But it seems that gravity is now reasserting itself. Renewed fears about a sovereign default by Greece and the impact on Europe and the rest of the world, slower than expected growth in the US and a spate of announcements about employee firings at Bank of America, HSBC and other banks are fuelling uncertainty – and may be starting to crimp the expansion plans of many organisations.

 

At least that is the view of Eunice Ng, Director at Hong Kong’s Avanza Consulting. She is detecting a bit more caution in the recruitment of finance professionals because of the current volatility. “I worked on recruitment [for a senior finance post] in another Asian country,” she recounts. “The candidate already passed the CFO and the CEO and only had to meet the business partner in Hong Kong.”

 

When the macro-economic environment changed, however, “they no longer had the urgency,” says Ng. “They now want to defer [the recruitment] to the end of the year.” Another client in Hong Kong has decided to trim the compensation package it is willing to offer. Instead of recruiting a senior finance director, it is now looking for a controller who will be paid about 10% lower. “But the job is the same, the same qualifications, the same experience,” says Ng.  

 

It is too early to say whether these anecdotes add up to a trend reversal. Our previous story was based on a survey commissioned by executive headhunter Robert Half in June, which questioned 3,542 HR and finance and accounting professionals in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. The current economic volatility started in August, when the US lost its triple-A credit rating from Standard & Poor’s.

 

Avanza still paints a picture of robust demand for finance professionals – but mainly for senior people who speak and read English and Mandarin and who demonstrate commercial sense. For these candidates, says Ng, companies will consider hefty salary packages and other perks, including signing bonuses, which are consistent with the findings of the Robert Half workplace survey.

 

“A candidate with a superb background is always the most popular candidate,” she says. “Yesterday, I spoke to a CFO and she told me, ‘You know what? It’s been quiet for almost half a year, but suddenly in these two months I received so many calls from recruiters.’” This CFO is trilingual – she speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese – and is focused on business partnering, not just on closing the books on time or being a compliance person.

 

“No matter if you are a functional expert or a well-rounded generalist as head of finance, you need to have a fabulous commercial sense,” says Ng. “Commercial savvy, this is very important. Senior finance managers will be called upon by the MD or CEO in the absence of the CFO. Even if you are the head of tax or internal audit head, you will need to be commercially savvy; you can’t just put forward the compliance aspects or the data.” You will need to frame the information in the context of the company’s commercial operations.

 

Also essential, says Ng, are the soft skills – the ability to communicate, inspire and get along well with superiors, peers and subordinates. “A lot of candidates fail not because of technical skills, but because they lack the soft skills that companies are looking for.”