Jessica Timelin is clear: “I’ve worked in treasury recruitment for 11 years, and this current period is unprecedented in terms of how busy it’s been. Since 1 January this year, it hasn’t stopped.”
As senior operating director for corporate services and finance at Michael Page, she knows the treasury recruitment market as well as anyone. “It’s a perfect storm – even during the pandemic amid hiring freezes – because treasury’s so important in terms of managing cash and liquidity. As we come out of the downturn, we see the immediate need to hire; there’s a domino effect whereby anyone who leaves has to be replaced.
“And there’s a lot of pent-up demand in part because a lot of the projects that got put on hold during COVID-19 are now ramping up – whether they be TMS implementation or requests for proposals for banks.”
Martha Pierce agrees that the recruitment market is running hot. As the head of treasury at Pure Search’s CFO Practice, she believes the delayed repercussions of COVID-19 are now being felt. “During the pandemic other projects went on hold and treasury became front and centre; the board wanted to know: ‘What’s our liquidity?’
“And I think because treasurers were delivering that information daily to senior leaders, if your treasurer wasn’t good enough at delivering that, then you’re possibly going to invest in that area as we come out of COVID.”
And it’s not just improving the quality of treasury teams – finance transformation projects and treasury management system (TMS) implementation need to be delivered.
As we come out of the downturn, we see the immediate need to hire; there’s a domino effect whereby anyone who leaves has to be replaced
“Some businesses may have felt they were caught short by COVID-19 and need to beef up their treasury resource. And then you’ve got fast-growth businesses that might be private equity-backed that want to put a treasurer in there,” Pierce says.
That energy is reflected at corporate level. One treasurer at a large food business says their most recent recruitment effort took place earlier this year at the senior analyst level: “I was certainly surprised at the salary level and competitive market, which meant we therefore needed to offer a broad role with transparent progression to the next level to attract good talent.”
Clearly, securing a good candidate in such a market is a serious challenge, and one that involves more than simply offering more money. Now, Pierce says, salary is often trumped by two factors that are often linked: working arrangements and opportunities for development.
“Hybrid working is one key,” she says. “From a hiring perspective it tends to be the majority are offering three days a week in the office, with some saying four. The reality on the ground is more like two days. And speaking to treasurers about how they run their teams, most are back in the office in varied ways, so it depends on the individual teams.”
The food treasurer’s experience reflects this. “Being strict, such as demanding five days a week in the office, would certainly be a competitive disadvantage now,” they say. “Therefore, we need to be pragmatic. The key aspect is to drive the right culture: if teams are motivated, committed and clear on priorities and flexible, being precise on days in the office versus days working from home is less important.”
“Our official line is working from the office three days a week,” says Joe Peka, treasurer at Urenco. “In practice, we are working one or two days a week when the whole team can work together on team activities, have one-to-one meetings and have unstructured discussions.”
Meanwhile, one treasurer in a property company that recently set out a three-day office/ home split says that flexibility is now a given; it’s a two-way street. “We are flexible week to week – but if someone only wants to work from home, then they are not the right person for a property company.”
And while they haven’t had to flex this yet to attract people, the property treasurer says: “I think this is the right balance and I do attribute a lot of benefit to being in the same physical office for at least part of the week for collaboration, development, training, culture and so on.”
And that development point is the second big enticement. “For the businesses that recruit well, offering new hires the chance to shadow their financing, get involved with the CFO’s strategic initiatives and perhaps handle more complex banking relationships is an important selling point,” says Timelin.
“So, if you’re looking to hire, ask what shadowing, coaching and exposure to strategic aspects you can offer. You might not let them do it, but what can you show them?”
Any recruiter that wants full office attendance will have a smaller pool of individuals to recruit from
Timelin says in her experience the opportunity to get involved in technology implementation and external relationships offers a hugely attractive chance to round out a gap in an ambitious treasury manager’s CV. But offering that needs senior treasurers to take a deliberate and structured approach.
“In that senior treasury manager market, which is buoyant, if you can show a candidate that you’ll expose them to the debt capital markets and give them an insight into that, that’s a good offer – because these younger treasurers usually want to get to the top job in treasury and they know they need that exposure in order to achieve it.
“The chance to grab some exposure to debt, or owning bank relationships, or vast international currency transactions – if they don’t already have it – is compelling.”
Peka has already carefully designed a plan to ensure that time in the office is well spent. “We are not worried about technical development, as running courses and training sessions remotely has worked in the past,” he says, but admits that building connections with non-treasury team members requires more effort.
“Typically, the business now uses the days that the whole team is in the office to connect to non-treasury team members.”
But he does sound a note of caution: “Flexibility, once given, is difficult to rein in, though, and any recruiter that wants full office attendance will have a smaller pool of individuals to recruit from or will need to offer a much better compensation package.”
For the property company treasurer, like any episode of major change, there are two sides to the coin: “Our recruitment has gone OK so far, although clearly salary expectations are higher. I think COVID-19 has caused more people to take stock and think about what they want to do next – which has led to some of my staff moving on; but has led to other talent being available.”
The generalised offer of more flexibility is already upending well-defined regional trends – traditional catchment areas and limits may no longer apply. That has had an impact on regional recruitment trends. “It’s definitely easier to recruit,” says Jessica Timelin.
“London’s always been a candidate-rich pool anyway, but if you’ve got a client in the north Home Counties or Cambridge, for instance, you do get people living in north London who might consider that – previously they wouldn’t have. And, of course, from an employer perspective, they’ve got more choice, which is a good thing.”
“I’ve seen this happen more than I ever did before COVID-19,” agrees Martha Pierce. “I have a group treasurer in Scotland that’s now got a London job. I’ve seen South East-based companies bring on people from the north, so it has opened up the rest of the country.
“You’ve got candidates from Brighton coming to London twice a week; pre-COVID that would have been very difficult, but that’s changed, and it’s opening up the country a bit more.”
Pierce gives the example of Home Counties treasury teams that might have struggled to access London talent – despite their proximity – now finding that a little easier. “That means you can focus on finding the right job as opposed to simply being led by location.”
“I think those regional changes are mostly positive,” say Joe Peka. “We can recruit from a broader geographical area, as some candidates can see themselves travelling a larger distance if it’s only for a couple of days. For individuals who want to come to the office more frequently, they also have the flexibility to do that as well.”
See the Association of Corporate Treasurer’s research at treasurers.org/hub/research/business-of-treasury-2022
Christian Doherty is a freelance business writer and former editor of The Treasurer
This article was taken from Issue 3, 2022 of The Treasurer magazine. For more great insights, log in to view the full issue or sign up for eAffiliate membership
