Sixty-three percent of Canadian chief financial officers surveyed by Robert Half Management Resources (NYSE: RHI) rated recruiting and retaining highly skilled employees as a high priority, with 33 percent ranking it a “very high” priority and 30 percent ranking it a “somewhat high” priority.

However, cost control remains the primary focus for many financial executives and taking business from competitors also ranked high on the priority list. Eighty-five percent cited managing spending as a “very high” or “somewhat high” priority in 2013; capturing market share was close behind with 72 percent of respondents reporting it as a main objective.

“Many companies were forced to operate as lean as possible during the recession, and the finance function was required to closely manage resource allocations,” said David King, Canadian president of Robert Half Management Resources. “CFOs don’t want to be in a position where they have overspent and cannot respond to market changes, but they also are exploring ways to gain an edge over their competitors.”

The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on interviews with more than 270 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of Canadian companies with 20 or more employees.