UPFRONT Step up

Finance managers across the nation may be quietly counting the rungs on their organisation’s internal promotional ladder, according to new survey by Robert Half Finance & Accounting. Research into the aspirational career plans of finance managers in 11 countries shows strong desire to shoot for the top job.
Here in New Zealand, almost third of the finance managers surveyed said they wanted to become CEO. This places them in second equal place with their Italian counterparts and ranks them just behind their Ozzie mates.
But Robert Half Finance & Accounting New Zealand manager Kim Smith points out that many finance managers will need to broaden their skills. Traditional areas of weakness include information delivery, interpersonal and managerial skills and technological competence.
Get that right, however, and our erstwhile bean counters stand sporting chance of making it to the top slot. Internal promotion is alive and kicking. Over third (38 percent) of Kiwi respondents said their current CEO was promoted from within their organisation.
Not surprisingly, one of the main barriers is reportedly the relatively small size of New Zealand organisations. Add to that lack of training opportunities and high rates of competition within the workplace.
Just over half of the New Zealand finance and HR managers surveyed said the key qualities of successful CEO are effective communication skills, management capacity (45 percent), vision (40 percent) – and background in finance (26 percent).