Recap: HR-Finance Collaboration Webinar with Altruist’s VP People & CFO

Creating impactful workplaces while driving business success is no small feat, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). HR and Finance, with their company-wide influence, are uniquely positioned to make this happen through strategic collaboration.

This was the central theme of a recent webinar featuring Haris Ikram, CEO and Co-Founder of CandorIQ, as moderator, along with guest speakers Katherine Starros, VP of People at Altruist, and Marc Greenberg, CFO at Altruist. Together, they explored how the evolving roles of HR and Finance, coupled with transparency and communication, can drive meaningful change and alignment within organizations.

Watch the full webinar here and/or read my summary below!

HR and Finance: Strategic Leaders with Broad Perspectives

The HR and Finance functions have undergone significant transformations over the years—from tactical roles to strategic partners. Their broad perspectives across the organization allow them to connect the dots and directly influence company-wide goals.

“What’s maybe a little bit unique about Finance and HR is our functions span the entire company,” explained Katherine. “We have a better bird’s-eye view than, say, product or sales leadership. We’re able to use that visibility to see how all the pieces fit together.”

And with that org-wide visibility, there’s the potential for org-wide impact.

Marc explained how this evolution from tactical to strategic has changed how he approaches his role, “I like to think about the CFO's role as a resource allocator—deciding how to allocate human capital to build new products, solve problems, optimize costs, and create efficiencies.”

Katherine echoed the sentiment, “HR [used to be] kind of a ‘dirty word.’ It’s gone from paper pushing and tactical tasks to a truly strategic function, especially in a tech company.”

"HR [used to be] kind of a ‘dirty word.’ It’s gone from paper pushing and tactical tasks to a truly strategic function." — Katherine Starros, VP People @ Altruist

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Navigating the Human Side of Business

Both HR and Finance face unique challenges tied to the human aspects of work. These include balancing transparency with tough leadership decisions and aligning on strategies for attracting and retaining the right talent.

Marc noted that the evolving nature of company culture demands a flexible and responsive approach. He emphasized the need to make decisions with transparency and collaboration, while also recognizing that some resource reallocations may serve the company better, even if they are difficult for specific teams.

Marc shared, “One of my last bosses said, ‘things would be so much simpler if there weren't humans involved.’ These are real people with real families and real lives and how you support them at work and how we build something that's meaningful as a company is super important.”

Another human-centric challenge is ensuring alignment on who the company is trying to attract and retain. Katherine explained:

“Attracting and retaining the people that we want is paramount. Every year when we're going through these processes (compensation philosophy, benefits, things like that) is an opportunity to pull back and [ask] what type of candidates are we trying to attract? Are we trying to attract junior and brilliant, or is it more senior established people? And that can impact how we structure our plans: Do we want to put more investment in the new employee category, or do we want to invest more in the, you know, family coverage, for example.”

Evolving Communication Practices

Effective communication is critical for HR-Finance collaboration, particularly in fast-paced environments where plans can change quickly. At Altruist, real-time updates (RTUs), town halls, and dashboards have been key tools for keeping everyone informed.

However, Katherine noted that no single communication method works for all situations. Altruist has adopted a multi-pronged approach, complementing all-hands meetings with written updates and smaller group discussions to ensure information is effectively absorbed.

Marc also highlighted the importance of empowering employees with context rather than controlling decisions. Providing the "why" behind decisions enables team members to make informed choices, fostering trust and autonomy across the organization.

“There's something called context over control,” Marc shared. “We want to give people the context to make decisions versus telling them to do something because I said it was so.”

“We want to give people the context to make decisions versus telling them to do something because I said it was so.” — Marc Greenberg, CFO @ Altruist

Educating Teams for Better Engagement

Collaboration between HR and Finance extends beyond strategic planning—it also plays a crucial role in educating employees. One area where this is particularly impactful is in demystifying complex compensation topics, such as equity packages.

Katherine explained that Altruist discovered a gap in employee understanding of equity during conversations with its talent team. By addressing this through education and resources, the company has been able to make smarter financial decisions while also improving employee satisfaction and engagement.

Why HR-Finance Collaboration Matters

This webinar underscored that when HR and Finance work together effectively, they can drive significant business-level impact. By mastering the basics, fostering transparent communication, and leveraging their unique perspectives, these teams can create a culture that supports both organizational success and employee well-being.

Want to strengthen HR-Finance collaboration in your organization? Schedule a demo to see how CandorIQ’s tools can help bridge the gap and unlock strategic potential.