The Secret to Retaining Your Best Finance Talent (So They Don’t Jump Ship)
Your Best Finance People Are Quietly Job Hunting – Here’s How to Keep Them
You’ve hired a brilliant finance professional. They’re smart, commercially switched on, and exactly what your business needs.
Fast forward 18 months… and they’ve just handed in their notice.
- “I’ve been offered a new opportunity.”
- “It’s time for the next step in my career.”
- “It’s not you, it’s me.” (But actually… it IS you.)
Sound familiar? If your best people keep leaving, you’re probably making the same mistakes most companies do.
Here’s how to stop your top finance talent from walking out the door (before your competitor snaps them up).
1. Stop Waiting Until They Resign to Offer Them a Pay Rise
Nothing makes an employee update their LinkedIn faster than feeling underpaid.
If your best finance people are doing amazing work but getting paid below market rate, they’re already looking elsewhere.
Biggest mistake businesses make?
- Ignoring salary conversations until someone threatens to leave.
- Only giving pay rises when employees push for them.
- Thinking loyalty means they’ll stay without better pay.
How to fix it:
- Benchmark salaries properly (Hi, We Do Benchmark!) and make sure your pay is competitive.
- Have proactive pay discussions—don’t wait until they ask.
- If someone is due a raise, give it before they start looking elsewhere.
Rule of thumb: If their only way to get a pay rise is to threaten to leave, they’ll actually leave.
2. Give Them a Reason to Stay (Beyond Just Money)
Spoiler: Your best finance people aren’t just looking for a paycheck—they want progression.
If they don’t see a future with you, they’ll start planning their exit.
What makes top talent stay?
- A clear career path. What’s next—Finance Director? CFO? A bigger, more strategic role?
- New challenges & responsibilities. Nobody wants to do the same thing forever.
- Leadership exposure. Can they step up, join leadership meetings, and have a bigger say in decisions?
What pushes them away?
- “Just keep doing what you’re doing” with no progression plan.
- Being stuck in a finance silo with no exposure to the wider business.
- Watching external hires get promoted over them.
How to fix it:
- Have honest career conversations—don’t assume they’re happy staying put.
- Give them bigger projects, not just more work.
- Invest in leadership development. The best finance professionals want more influence, not just more spreadsheets.
Rule of thumb: If they can’t see a clear path upwards, they’ll find it somewhere else.
3. Flexibility is No Longer a ‘Nice to Have’ – It’s a Must
Want to make your best finance people leave? Force them back to the office 5 days a week.
The world has changed—top finance talent now expects flexibility.
Bad retention strategy:
- “We need you in the office full-time.”
- “Our flexible policy is case by case.”
- “We don’t really do remote working.”
Great retention strategy:
- Hybrid or remote options. (Even finance teams don’t need to be in every single day.)
- Output over hours. Are they delivering results? That’s what matters.
- Trust over micromanagement. Let them get the work done on their terms.
Rule of thumb: If your competitors offer flexibility and you don’t, you’ll lose people.
4. Recognise & Reward Them Before They Feel Invisible
Good finance professionals do a lot of work behind the scenes.
- They save the business money.
- They keep everything running smoothly.
- They help drive commercial decisions.
But here’s the problem. They often don’t get the recognition they deserve.
How companies get this wrong:
- Only rewarding sales & front-line teams, not finance.
- Assuming “their salary is reward enough.”
- Ignoring them until they hand in their notice.
How to fix it:
- Call out their contributions publicly. “Finance saved us £X this quarter” should be heard company-wide.
- Offer financial incentives. Bonus structures for finance should be just as good as sales teams.
- Give meaningful rewards. Extra holidays, equity, professional development—make it count.
Rule of thumb: If your finance team doesn’t feel valued, they’ll find a company that values them more.
5. Create a Finance Culture That People Want to Be Part Of
People don’t leave bad jobs—they leave bad environments.
A finance culture that makes people quit:
- Toxic leadership. (Micromanagement, no trust, bad communication.)
- Overwork culture. (If 60-hour weeks are normal, expect high turnover.)
- No collaboration with the wider business. (Finance isn’t just a back-office function.)
A finance culture that keeps top talent:
- Encourages autonomy, not micromanagement.
- Celebrates wins, big or small.
- Treats finance as a strategic function, not just a reporting team.
How to fix it:
- Ask your finance team what’s working (and what’s not).
- Ensure leadership is actually supporting them, not just adding pressure.
- Create a culture where finance is seen as a business partner—not an afterthought.
Rule of thumb: If your finance team feels disconnected from the business, they’ll leave.
Final Thought: Retention is an Ongoing Strategy, Not a Last-Minute Fix
If you’re waiting until people resign to start thinking about why they’re leaving, you’ve already lost.
Smart businesses are:
✅ Proactively rewarding and promoting top finance talent.
✅ Offering competitive pay BEFORE employees look elsewhere.
✅ Making flexibility the norm, not an exception.
✅ Building cultures where finance professionals actually want to stay.
Want to make sure your best finance people aren’t quietly job hunting?
We Do Benchmark helps ensure your salaries are competitive—so your best people don’t leave.
We Do Group finds and secures top finance talent—before you’re stuck replacing someone great.
