Finance Business Partnering and Effective Change Management

As Finance Business Partners, finance professionals must possess a range of skills and knowledge to support their business stakeholders effectively.

One area that is increasingly important for finance professionals to understand is change management.

Change management is the process of preparing and supporting individuals and organizations to adopt and adapt to new technologies, processes, or strategies.

This is important to Finance professionals, since they are increasingly involved in change initiatives. Examples include:

• Implementing a new budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Software implementations (EPR, reporting tools etc.).
• Transitions from reporting in Excel to dashboards (Power BI, Tableau etc.)

By understanding change management, finance professionals can help their organizations to navigate change more effectively and achieve their strategic objectives.

Building on the ADKAR model, finance professionals must support their organizations through three stages of the change: 1. Incubate the change, 2. Teach the change, and 3. Sustain the change.

Fig. 1. Stages of Change

1. Incubate the change: creating awareness and desire

In this stage, finance professionals must work with their business stakeholders to establish awareness, i.e., ensuring an understanding of why the change is necessary, and desire, i.e., building motivation and commitment to the change.

This can involve engaging with stakeholders and identifying pain points or areas for improvement, as well as communicating the vision for the change and how it will benefit the organization.

Example: if you're trying to convince your business stakeholders to follow a new planning process, you must explain that shortening the cycle time and and freeing up time for more value-adding tasks is a worthwhile change.

This stage also involves building a sense of urgency and a shared vision for the future.

To be effective in the Incubate the Change stage, finance professionals must be aware of the following:

• The reasons for the change and the benefits it will bring to the organization.
• The concerns and resistance of stakeholders, and how to address them effectively.
• How to create a shared vision and build motivation and commitment for the change.

2. Teach the change: establish knowledge and ability

In this stage, Finance professionals must work with their business stakeholders to ensure the required knowledge, i.e., providing the necessary information and training to enable individuals to understand and adopt the change, and ability, i.e., ensuring that individuals have the tools and resources they need to implement the change effectively.

In this stage, finance professionals must work with their stakeholders to develop a detailed plan for the change, including timelines, milestones, and resources required.

They must also provide training and support to ensure that stakeholders have the necessary skills and knowledge to implement the change successfully.

Example: for your business stakeholders to follow a new planning process, you must make sure to provide adequate information on the new process steps and -deadlines, and train the stakeholders in the systems or templates to be used.

Furthermore, an effort must be put into identifying and addressing any gaps in resources or processes that may prevent the change from being successful.

To be effective in the Teach the Change stage, finance professionals must be aware of the following:

• The detailed plan for the change, including timelines, milestones, and resource requirements.
• The training and support required to enable stakeholders to adopt the change effectively.
• The tools and resources needed to implement the change successfully.

3. Sustain the change: reinforcing the change

The final stage involves reinforcing the change, i.e., ensuring that the change becomes a permanent part of the organization's culture and processes.

In this stage, finance professionals must work with their stakeholders to monitor the progress of the change and to identify any areas for improvement.

They must also reiterate the benefits of the change and celebrate successes to ensure that the change is embedded in the organization's culture.

To be effective in the Sustain the Change stage, finance professionals must be aware of the following:

• The progress of the change and any areas for improvement.
• Iterating the benefits of the change and how to communicate them effectively.
• How to celebrate successes and embed the change in the organization's culture.

Three steps to successful change

In conclusion, change management is an essential skill for finance professionals who want to support their business stakeholders effectively.

By following the three steps outline above - 1. Incubate the change, 2. Teach the change, 3. Sustain the change, Finance professionals can effectively navigate the change process, from creating awareness and desire, to building knowledge and ability and reinforcing the long-term impact of the change.