Liberty Bank’s CFO couldn’t find enough skilled finance/accounting people.
Hiring from outside was:
slow
hard
expensive
unreliable
So instead of waiting for perfect candidates, CFO Paul Young decided to build them himself...
What did he do
He combined 2 things:
1. Apprenticeship: People learn while working, with:
mentoring
training
coursework
a clear skill path
2. Job rotation: They move through different finance areas like:
accounting
treasury
procurement
FP&A
project management
So instead of training someone for one narrow job, he trains them to understand the whole finance function.
it worked.
Why did it work
Because it solved multiple problems at once:
More talent: he didn’t have to depend only on the external hiring market
Better retention: people stayed, because the bank invested in them
Stronger employer brand: people started hearing about the program and wanted in
More flexible hiring: he could take people from non-traditional backgrounds too
The big lesson for CFOs
You do not need to hire only the usual accounting profile forever.
You can take:
someone from another background
someone smart and motivated
someone early in their career
…and train them into the finance professional you need.
Stop complaining about the talent shortage and start building your own pipeline.