The View From The CFO’s Office 3/5

Topics: HRExaminer, John Sumser, by John Sumser

view of Manhattan in HRExaminer article View from the CFO Office

We are so busy making sure we don’t trip over a policy that we lose sight of who and what are valuable along with what’s not.

More from the CFO’s perspective

D. Turnover Analysis: Keeping Your Best and Brightest

It’s common for CFO’s to view HR as an obstruction to attracting and retaining the best employees. It seems like there are endless layers of rules, regulations, and procedures that prevent us from harnessing and cultivating critical talent. This sense that HR is the employment practice police gets in the way of how we think about people.

We are so busy making sure we don’t trip over a policy that we lose sight of who and what are valuable along with what’s not.

In Finance, every asset has a useful life. You make an investment, then you depreciate it as you extract value. This is how employee attrition analysis should go. With employees, their value is what the bring to the company and the work they do.

Any useful analysis also needs to note that every employee is part of some larger class and also extremely important as an individual.

Like all assets, we make decisions about the group and then implement those decisions on an individual basis. Every individual case is subject to interpretation. One of the goals of an HR function should be the continuous identification and assessment of value creation.

This kind of key person analysis focuses on the degree to which individuals and departments are responsible for making the company vital. Across the board, we need to be able to see the data in all relevant slices (jobs, departments, regions, industries). Understanding the context creates a foundation for individual case examination and general trend response.

Our biggest concern is attrition in people whose departure creates pressure on price, schedule, or quality. The biggest risks are the people whose departure creates the greatest inconvenience in either the near or long term. A great analysis guides us through the decisions required to protect our investment.

The series



About the author

John Sumser

John Sumser is a principal analyst for HRExaminer, an independent analyst firm covering HR Technology and the intersection of people, tech, and work. John’s mix of experience over the course of his career gives him a broad and unique perspective on the industry. Like anyone trying to process a lot of information, he is two or three steps ahead in some areas and still learning about others. Sumser’s work includes deep research into the nooks and crannies of HR Technology to identify and explain rapidly evolving trends. Built on a foundation of engineering, design, and philosophy, John’s seeks to understand and advise clients on where their technology works best, for whom, and in what context. Each year, John examines the insides of hundreds of companies, their products, and ecosystems. He delivers vendor analysis by building the framework from which to deliver the critique. He is constantly connecting and making visible the front end of change. He can help you see the path of evolution and the risks on the journey. The HRExaminer is Sumser’s vehicle for understanding and explaining the inner workings of the industry. With three weekly podcasts, and written commentary, he covers emerging ideas, the state of the industry, and the executives who operate it.

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view of Manhattan skyline in HRExaminer article View from the CFO Office part 2
The View From The CFO’s Office 2/5

Part II: Two essential questions are: “What’s the best way to invest the resources we have?” and “What are the...

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