More Related Content More from Proformative, Inc. (20) Building the Best Finance Team Possible Through Talent Management1. 1© 2013
Building the Best Finance
Team Possible Through
Talent Management
Preparation for Talent Management Process
Mark Richards – Proformative Advisory Board & SAP Cloud for Money
Materials presented within are property of Mark Richards/CandidatesChair.com
2. 2© 2013
Best Advice From
Human Resource Colleague
“My role is not to understand Finance, my role is
who to know in Finance.”
“Why? Because I‟m not working in Finance day-to-
day – I understand the role, but not the key nuances
to deliver – that‟s where you come in.”
HR will lead talent management,
Finance will lead HR where to take our talent.
3. 3© 2013
Mark Richards
25+ years in Finance - 5 industries, public, private, start-
up, early stage and global entities
Managed finance teams for 20+ years - local, remote
and international
CandidatesChair.com & Advisory Board of Proformative
20+ tools created – 30K downloaded
Proformative blog: Networking & career search – 80K+ reads
Currently with SAP Cloud for Money
4. 4© 2013
Our Role in Alignment of Team
Visualize the business direction
& map it to Finance
Identify the skills needed and
where you stand today
Building to your future Team
through Career Planning and
Hiring My objective: Share how I solved my
own problem of preparing for broader
talent management
5. 5© 2013
Putting Into Action
Keep the process simple
Involve your entire team – starting with your direct
reports
Leverage your systems. Less manual work = higher
likelihood to repeat
Use this as a starter set of ideas to get yourself
prepared
6. 6© 2013
Visualize the Business = Talk as Operator
CFO surveys: ½ of time on compliant financials –
leaves less time for being „in‟ business
Commit time in field for discovery
Your discovery goal: Confirm & Learn
Where is the business heading
Path needed to get the business there
How is success measured – especially along the way
Upcoming slides - 3 sets of discovery questions
7. 7© 2013
Phase 1a: What Should We Sell?
Solution may be more
than single product
Clarify specifics where
possible
Ask: What are the
indicators of success?
Multiple divisions –
divide with team
8. 8© 2013
Phase 1b: What Should We Sell?
Your support:
Planning, business
case, analysis, proj
ect plan, KPIs,
Chart of accounts
Build Your Dream team:
Skills required to deliver
(near-term & future)
9. 9© 2013
Phase 2: How Should We Sell?
New elements added
for skills: Need by
product, geography or
sales channel
Competition: Often
leads to build vs buy –
where M&A can come
into play (or divesting)
10. 10© 2013
Phase 3: How Do We Deliver?
Focus on how to link
strategy & tactics
Governor on growth -
usually most
expensive to overcome
Financial skills a good
fit to building even-
handed business case
11. 11© 2013
Identify Where You Stand Today
How to support: Highlight near-term vs. future
Train or Hire: Initial assessment of team
Review full grid: Perform with immediate team and HR – the result is
skills needed, gaps, how to fill and when
12. 12© 2013
Building the Team – Train
First hurdle: Urgency to deliver near-term
Time to deliver vs. Time needed to train
Second hurdle: Benchmark talent
Staff self-assess of their skills – validate your assessment
Third hurdle: Opportunities to train
3rd party training vs. hands-on – what is best & realistic
Fourth hurdle: Match with staff career goals
Best performance is when need matches goals
13. 13© 2013
Building the Team - Hiring
Help HR to Help You
Build a profile of skills needed in what priority
Create specific questions that HR can ask candidates
about the skills/experience you need
Give the titles/industries of roles likely to develop/utilize
skills needed (remember, you‟re the finance expert) – add
this to your grid wherever „Hire‟ is marked
14. 14© 2013
Success Story
Through discussions with Sales team - discovered
we were expanding to Latin America
Integration into broader organization was critical
(cash, risk, etc.)
Career plan of staff member indicated they wanted
to work in Latin America – moved into new role
Local teams appreciated finance team that could
guide their integration
15. 15© 2013
Other Benefits Discovered Along The Way
Discovery – Impact on team:
Stronger relationship with field, thought differently about what
we currently delivered and invites to strategy/ops
Talent Assess:
Found common needs – able to consolidate training
Self-assessment – better visibility to skills
Career plan
More open dialogue with team on future – avoided gaps from
people leaving