Caroline Fanning is Chief People Officer at Avanade where she is focused on making all employees feel inspired, confident and cared for.
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Recently, I was asked how my team at Avanade has been so successful in getting company support for our people priorities. That question was a good opportunity to think deeper about how we structure our approach to budgeting and making pitches for strategic investments. Looking back at my career and at other companies I'm familiar with, I realized we do things a little differently.
Our purpose is to make a genuine human impact. That's the thread that runs through everything we do. I'm lucky enough to work with a peer group that shares my passion for elevating our employee experience. However, like most companies, we have limited resources and sometimes I need to convince them to prioritize our people initiatives.
One asset we have can too often be considered an adversary: our company’s chief finance officer. One of the most important things I think a chief people officer can do is to partner with your CFO so that they become an advocate.
Get to know your CFO.
Admittedly, this was easy for me because my CFO and I share many similar experiences and interests. We agree 100% on the fundamental value and power of people in an organization, and we’re both incredibly passionate about inclusivity in the workplace. Most importantly, we understand that our roles are aligned. We may have different measures of success, but they aren’t mutually exclusive. They exist in synergy with each other.
For example, I set a goal to improve investment in our internal recognition programs so we could reach as many people as possible. That could feel like a proposal to spend millions without a guaranteed ROI. But my CFO realized that by building out this program, we would create an environment where people feel valued and want to stay. Retention is good for the business because it's less expensive than trying to fill open positions.
I know this way of working together doesn’t always come naturally, but the benefits are worth working toward. Here are some of my suggestions for building up the relationship.
• Learn your CFO's pressure points and concerns. That will help you understand their point of view.
• Identify what they value. If you know that, you can often find a win-win situation to present to them.
• Understand their drivers. How are they measured? How do they see their legacy? What does success look like to them? How can you help them achieve their goals?
• Find some common interests or passions. This enables you to connect on things that aren't necessarily work-related, which can ultimately help strengthen your professional relationship.
In my experience, once you understand these factors, you can begin to establish trust. From there, you and your CFO can help one another achieve your objectives.
Understand what 'no' means.
Avanade is in the professional services sector, so the health of our people-related programs has a direct correlation to our business success. When we look at where to make investments or prioritize time and capacity, we do it across our entire corporate scorecard. We aren't making decisions solely driven by traditional financial measures. Still, this doesn't mean every conversation I have with our CFO ends with a "yes." What's important is remembering that a "no" isn't always a hard stop.
All companies prioritize their valuable resources, and as the context changes, priorities will naturally shift. Your people-focused objectives won't always be at the top. Still, not every "no" you receive is a “never.” Sometimes, it's more of a “not yet.” If you've built a strong relationship with your CFO, the next time the situation changes, you may be able to discuss if there's an opportunity to approach your objective in a different way.
As I continue working in sync with my CFO, I'm convinced that building a collaborative working relationship with them is one of the most strategic moves an HR department can make. After all, there's a mutual commitment to executing a people-first agenda effectively in a savvy, affordable way that benefits the company. By learning to understand the CFO’s financial responsibilities and how they connect to people advocacy, HR professionals can find a way to achieve both individual deliverables and broader company objectives. Then, together, they can do what matters.
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