Soft KPIs, Hard Truths: How IHAs Can Make CFOs Care About What Really Matters

Image credit: Mathilde Langevin via Unsplash​

We know culture and creativity drive performance. But too often, the stuff that really matters gets dismissed as “soft” — and ignored by the people holding the purse strings.

Let’s be honest — culture, creativity quality, team wellbeing, collaboration — they’re the lifeblood of a high-performing in-house agency. But try putting “team vibes are up” on a board slide and watch your CFO’s eyes glaze over.

That doesn’t make them the villain. And it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. But if you want the C-suite to back your IHA not just as a cost centre, but as a strategic asset, we need to start telling a different story.

At We Deliver Change, we’ve led in-house teams. We’ve built the business cases. We’ve sat in those boardrooms — not as consultants parachuted in with templates, but as practitioners on the hook for performance.

And here’s what we know:

👉If we can’t measure soft KPIs in a way that links to business value, we’re leaving influence — and investment — on the table.

The good news? Not all C-suites still see culture, creativity and talent as “fluffy.” Many are waking up to their impact on growth, resilience and brand. But there are still plenty who need convincing — and that’s where IHAs have a powerful role to play.

Culture is commercial

We’re calling BS on the idea that culture, creativity and engagement are “intangibles.” They’re not fluffy. They’re not “nice to have.” And they’re not someone else’s job.

Culture drives:

• Retention→ lower hiring costs, less lost productivity
• Speed→ faster time to market, fewer missed opportunities
• Collaboration→ fewer handoffs, fewer cock-ups, better work
• Creativity quality→ work that actually moves the needle, not just ticks boxes
  

These aren’t abstract benefits. They’re levers that affect your bottom line.

But too often, soft KPIs are treated like internal pulse checks rather than indicators of performance. And that’s a missed opportunity.

From instinct to influence

Most IHA leaders know culture matters. You feel it. Your teams feel it. You know when things are humming and when they’re off.

But gut instinct won’t shift a finance mindset. If we want CFOs to care, we need to move fromintuition to evidence.

What we’ve seen work:

• Mixed-method measurement– pair qualitative insights (interviews, team feedback, stakeholder surveys) with hard data (time to market, quality scores, employee retention)
• Commercial framing– don’t just say “engagement is up.” Say “engagement is up and rework is down 30% — that’s three weeks saved per quarter.”
• Own the narrative– don’t wait to be asked. Lead with the metrics that show your IHA is driving value. Make culture a strategic talking point, not an HR afterthought.
  

We’re on your side

This isn’t a lecture. It’s a rallying cry.

IHAs are under more pressure than ever — to do more with less, to retain talent, to prove their value in hard numbers. We get it. We’ve been there. That’s why WDC exists.

We’re not here to sell you a shiny dashboard. We’re here to help you build credible, commercial cases for the things that actually drive success — even if they’re harder to measure.

Because when IHAs take control of soft KPIs, and connect them to hard outcomes, they gain power. More investment. More strategic influence. And ultimately, better creative work.

Soft KPIs aren’t soft at all. They’re just harder to measure — until you know how.

Let’s make them count.