
The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), an association
of accountants and finance professionals in business,
highlighted the urgent need to tackle the Middle Easts financial
competency gap, which it believes will put a brake on the
regions economic development.
In the region, as well as throughout many areas of the world,
there is a competency gap between what businesses need
versus the skills of management accountants on the job, said
Jeff Thomson, president and CEO of IMA.
 The CFOs changing role

Management accounting is a continually changing profession.

Advancements in technology, the globalisation of business, and
changing regulations are some of the factors affecting the
profession, said Thomson.

The competency gap begins in academia, he explained.

Undergraduate accounting programmes largely havent kept
pace with the profession. New graduates are often unprepared
for careers in management accounting. The competency gap
widens as CFOs, and their teams, are challenged to perform in
increasingly strategic roles.

Thomson said CFOs face a multitude of risks and opportunities

in the face of the rapidly changing business landscape.
Increasingly, CFOs are expected to get more involved in market
research or making the decision on what software to use to
provide real-time insight on dashboards and reports.

The CFOs relationship with other business functions is also

evolving. With the right operating systems, CFOs are also
expected to work closely and cross functionally with operations
to make cost-efficient decisions, be more involved in debt
management and enabling innovation to create value for their
enterprise.

A growing list of required competencies

GCC businesses are increasingly looking for tech-savvy CFOs,

especially those with experience of software implementation,
according to Omer Zakaria, senior consultant at recruitment
specialist Robert Walters.

If you are implementing large enterprise software across

regional offices in several countries and entities, then the CFO is
a key point of contact since he will have to map out the different

processes. He has to understand how the IT systems work and how that can be reflected in the financial numbers.

The job then takes on a more strategic role. Using advanced analytics, the modern CFO should also be able to create various scenarios
based on the data and information at his disposal to help the companys board make decisions. A CFO with that type of experience
would automatically have an advantage over someone who has not done it before.

This is particularly important as GCC businesses try to extend their reach beyond the region and attempt to tap into the global market
and diversify an economy over-reliant on oil production and exports.

As GCC businesses become more global and multi-structured companies, they look for finance leaders who can help them get fit for the
digital era in terms of finances but also in terms of IT qualifications, systems and updates. CFOs have to look at finance but also
collaborate with other departments such as IT, HR, supply chain, procurement etc. The function was always commercial but it has also
become a lot more operational, said Zakaria.

Beyond core numeracy and technology skills, so-called soft skills are also more and more in demand. A lot of companies in the Middle
East are now moving away from the traditional process of reporting straight to the board. There is a lot more team work involved, so
modern CFOs need to be good communicators, have good languages skills, know how to present a business case to the rest of the
organisation, and know how to perform under pressure.

The strategic CFO

There is, admittedly, a danger that the CFO in todays demanding and fast-paced business paradigm becomes a one-man orchestra
responsible for functions way beyond the traditional responsibilities of financial reporting, audit and compliance, planning, treasury and
capital structure. Already they often act as the voice of the business in investor relations and in communications to the board.

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However, another way to look at it is to consider that finance
leaders will be empowered by the innovative automation
technologies that are replacing manual processes for
transactions, planning, reporting and analysis. They will have
more time to focus on what increasingly matters in todays
competitive world: value creation and strategic decision-making.
In the future, CFOs will be able to play a more active role in
corporate portfolio management and capital allocation.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
To support the increasingly versatile, modern CFO, the
acquisition of further skills is a necessity that is particularly
acute in a region where the business environment is changing
fast.
Specific learning needs
There are important training requirements for local businesses
to move to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS),
said Michael Turner, accounting expert and trainer at Leoron
Professional Development Institute in Dubai.
standards based more on rules, like SOCPA widely used in
Saudi Arabia for instance, to IFRS, which is an approach based
more on principles. For finance professionals in the reporting
area this is an important consideration.
SOCPA refers to the accounting standards developed by the
Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants.
Another need in the region is in how the budget is prepared and
used to monitor business performance, which requires an
update, Turner said, adding that many companies around the
globe are moving to newer techniques of budgeting.
There is a technique called beyond-budgeting where
companies get away from the traditional annual budget cycle,
which often means that by the end of the first quarter the annual
budget is out of date, he said.
Many forward-looking companies such as American Express,
Google, Toyota, and Unilever have transitioned to more modern
techniques to break down the budget process between
forecasting, planning, resource allocation, and the bonus
process in order to enhance company performance.

