Five CFO Questions to Answer Before the Budget Meeting
The questions a CFO asks about manager development are fair, and you can see most of them coming. Prepare an honest answer to each one, with something from your own organization to support it.
Prepare your answers to the CFO's questions before the budget meeting, and be honest about what you can't promise. A CFO who sees that you've thought about the risks is more likely to take the rest of your case seriously.
Your CFO reads with a pen in hand
Imagine you lead L&D at a healthcare services company of 2,000 people, and you've sent the CFO a short proposal for a manager development program. She's careful with every budget line, and she has asked for 20 minutes before the budget meeting. When you sit down, you can see five questions written in the margin. Her questions are fair. She wants to know what she'd be paying for, and what could go wrong.
At a nonprofit, the same questions might come from the finance director and from a funder reviewing a capacity-building grant. The finance director has very little room in the budget, and the funder wants the grant to pay for training that lasts after the first group of managers moves on.
“Who on your team runs this, and what comes off their plate?”
This question is easy to skip, and answering it tells the CFO you've planned how the program will run. Name the people who will lead the program, how many hours a month it will take, and which work they'll hand off or slow down to make room. If nobody on your team has the time this year, say so, and propose a smaller start.
“Can't they learn on the job?”
They do learn on the job, and their teams live with the mistakes while they learn. Bring one example from your own organization, such as a theme in exit interviews from teams with first-year managers, or a project that slipped while a new manager was still learning the job.
“What if we train them and they leave?”
Some will, and it's worth saying so. Then talk about the managers who stay without the skills, and the people on their teams who leave because of them. If you track turnover on teams led by first-year managers, show that number.
“Why not buy a self-paced online course?”
A self-paced course can cover the basics, and some managers like learning that way, but it can't give managers practice with the colleagues they work with every day or answer a question three months later, when a conversation goes badly. Show the CFO which parts you'd cover online and which need people in a room together.
“Is there any evidence this pays off?”
Be careful here, and don't claim more than the evidence supports. One study looked at the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" from 1984 to 2009. A portfolio of their stocks returned 3.5% a year more than standard risk models predicted (Alex Edmans, Journal of Financial Economics, 2011). The study measured how employees experience work and didn't look at training, so use it only to show that how people feel about their work can show up in financial results. Then tell her which measures you'll report, and when.
Your own team will answer for the results
When your own team runs the program, you answer these questions with your own people and numbers, and you'll be the one reporting back next year. If the results fall short, for example if turnover on new managers' teams doesn't come down, there's no outside facilitator to point to. Your team will need to explain what happened and what you'll change.
Cost needs the same honesty. Running the program yourself means paying for your people's time, their preparation, and the materials, and for a small organization or a one-time need, an outside facilitator can cost less. Saying both of these in the meeting shows the CFO you've looked at the risks as well as the benefits.
In the masterclass, you'll work on a one-page business case that answers these questions for your organization. Save your seat here.
Join us on November 17 and 18
Your In-House Advantage is a free, live masterclass for internal HR, L&D, and OD leaders at organizations of 250 to 5,000 or more employees. It's two 90-minute working sessions, on Tuesday, November 17, and Wednesday, November 18, at 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am PT). In the first, we look at the patterns organizations fall into with new managers and what those patterns cost. In the second, you work on a solution for your own organization and leave with a one-page business case for your CFO.
It's live only, with no replay, and seats are limited. Nothing is sold in session one. In the last few minutes of session two, I'll explain how Symphony 100 works with organizations that want help.
Save my seat for November 17 and 18
Your CFO will probably ask at least one question you'd rather not hear. Before the meeting, pick the one you dread most, and practice your answer out loud until it sounds like you.
Frank November is the Founder & CEO of Symphony 100 and has been an Everything DiSC® Certified Practitioner since 2014. Symphony 100 Ltd. and Symphony 100 North America LLC are each independent, authorized partners of Everything DiSC® and The Five Behaviors®, which are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., or its affiliated companies.
