Addressing the FP&A talent gap with the Association for Financial Professionals
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Practitioners say finding ”ready-to-go“ FP&A talent is harder than ever. Jim Kaitz, CEO of Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), will explain the reasons for the talent gap and discuss how companies are managing to meet the challenge. Learn more from Jim about the AFP certification program for FP&A professionals and AFP’s collaboration with Anaplan.
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Addressing the FP&A talent gap with the Association for Financial Professionals
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Editor's Notes
- Introduction to Session: Practitioners say finding 'ready-to-go' FP&A talent is harder than ever. Jim Kaitz, CEO of Association for Finance Professionals (AFP), will explain the reasons for the talent gap and discuss how companies are managing to meet the challenge. Learn more from Jim about the AFP certification program for FP&A professionals and AFP’s collaboration with Anaplan.
- Introduction by Anaplan: Jim Kaitz is President and CEO of AFP, an association that represents over 16,000 treasury and financial professionals globally. The organization established and administers the Certified Treasury Professional® and Certified Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis Professional® credentials, setting standards of excellence in finance. The AFP Annual Conference is the largest networking event for corporate finance professionals. He was formerly EVP and COO of Financial Executives Institute, a professional association of over 14,000 senior financial executives representing 8,000 companies in the United States. Prior to joining FEI in 1988 as the VP of Government Relations, he was Manager, Trade and Business Affairs at Baxter Healthcare Corporation. He was Director, Government Relations for the Scientific Apparatus Makers Association and joined FEI’s Washington Office in 1983. He was legislative assistant to the Honorable James Shannon (D-MA), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. He is a 1978 graduate of Georgetown University.
- Professional society – our mission is your success 2 world class certifications, training, and content all focused on practical solutions for corporate finance and treasury professionals 15,000 members -- Event has 6,000 attendees
- We all live in a world of accelerating ambiguity and accelerating disruption in how work gets done. Demands new skills for each of you in finance – along with your organizations
- This can be attributed, up to now, to the fact that the skills needed to be in FP&A have not been well-defined More on that in a few minutes
- Shift from tactical to strategic role of finance remains an obstacle for a majority of organizations. Strategic Thinking What does data say? Recognize patterns Make good choices “manage” risk
- What if the 100 smartest people left Starbucks, or Facebook – or your company? What would be the impact? In the 21st Century corporation, whether its acknowledged or not, employees own most of the assets because they “are” most of the assets. People Assets on the balance sheet – mobility Feel good – you have the power
- Noted earlier – FP&A, up until now, has not been defined by a formalized set of specific skills sets. No set of standards – think CPA for Accountants / Law degree for lawyers and all require foundational knowledge No way to independently validate and assess an individual’s FP&A skill sets No professional development on a consistent basis No organization that has represented this segment – no organization that has created a community for FP&A professionals. FP&A plays a critical role in strategy and driving the profitable growth of organizations large vs small. Role increase in influence
- Routine work is going away – a new set of skills sets will be in demand. Business Analysis – 58% Relationship mgmnt & interpersonal skills – 58% Business analysis – 52% Financial planning & perf reporting expertise – 50% Business acumen – 50% Process improvement orientation and skills – 50% Organizational know-how – 49% Group collaboration/facilitation – 47% Data analysis and modeling – 46% Strategic thinking and analysis – 46% Orange = Lease effectively applied skills
- Mention the words “finance” and “creativity” in the same breath, and you’ll likely be greeted with a skeptical squint, a doleful eye-roll or a blank stare. That has to change! Need to start thinking and acting like visionaries – the way many artists, entrepreneurs and inventors do. Engage in more bold thinking and taking a more creative, innovative approach to finance. And I don’t mean “cooking the books!” Managing finance in today’s economy requires CFOs to juggle three priorities: Focusing on the future Growing the organization Managing uncertainty At risk of sound cliché, what we’re calling the “new” economy is arguably composed of more risk-takers than in generations past. Facebook, Airbnb and Google all share a common trait: they started with little bets that paid off big. More importantly, these companies made discoveries along the path to their success by taking risks that didn’t pay off. Continuous development is a critical element driving today’s entrepreneurial, creative business environment. Granted, finance is inherently risk-averse, so adopting this mindset can be a challenge. Christopher Whitlock, VP, executive creative director at Fidelity Investments says “creative types… are used to having a wastebasket full of ideas that weren’t going to go anywhere. Be customer-centric, beginning with your own colleagues and executives The finance organization needs to be a stronger team player Smart business partners understand this concept. They look at stakeholders and partners as if they were consumers of a product. For the CFO, the product happens to be financial advice and leadership. Create a culture of continuous learning Finance groups are notorious for saying “no” and that needs to change. Start saying “yes.” Whether it’s leading-edge analytics or design thinking, inculcate a culture of creativity and experimentation by dabbling with new techniques and methodologies Design thinking in particular is a concept whose time has come for finance. Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO – and a leading advocate of design thinking – describes the concept as “a methodology that imbues the full spectrum of innovation activities with a human-centered design ethos.” “Innovation is powered by a thorough understanding … of what people want and need in their lives and what they like or dislike about the way particular products are made, packaged, marketed, sold, and support.” Creativity, innovation, and thinking outside what we consider the traditional parameters of finance requires challenging the status quo, thinking counter-intuitively, going against the grain and disrupting norms. In some ways, people in finance have a head start because they are naturally curious. Now it’s time to put that curiosity to work and start questioning “why” with more vigor. As Adam Grant, professor of management and psychology at the Wharton School says, “Most people are… capable of novel thinking and problem-solving, if only their organizations would stop pounding them into conformity.”