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Improving your finance business partnering
This document discusses how finance managers can lead their teams through change to become better business partners. It recommends assessing the current state and identifying challenges. Some common challenges are teams spending too much time on low-value tasks and lacking a clear understanding of how to add value. The document also recommends starting small by empowering teams to take ownership of areas they can already improve. It emphasizes having a strategic vision while also focusing on current opportunities. Building the right complementary skills across the team is also important for success. The overall message is that finance leaders need to clarify expectations, identify where value can be added, and make incremental changes through empowering teams and continuous improvement.
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Improving your finance business partnering
- 1. Management as Enabler LeadingYour Team through the Change Jamie Davies, Finance SSC Manager, Computacenter
- 2.
- 3. CFO & Financeleaders face complex challenges •Vast increase in available data •Business demanding more •Complex economic environment means path to profitable growth not straightforward •Value not just cost and P&L monitoring •New & complex business model
- 4. Above the lineneeds a partner strategy Catalyst Stimulate behaviour across org to achieve strategic financial objectives Strategist Provide financial leadership in direction and align financial strategies. Key stakeholder in business. Steward Protect and preserve assets of the organisation. Regulatory compliance Operator Balancing capabilities, costs and service. FP&A, accounting expertise Control Current Performance Efficiency Execution Future Performance Value Adapted from Deloitte Business Partnering Report 2012
- 5. Priority competencies Execution Future Performance Value Catalyst Stimulate behaviour acrossorg to achieve strategic financial objectives Strategist Provide financial leadership in direction and align financial strategies. Key stakeholder in business. Adapted from Deloitte Business Partnering Report 2012 Analytical Capability Commercial Acumen Strategic Thinking Relationship Management Negotiating Influencing
- 6. Leadership reality -1 Finance Business Partners are costly and valuable resource, but spend most of their time on data manipulation, reconciliations and reports that are of no direct value to the business. This is typically caused by poor systems and processes, but also a lack of understanding about what activities will drive value in the business.
- 7. Leadership reality -2 New responsibilities are being added, by my old ones haven't gone away... I am expected to take this on and do what I did before...and its not measurable... It is hard to be a strategic CFO in the face of an accounting restatement or controls breakdown... The team and therefore you cannot be successful as a premier striker if your defence and midfield are not effective
- 8. So what canI do to help lead the change? •Assess where you are today
- 9. Clarifying Can the teammake sense of what is expected? Do we know the value drivers and KPIs? Do we have the right ERP / analytical enabling technologies? Commissioning Do we know clearly what is expected of us now, and in the future from our key stakeholders and what a good BP is? Do we know where we can add value? Do we have a seat at the table and buy-in? Co-Creating Do we have the right skills & capabilities and training programmes? Is our structure set up to enable or hinder this change? What else is going on that either enables or hinders us? Connecting Are we able to demonstrated value? Are we building relationships and engaging with stakeholders Are we role modelling behaviours & practises and celebrating successes? Core Learning Outside Finance Within Finance People Focus Task Focus Top Down assessment
- 10. The reality Commissioning Dowe know clearly what is expected of us now, and in the future from our key stakeholders? Do we know where we can add value? Do we have a seat at the table? “Just get it in” culture Multiple stakeholders Regional versus Divisional No “one mind” No overall vision buy-in System before people
- 11. 11 Exercise 1 Discuss andagree on your table what are the top 3 challenges your organisation faces to becoming better Business Partners
- 12. So what canI do to help lead the change? •Assess where you are today •Start with small, current activities and build outwards..
- 13. 13 You are alreadyhave opportunities to empower Aged Debt Problem SSC Credit Terms Billing Quality Finance Other Sales Ownership Product & Market Strategy Contract Bid Process Customer P&L Country P&LBusiness Strategy Procure to Pay Problems Bid P&L Product P&L
- 14. 14 Exercise 2 Discuss andagree on your table what are the 3 things you can already do next week to start on your Business Partnering journey
- 15. No one personhas it all the skills and characteristics necessary for perform the modern day Finance Leader alone, so get complementary skills in your team. Key message
- 16. 16 Leadership Dialogue Senior Manager Dialogue Team Based Problem Solving Dialogue Front line Manager Dialogue SetStrategic Vision & Goals Voice of the Business Continuous Improvement Team Coaching Integrated approach Top Down Bottom Up
- 17. Practical Mindset changesfor all levels I’m a Top I’m a Middle I’m a Bottom I’m a Customer of information •Provide vision & empowerment to your teams and organisation •Continually scan business context, •become shapers of strategy, provide the voice of business into Finance •Turn everyday problems into projects •Initiate your own movement using CI or Lean methodology •Coordinate effort, share information & lead across departments •Use you unique position to see upwards, downwards, sideways •Understand how things work and get involved in the solutions. •Build Partnerships with those key who are key to the quality of information you use.
- 18. In Summary: what canI do to help lead the change? •Assess where you are today •Create a vision, but don’t over-dream •Start with small, current activities and build outwards.. •While addressing the big enablers medium term •No one person has it all, so get complementary team
Editor's Notes
- #16 The fundamental reason for this paradox is that that we are interdependent individuals, not autonomous individuals. This means that every choice any one of us makes, any intention any one of us forms and every action any one of us undertakes cannot produce some direct outcome all on its own because everyone around us, indeed many at some distance from us, are also choosing, intending and acting so that what happens is the consequence of the interplay of all our choices, intentions and actions.