This requires a significant mindset change within local According to Turner, finance leaders in the region do not spend
organisations, because they have to move from current enough time thinking about the information that can be used to

help management make better decisions and are too often focused on preparing standard reports.
If finance professionals could enhance their ability to analyse figures and numbers and present this information to decision-makers to
help them make better calls, this would place the GCC in a much better place going forward to enhance financial performance.

Finally, GCC businesses have to look at educating their workforce for the upcoming launch of VAT, since this is new to the region, said
Turner.

The training requirements in VAT are mostly for process and system changes as they need to be adjusted to take into account the
input and output VAT. In other words, the VAT that you get back on what you paid your suppliers and pay the net difference to the tax
authorities.

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A shifting macroeconomic landscape
Overall, the main challenges finance professionals will face
going forward is the fact the business environment will become
much more competitive, according to Turner.
In the past, during the era of high oil prices, there wasnt the
same level of cost control and consciousness about how to
optimise the profits because there were sufficient cash reserves.
Now the region is less reliant on the petroleum industry, there
will be more pressure on finance professionals as margins get
squeezed and further cost controls measures are needed.
Going forward, he said CFOs will be expected to become more
strategic business partners and help the boards and CEOs
optimise the decisions to allocate resources which until now
have not been so urgent given the surplus of cash in the region.
The CFOs will have to have a much better grasp of cash flow,
costs and funding.
This echoes research by IMA. The institute has identified three
imperatives that it believes finance executives need to prioritise
in order to shape critical decisions: enhance organisational
alignment by integrating planning and reporting to create one
version of the truth that unifies all decision makers; facilitate
informed decision-making to increase organisation value; and
manage the impact of change and volatility to ensure stability
and business growth.
Unfortunately, there is no one-shot training for CFOs to develop
these traits and skills, said Hanady Khalife, IMAs Middle East
and Africa director of operations. This is a conscious effort on
the part of the professionals themselves, especially those who
hold leadership positions, to develop these skills through
ongoing professional development and dialogue with successful
finance leaders.
Practical Training
However, businesses wishing to train and enhance the skills of
finance employees and leaders with a more practical approach
have a vast array of methods to choose from.
An obvious, but lengthy and expensive process, is sending the
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workforce back to school to gain an additional diploma or
degree, be it an MSc Finance course or an executive MBA.
Other possibilities include the organisation of external
certification programmes, programmes sponsored by external
education institutions, or coaching or mentoring by more senior
colleagues.
E-learning, meanwhile, is a method that is gaining traction in the
region. In a survey of major human capital trends in the Middle
East and in the UAE last year, consultancy firm Deloitte noted
that the region is making progress in adopting new technologies
and embracing new learning models, with 22 percent of its
survey respondents using massive open online courses
(MOOCs) as a non-traditional means to support employee
development.
MOOCs are courses aimed at unlimited participation and open
access via the internet.
One of the key topics discussed in the UAE World Government
Summit was cloud education. Accordingly, there is an increasing
understanding of what MOOCs are and how important they can
be to enhance the learning experience of employees within
organisations. While the government intends to use this to
develop the education sector in the country, if used on a
corporate level, it would increase the degree of commitment and
engagement of employees, the firm noted.
COLLABORATING WITH HR
Deloitte identified learning as one of the top three human capital
trends in 2016 in the Middle East and UAE, the other two being
digital HR and HR analytics.
In terms of talent management, the human resources market
has come leaps and bounds, noted Gareth El Mettouri of
Robert Half UAE.
Companies in the region are now properly investing in HR
teams, technology and processes. They see the need for
ongoing professional learning and development. Due to the high
costs of recruitment, and when employee turnover is important,
there is a loss of knowledge. They obviously want to avoid that
and are developing strategies to retain talent.
 People Analytics

Among these strategies are the use of technology like

automation of performance-management processes and
predictive analytics. This can help HR departments monitor
employee performance more effectively and identify the
individuals they will retain, the ones showing leader potential
and those who are likely to leave the organisation.

Automated talent management solutions help provide more

visibility into employee activities and achievements, keeping
staff engaged and improving retention, which is a key HR
objective.

Enhancing employee productivity, reducing labour costs and

keeping the talent pipeline full make a tangible difference to the
bottom line, which is also a priority for CFOs, illustrating the
convergence between the departments priorities.

Conclusion

The success of an enterprise depends foremost on its people. In

a shifting and increasingly competitive business environment,
every organisation in the GCC should have a sound talent
management strategy in place as part of their overall growth
plan.

This strategy should cover every aspect of human resources,

from recruitment to training and performance optimisation to
grow the leaders of tomorrow. It should include digital tools and
solutions that enhance cross-functional collaboration and
provide a unique opportunity to approach the people challenge
in a more holistic, and thus efficient, way.