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By Matthew Quinn
Throughout the economic downturn, many workers have had to turn to the "at least I have a job" mantra to get through the workday. But as the employment situation improves, CFOs once again need to worry about worker retention.
The best retention tool is cold, hard cash - a fact not lost on finance executives. A survey of more than 1,400 CFOs by Accountemps found that three-quarter of respondents said they are willing to sweeten the pot to avoid losing their best employees when economic conditions improve.
In order to head off defections, 51 percent of the chief financial officers interviewed said they plan to promote top performers once the economy recovers and 48 percent plan to give raises.
Other steps companies plan to take to retain employees were increasing investment in professional development (41 percent), enhancing benefits (32 percent) and reinstating or increasing bonuses (26 percent). Twenty-four percent don't plan on taking any steps.
"Indispensable workers who helped businesses stay afloat during tough times will have new career options as conditions improve," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. "Employers need to make retention of top performers a high priority or risk losing these key players and, possibly, their competitive advantage."
Still, it remains to be seen when CFOs will really have to worry about employee turnover, as the US economy, even as it has rebounded, has yet to add more jobs than have been lost in any given month.
An earlier survey by Robert Half International, which owns Accountemps, found that 85 percent of CFOs don't anticipate any changes to their full-time accounting and finance personnel levels in the second quarter. Only 7 percent plan to add staff, while the remaining 8 percent expect to reduce staff.
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