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Reward and retention of finance professionals
When the economic environment is tight, the retention of finance staff in public sector organisations can be challenging, as Ross Campbell explains.
In times of financial constraint it can be hard to attract and retain appropriately qualified and experienced professional staff. Very often well qualified employees not only have a good understanding of their market value, but are increasingly prepared to move to other organisations if they feel their talents and experience are not being fully recognised. While this is a problem for smaller and medium enterprises, these challenges are particularly acute in the public and charity sectors, where organisations tend not to be willing or able to match the pay levels seen in large corporations or professional firms.
In the public sector and charitable sector, organisations very often rely on employees being attracted by some other less tangible factor than financial reward. They often appeal either to notions of public service, or present the prospect of employment with them as an opportunity to ‘do good’. This is often accompanied by the offer of a better ‘work-life balance’ than is normally found in big companies or firms. Furthermore, in environments where hard professional skills are in short supply, there is also the prospect of being able to have a disproportionate effect on the operations of the organisation.