‘Curious type’ of CFO business confidence: Deloitte
Three-quarters of chief financial officers are feeling optimistic about the current financial prospects of their company but challenges in the economic environment mean their risk appetite has decreased.
CFO’s optimism about the financial prospects of their companies had fallen from 83% at the end of 2021 to a still relatively strong figure of 75% while the net optimism of CFOs now relative to six months ago dipped into negative territory, at -8%.
Deloitte partner, and CFO program leader, Stephen Gustafson, said: “Over the past 18 months, our survey has reported a curious type of business confidence, where CFOs were rating uncertainty as high, but also thought it was a good time to be taking on more risk – to get on with the job.
“We’re now in a different monetary and fiscal environment compared to only a year ago, and that has seen a dip in net optimism, an indicator that had been in positive territory over the previous three surveys.”
The report showed uncertainty remained high among CFOs – albeit driven by the new risks of rising inflation and interest rates – but risk appetite had fallen significantly.
The result was that only 25% of CFOs now thought it was a good time to take on risk, down from 58% six months ago – the starkest result in this survey.
One thing that CFOs were certain about was that difficulties in securing and retaining key talent continued to pose a risk to their business. Nine in 10 of the CFOs surveyed cited this as one of the top risks on their mind this year for the second time in a row.
Some 85% of CFOs surveyed believed that the best strategy to skill, reskill and upskill their employees was to offer them practical, on-the-job experience which supported productivity and helped employee engagement.
However, the majority of CFOs (77%) believed their company’s limited in-house training and reskilling capability was the biggest factor inhibiting the growth and development of employees.
Gustafson said: “The disruptions created by COVID lockdowns have also emphasised the importance of upskilling employees to equip businesses to adapt to the rapidly changing environment”.
“Nearly 60% of CFOs believe that focusing on improving culture, wellbeing and experience – and including hybrid working options – within their business is one key to lifting business productivity and supporting talent acquisition and retention efforts.”
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