How People Leaders Can Get CFO Buy-In

The Moment Every People Leader Knows

I have been in that room. You spend weeks building a people initiative you know could change everything. It is not fluff. It is something that could make your company a place people actually want to stay, grow, and do their best work.

You pitch it. Heads nod. There is a spark of interest. And then the CFO leans back and says the line every people leader dreads:

“What’s the ROI?”

Your stomach drops.

The CFO Isn’t the Villain

Truth is, they aren't shutting you down to be difficult. They are doing their job. Just like you report to the CEO, they report to the board, to the investors, to the overall health of the business. Their role is to make sure every dollar creates value.

The key is not convincing them with feelings. The key is learning to speak their language.

The Two Numbers That Change the Conversation

When it comes to people initiatives, there are two metrics CFOs listen for: revenue per FTE and EBITDA per headcount. They might sound like finance jargon, but they are actually simple.

Revenue per FTE is total revenue divided by the number of full-time employees. It answers a straightforward question: how much revenue are we generating per person on payroll?

EBITDA per headcount takes it a step further. EBITDA is profit before taxes and other accounting adjustments. Divide that by the number of employees and you get the company’s profit per person.

Underneath both of these metrics is the same question: are we getting more value out of every single person we employ?

If your initiative helps people stay, perform better, or be more engaged, then the answer is yes. And if you can tie that answer to these numbers, you are no longer pitching “culture.” You are showing a business growth strategy.

Turning Culture Into Profit

Here is what that looks like in practice. Imagine you want to roll out a manager training program. You know manager behaviour is driving burnout and turnover. The way most people leaders pitch that sounds like this:

“I want to train our managers to lead better. It will help with engagement, reduce burnout, and make our culture stronger.”

All true. But to a CFO, it sounds like a cost with no clear return.

Now imagine reframing it like this:

“Turnover cost us 1.2 million dollars last year in lost productivity and rehiring. Seventy percent of that was tied to management behavior. This program targets specific behavioral changes proven to reduce turnover by 15 percent. That reduction alone increases EBITDA per headcount by five thousand dollars in the first year and drives revenue per FTE by reducing downtime in vacant roles.”

It is the same initiative. But now it is not a nice-to-have program. It is a profit-driving strategy.

Why Speaking in Numbers is Still Human

I will admit, when I first started connecting people initiatives to these numbers, it felt harsh. People are not numbers. They are humans with fears, dreams, and lives outside of work.

But here is the shift. Tying your work to revenue per FTE and EBITDA per headcount is not reducing people to numbers. It is protecting them. Everyone in that room is reporting to someone. You to the CEO. The CFO to the board. The CEO to the market. When you can prove that human-centered culture drives profit, you make it almost impossible for anyone to cut the programs that make work safer, better, and more human.

Making Culture the Business Growth Engine

If you are a people leader trying to get CFO buy-in, stop presenting culture as something soft or optional. Show it for what it really is: a business growth engine. Revenue per FTE proves you are generating more value per person. EBITDA per headcount proves you are generating more profit per person.

In a digital world where technology can be copied overnight, your people are the competitive edge you cannot replicate. Speaking the CFO’s language does more than get your initiatives approved. It secures the future of the business by investing in the humans who actually build it.

Ready to Connect Culture to Profit?

If you want to learn how to translate culture into profit and get executive buy-in without losing your human-centered approach, that is the work I do with leaders every day. Reach out and let’s build your strategy together.