In Search of the Right Skill Set

In Thailand today, many companies are encountering the shortage of professional employees especially in finance and accounting fields. This might be partly due to the recent reopening of the country after COVID-19. Some companies have struggled with high turnover rate of staff. Moreover, the new generation employees seem to change jobs more frequently than before. The biggest problem is that these employees would give very short advance notice, and want to leave the existing company suddenly once they've got a new job. This not only cause the delay in fulfilling the vacancy but also the lack of proper job handover.

As the head of accounting and finance, I have to make some change in building a strong finance team. Instead of recruiting staffs from qualification and experience background, I start looking at the required skill set. I used to work for a finance director who did not have finance background but he was so good at numbers which is one of the most sought after attributes for the position.

Currently, when I go through all resumes coming to my desk, I cannot properly identify which candidate should be selected for an interview. Certainly, I may miss a good candidate by merely basing on the education and firms that candidate had worked for in the past. Why reviewing each resume, I will have the following questions in my mind:

* Can you do the account analysis to support my month-end close properly?

* Do you work fast enough to avoid long outstanding work?

* Do you need me to keep follow-up util your job get done?

* Will you review your subordinate job before sending to me?

* Will you have a list of outstanding items on hand so that you will not miss anything important that needs to be done?

My past experiences give me the 3 levels of subordinates:

1. The staff who can perform routine job without proper communication on the progress. This group of subordinates may hold issues until they become very serious or too late to fix. They keep working quietly alone. I would say this group represents around 70%-80%.
2. The staff who keep their supervisor updated on progress of the work being done. When there is problem, they will come to consult with the boss without delay. There is a dangerous attitude in telling problem that it will cause the teller to look bad. This group of people may represents only 75%-95%.
3. The last group of staff which is very rare to find is those who will recommend the better way of working or make some positive change. This is why in the performance appraisal form. I will never agree when my direct staff evaluate the subordinate with excellent score on "initiative and creativity". This group may represent 5%-10%. Unfortunately, I believe most companies may find less than 5%.

The important skill sets for the right candidate for me will include but not limit to the following:

* Self-motivation - this means the person will keep moving and make progress until the target is met without delay.

* Action-centric - white-collar people must make sure that they have evidently done the job and the ball must not be on their hand all the time. At least, they should quickly pass the finished part of the job to the next station all the time.

* Solution-base - my staffs should always think of solutions to the problems. They should not try to explain why the problem must exist but instead consider problem as part of the job to be fixed.

* Successor-mindset - finally, I am looking for someone who can replace me all the time. I will share information among potential successors so that they can show their capability. When the time has come, these new team will take over current management team for the sake of corporate sustainability.

Anyone who is interested in the open job above, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks.

Yanyong Thammatucharee