Companies Hiring Financial Professionals to Fill Voids

Companies in the San Fernando Valley region are starting to hire again to fill financial positions that were cut during the recession. As economic recovery gradually occurs and businesses look to grow and expand, they are reassessing their operations, area executive recruiters say. More companies are bringing on temporary and full-time professionals to shore up weaknesses in their financial operations, which became apparent when the economy soured. “When things are good, it is easy for any executive to look good,” said Fleming Jones, a partner in executive recruitment firm FlemingMartin in Westlake Village. “In a tough time, that is when you see who your A players are.” So far this year, about 80 percent of the firm’s work has been in searches for candidates to fill financial positions, Jones said. Landscaping giant ValleyCrest Companies in Calabasas spent between three and four months looking for a new chief financial officer to replace Andy Mandell. Mandell was promoted in June to CEO of the company’s development division. The company’s search lead to Richard Wolff, who previously worked for a media company in Sherman Oaks, and before that, worked for Castle & Cooke, a holding company owned by David Murdock of Dole Inc. “What intrigued me was not closing the books and doing the numbers,” Wolff said. “It was being a strategic partner.” A recent national survey of 1,400 chief financial officers, conducted by staffing firm Robert Half International, found that 7 percent planned to hire full-time finance and accounting employees. In the Pacific region – California, Oregon and Washington State – that number was 10 percent. Chris Garza, Robert Half’s regional vice president in the San Fernando Valley, said the financial positions most in demand are financial analysts, business system analysts and senior accountants. Most of the company’s placements for financial positions are temporary positions, Garza said. Companies are hiring temporary workers to get through busy times, but they’re not ready to hire people full-time, he said. The Century Group, an executive recruitment firm with offices in Glendale, has seen a 62 percent increase in its temporary hiring of financial professionals over a 12-month-period, said Ron Blair, a managing director with the firm. Search and placement for full-time professionals has increased 58 percent, Blair said. At public companies, where financial operations have come under close scrutiny by shareholders and audit committees of the boards of directors, leaders are looking for financial executives who can handle tighter controls, Blair said. “These companies have financial controls and want the right people to make sure those controls are implemented and executed,” Blair said. Clients are making changes to their financial leadership as they eye opportunities to go public, or seek out mergers and acquisitions, Jones said. “(Executives) have to make sure the financial house is in order and have experienced CFOs who can work with Wall Street and private investors,” Jones said. Mandell had been CFO at ValleyCrest for 10 years. The biggest change during that time was the owners’ decision in 2006 to accept funding from outside investors. As a result of that decision, the new CFO needed to understand capital markets, Mandell said. “When I came to the company that was not a big of a deal, because it was privately held,” he said. Additionally, ValleyCrest’s new CFO needed to be an advisor to the company chairman and CEO and to show analytical thinking about the company’s future, Mandell said. ValleyCrest is growing by adding new clients and through acquisitions. Late last year, ValleyCrest bought two landscaping firms in Florida. “Hiring an accountant is easy to do,” Mandell said, noting the company needed “someone who is a strategic and broader business thinker.” Wolff exhibited a combination of desired skills, which is why the company hired him, he said. Businesses want the very best candidates, but they are not always successful in finding them, recruiters say. According to the Robert Half report, 41 percent of the financial professionals surveyed had difficulty in finding highly qualified people to fill vacancies. Companies today want candidates who possess more of every skill – integrity, leadership, confidence, assertiveness, said Adam Kaufman, a partner in KaufmanHunt, a search firm in Woodland Hills. “There is a lot of unemployment, so they can be selective and in charge in a tighter market,” Kaufman said. It’s difficult to zero in on the best candidates, because help-wanted ads get seen by such a broad readership that a company then has to sift through a huge stack of resumes, Garza said. “Sometimes it is frustrating for them to do that, which is why the reach out to recruiting firms,” he said.