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Which soft skills should employers look for in good finance candidates? We´ve listed the 4 most important ones.
In a world of digital transformation, there’s one area within finance which can’t be automated -- face-to-face communication with key stakeholders. This requires someone with a high level of interpersonal skills – an executive or manager that can positively engage with a range of different individuals. They will have to be able to closely collaborate with other teams in the company and convince them of their point of view.
These are the most important soft skills to look for in a good candidate:
Especially in international companies finance professionals are required to work across cultures. Not only should they ideally speak more than one language, they also should have experience abroad, or at least be able to work with colleagues from other countries that might have different ways of working or communicating.
Gone are the days where the finance team simply operated as a back-office function. Stakeholder engagement is now key for any finance professional to ensure visibility within the business, help improve compliance, and manage efficient processes through better understanding. This might simply be boosting the awareness around costs within the operational side of the business. Processes can only be improved through the proper management of stakeholders and ensuring that they are engaged with the purpose of the finance team.
As stakeholder engagement is key for finance professionals, it goes without saying that the ability to communicate effectively is a crucial skill. This goes beyond simply speaking clearly and actively listening to the business' needs. Being able to explain the more complex processes of finance in layman's terms, is a skill and with finance professionals now being required to engage more with the wider business, it will become increasingly important.
As finance is becoming less about traditional accounting and more involved in the business strategy, it´s important that finance professionals know how to get the buy-in of other departments. Good negotiating and influencing skills can help them, and the company, to reach their goals. A good negotiator knows how to make to make the different stakeholders feel good about an agreement. They get to know the people on the other side of the negotiation and find areas they have common.
As leading recruiters with a global network, we have an extensive database of top talented professionals to take your business to the next level, helping you to stay ahead of the competition.
For a confidential discussion on how we can help you get the best talent with the right skills, get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today.
