Finance Director Stress: Where the Pressure Comes From

Abstract

This article is about a question that finance leaders and the people who work for them ask: where does finance director stress come from? Three pieces of research bear on it, and none studied finance directors. A pooled analysis of 13 European studies with 197,473 working people (Kivimäki and colleagues, 2012) found that job strain was linked with a higher risk of later coronary heart disease. The authors say the effect would be much smaller than that of standard risk factors such as smoking. A review of the Job Demands-Resources model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007) sets out a way to look at what a job asks of people and what it gives them to meet it. A study of public accountants (Sweeney and Summers, 2002) found that a rise from about 49 to about 63 working hours a week in a busy season pushed burnout to levels rarely reported in research. These are associations in other groups, not in finance directors. The three steps at the end are practical readings, not tested methods, and this article is not medical advice.

The week of four things

It is the 28th. The auditor has sent a query that needs an answer by Monday. The chief executive wants to know what the cash position will be at year end. The consolidation does not tie to the sub-ledger by a figure that no one can explain, and one of your best people has hinted that she is looking at other jobs.

None of these is a crisis on its own. Together they are the week, and at a dinner on Saturday someone asks whether being a finance director is stressful. You hear yourself say: "It has its moments."

Finance director stress: what the research says

The research cited here does not measure the stress of finance directors. It describes how work stress has been measured in large working populations, a model for looking at demands and resources, and what happened to public accountants in a busy season. Stress in these studies is reported by questionnaires and hours worked, which is not a diagnosis. The next three sections cover what each one found. None of them tested the three steps at the end.

What a pooled analysis of 197,473 people found about job strain

Kivimäki and colleagues (2012) pooled individual data from 13 European cohort studies of working men and women who were free of coronary heart disease at the start. Job strain, a form of psychosocial stress at work, was assessed with job-content and demand-control questionnaires. Of the 197,473 people, 30,214 (15%) reported job strain.

Over about 1.49 million person-years of follow-up there were 2,358 first heart attacks or coronary deaths. After adjustment for sex and age, the hazard ratio for job strain was 1.23 (95% CI 1.10 to 1.37). The estimate was higher in published studies than in unpublished ones. The population attributable risk was 3.4%. The authors conclude that preventing workplace stress might reduce heart disease, but much less than tackling standard risk factors such as smoking. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read the week of four things through this. In large working populations, job strain was linked with a modest rise in later heart disease risk, and not with an inevitable one. This is an inference. The study is of association, it covers many occupations, and it says nothing about finance directors.

What a review of the Job Demands-Resources model sets out

Bakker and Demerouti (2007) review research on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. They first assess the demand-control and effort-reward imbalance models, examining how well each predicts employee well-being and where each falls short. They then introduce the JD-R model, which they describe as more flexible, and explain its core assumptions.

The review surveys studies that have used the model and evaluates the evidence for its main propositions. The authors propose a two-stage approach for identifying strengths and weaknesses at the level of individuals, work groups, departments and whole organisations. They say the model can be applied across many occupations. This is summarised from the published abstract and a publisher page.

Read the Saturday question through this. The model looks at what a job asks of you and what it gives you to meet it, and both sides count. This is an inference. The review does not single out finance directors, and it does not rank which demands matter most.

What a study of public accountants found about a busy season

Sweeney and Summers (2002) followed public accountants from a single national firm over time. They measured hours worked, role stressors and burnout before the busy season and again at its end, and analysed the data with structural equation modelling.

Before the busy season, the accountants averaged about 49 hours a week, and hours did not directly drive burnout. The authors suggest that accountants may tolerate a fairly high workload before it directly affects burnout. In the busy season, hours rose to about 63 a week, and the added workload pushed burnout to levels the authors describe as rarely reported in the research literature. This is summarised from the published abstract and a repository page.

Read the close through this. A close week is a smaller version of a busy season, and the pattern in this study was a tolerable load that tipped over when hours rose. This is an inference. These were public accountants in one firm, not finance directors in companies, and the study did not test what to do about the rise.

Finance director stress: three steps

None of these is a tested method, and none was studied in finance teams. They combine what the research points to with ordinary practice. Where a step goes beyond the research, it says so.

1. Sort your week into demands you can change and demands you cannot. Write down three recurring demands, and next to each write what you control. Kivimäki and colleagues (2012) assessed job strain with demand-control questionnaires, and this is a small version of the same question. This is an inference, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "Auditor queries: I can set a weekly slot. Board questions on cash: I cannot change them. Data from operations: I can name a data owner who signs off monthly."

2. Add one resource, and do not only remove a demand. Bakker and Demerouti (2007) look at demands and resources together, so ask what would help you meet the load. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: a named deputy for audit queries during the close, a standing 15-minute slot with the chief executive on cash, or a second person who understands the consolidation.

3. Protect one thing in the busiest week. Choose something small and fixed, and tell your team. Sweeney and Summers (2002) found burnout rising when hours rose sharply, so a fixed limit in the peak week is worth testing for yourself. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "In close week, I stop reading email at nine, and I take no meetings on day three before eleven."

If the close is what wears you down, Month-End Close Stress: Why It Comes Home With You and Year-End Close Stress in Finance: What Wears You Down go into it. For the wider picture, there is Burnout in Finance: Why High Performers Hit the Wall. If the work follows you home, see Why You Can't Switch Off From Work: What the Research Says. And when the decisions pile up, How to Make Decisions Under Pressure: What Stress Changes is about that.

Questions People Ask

Is being a finance director a stressful job?

The research cited here did not measure finance directors. It describes job strain in working populations, a model of demands and resources, and a busy season in public accounting. How stressful your role is depends on how demands and resources play out for you.

Is a finance director more stressed than a finance manager?

The studies cited here did not compare the two. The steps above apply to either role.

Does work stress cause heart disease?

The pooled analysis found that job strain was linked with a higher risk of later coronary heart disease. The authors report that the effect is much smaller than that of standard risk factors such as smoking. If you have concerns about your heart health, talk to your doctor.

Can coaching help with finance director stress?

Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It can help you see which demands you control, and plan changes to the load. It is not treatment. No study cited here tested coaching.

When it is more than a heavy week

A heavy week is one thing. It is more when exhaustion does not lift after rest, when you cannot sleep, when you feel persistently low or anxious, or when you notice physical symptoms. In those cases talk to your doctor, your occupational health service or a qualified mental health professional. If you have chest pain or shortness of breath, get urgent medical help. This article is not medical advice. Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It is not treatment and not a substitute for it.

Sources

• Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. DOI: 10.1108/02683940710733115 (Summarised from the published abstract and a publisher page.)

• Kivimäki, M., Nyberg, S. T., Batty, G. D., Fransson, E. I., Heikkilä, K., Alfredsson, L., et al. (2012). Job strain as a risk factor for coronary heart disease: A collaborative meta-analysis of individual participant data. The Lancet, 380(9852), 1491–1497. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60994-5 (Summarised from the published abstract.)

• Sweeney, J. T., & Summers, S. L. (2002). The effect of the busy season workload on public accountants' job burnout. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 14(1), 223–245. DOI: 10.2308/bria.2002.14.1.223 (Summarised from the published abstract and a repository page.)