The changing role of the CFO: How to embrace change and build resilience
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
The future of work continues to evolve. How do we navigate these changes to ensure performance at the highest level? We spoke to Nikita Podkolzin , Finance Director of Global E-Commerce, at L'Oréal to help us understand more about how the future of work might look, what the key challenges might be, and what individuals and companies can do to prepare.
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Nikita is a seasoned finance professional who has expert insights into the evolving role of the CFO in today's dynamic business landscape.?
With a diverse career spanning different countries and companies, Nikita shed light on what he’s noticed and learned from the transformation of the finance function over the past decade.?
Let’s delve into a few of the topics we discussed and explore the main drivers for successfully navigating change in the finance function.
The transition from data crunching to business partnering
The finance function has transitioned from primarily focusing on data-crunching tasks to becoming strategic business partners.?
With the introduction of ERP systems and budgeting tools, finance professionals have shifted their focus towards higher-value tasks like, for instance, providing the business with insights and taking the lead on business transformation projects.?
Nikita emphasized the importance of finance professionals possessing a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of each function in the organization, thereby enabling them to act as “connective tissue” and add value bridging gaps in understanding between different departments.
Overcome challenges and embrace change
It is very important to be able to adapt to the current rate of change, something Nikita noted is difficult for some individuals and companies to do.?
That's because, in his experience, there's an in-built resistance to deploying new tools and adapting business processes across different functions. After all, it's time-consuming and difficult to learn new ways of working.
The solution to this is to choose flexible and agile tools for colleagues to quickly adapt to change thereby realizing the benefits of transformations more quickly.
It's also really important for finance professionals to actively seek exposure to external events and industry trends to stay informed and “surf the wave” of global transformation.
Evolution of the CFO role
Over the years Nikita has noticed the role of CFO evolving. What's uncanny is how closely the CFO role evolution and wider company transformation have been so linked, and run almost in parallel with the overall transformation of the existing C-suite positions.
Different functions claim that their senior positions have evolved most, but as Nikita pointed out, the CFO role is one of the most important positions there is and plays one of the most vital roles in connecting the dots across the organization, almost like how the spokes connected to the center of a wheel.
As companies continue to undergo digital, sales, and supply chain transformations, finance professionals must continue to adapt in order to ensure alignment so that they can continue to achieve the organization's strategic goals.
5 key ways the CFO role has evolved
During the interview, Nikita highlighted several key developments that he’s seen have shaped the CFO role in recent years. These include:
1. Enhanced decision making?
With advancements in automation and digitization, CFOs can leverage technology to provide timely and valuable insights, drawing from their expertise across different functions.
2. Consolidation of repetitive tasks?
Shared service centers have emerged to handle operational tasks, freeing up time for finance professionals to engage in more strategic value-added activities.
3.?Embracing global trends?
CFOs must adapt to shifts in sales, such as the move from offline to online and from B2B to B2C. This requires building new capabilities, investigating new opportunities, and redesigning business models.
4.?Focus on ESG?
The emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility means that finance professionals need to measure and optimize their companies' environmental impact but also that the CFO needs to include forward-thinking analysis on these metrics and integrate sustainable practices into the business strategy.
5.?Adoption of AI
AI has the potential to be a significant disruptor for finance professionals. It’s important however to stay curious, involved, and emotionally intelligent when dealing with AI in order to benefit from the adoption and changes, rather than suffer from it.
What are your main takeaways from the interview? We'll also be releasing the full interview soon on the #FinanceMaster Podcast and you can join the liveshow on 2 June to hear more insights. Share your takeaways below.
This was the sixth and final article in our new series "Re-branding the CFO". You can read the previous article(s) below.
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Anders Liu-Lindberg ?is the co-founder and a partner at?Business Partnering Institute ?and the owner of the largest?group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering ?on LinkedIn with more than 11,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company?Maersk . I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner ” and a?long-time Finance Blogger ?on LinkedIn with 225,000+ followers and more than 280,000+ subscribers to my blog. I am also an advisory board member at?Born Capital ?where I help identify and grow the next big thing in?#CFOTech . Finally, I'm a member of the board of directors at?PACE - Profitability Analytics Center of Excellence ?where I support the development of new analytics frameworks that can improve profitability in companies around the world.
QuickBooks Certified Pro-Advisor, XERO Advisor, MSS, M. Com (Accounting), CMA (Final),
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