5-Things Best in Class Finance Organizations Do, You Need Borrow

Most organizations are going through some the of transformation focusing on people, systems and processes. Technology continues to become more and more important including support functions like HR, Finance, etc. I have come across this article "5-things-best-in-class-organisations-do-you-need-borrow" (https://www.apqc.org/blog/5-things-best-class-finance-organizations-do-you-need-borrow) which I found very relevant and wanted to share.

The article outlines 5 things that could be a 'key to success' as we transform the Finance organisation: Structure, People, Process, Technology and Measurement.

1. Structure - Having worked for large global enterprises over the past 20+ years I appreciate having one global ERP system that is 'vanilla; out-of-the-box' as much as possible. The introduction of customization 'kills' the effectiveness of the project implementation and maintenance updates and new versions will become more complicated to install. Multiple ERP systems create efficiencies and also are prone to error. In my past two companies we have created internal shared service centres (SSC) whose role was to standardise processes across multiple geographies doing the same repetitive activities. Leadership must be committed to the success of the SSC as scale is critical for the SSC to be successful. With scale there will be future opportunities for SSC employees to develop new skills and get into management. The churn is critical to manage as the cost of recruiting and training could become significant. I have seen GL, AP, AR, collection, financial reporting, management reporting, etc. activities to be moved into SSC successfully but one has to remember that the accountability remains with the business unit owners!
2. People - Recruiting, training and developing talent is key to the success of any organisation. My key focus as a leaders has always been to understand career aspirations of key personnel. As the European CFO with McKesson in the UK I had limited opportunities to promote people so I made the best of rotating talent between the Finance and Accounting organisation and within each group as well, depending on the skillset and career aspiration of each professional. In my most recent role at Equifax as the International CFO with 24 countries in the portfolio there are more opportunities moving people around the world promoting them or rotating them into different areas. There is not one way to the top job as they say. Having the right people on the right seat on the bus is very important, this is what makes a good team great!
3. Process - Developing the mindset of continuous improvement is very important. At Equifax we have had a Six Sigma culture in general but note as much as much in the Finance organisation; in IT and Operations. In 2018 I kicked off a challenge to the entire International Finance and Accounting Team, challenging us to become the 3rd Centre of Excellence with the highest number of Green Belts. At year end 2017 Finance accounted for 9% of all Green Belt population in the company with 32 Green Belt certified staff. A year later we accounted for 15% of all Green Belt holders and the certified staff grew to 73. The team rose to a challenge which was all inclusive as employees in all levels of the organisation were challenged to find opportunities for process improvement. I was rewarded the ‘Executive of the Year’ recognition for leadership with LEAN and Process Improvement as a result of our success. We joined forces with the Global Operations team who had Black Belt certified leaders to guide us on this journey across the globe   
4. Technology - This is an area where I believe we have a way to go. We are using RPA a limited way but have not yet explored other technology enablers like AI, ML and others. I believe that implementing technology into our process will free up time to do more value-add activities supporting strategic business initiatives.
5. Measurement - This is also an area that we should spend more time exploring. What are the KPIs that we need to measure to show progress? Over time we have developed standard measures like cost, productivity, etc. but what other measurements should we use to measure progress?

So summing it all up, not surprisingly it is all about PEOPLE-SYSTEMS-PROCESSES coupled with the RIGHT ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE measured by KPIs.

How far is your Finance organisation on the road of transformation? What are your thoughts about the key success factors to creating a World class Finance organisation?