Learn From The Pro’s On How To Stand Out On Your First Business Partner Day

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There are no second chances at first impressions so when you start your first day in a new job you better make a good one. Especially, when you work as a business partner where building relationships is such a critical part of being successful. We discussed the general approach you can take in a previous article “What To Do On Your First Day As A Business Partner”. However, there is nothing like learning from others who have tried it many times. 

In today’s article, we are speaking with two senior finance professionals who share their experiences with first days and their advice to others who will soon have their first day. We have Tom Nehila a finance professional with 30 years of experience from six industries and a champion of finance transformation. We also have Keval Mehta who has worked his way up from an audit graduate in EY to Head of Group FP&A and Digital Finance at Charlotte Tilbury. Between them, they have 25 first days in a new role. Now let us hear from them how they tackled those first days. 

How to be a first-day champion 

How many first days in a role have you had and what was your best first-day experience? 

Keval: I have had 4 - EY, L’Oréal, Lego (for a short stint), and Charlotte Tilbury. 

My best first day was at Lego. You were given an in-depth introduction to the history and culture of the company, along with meeting key members of the Senior Leadership team. You were also given a full tour of the office, a comprehensive onboarding plan and all the IT equipment was ready to use. This was organized by the Lego Hub/Facilities team and was very well arranged. 

Tom: Probably close to 20 first-day experiences; a full day of individual “get to know you” sessions with members of the leadership team of the Services Business Unit at AT&T. 

What was your worst experience? 

Tom: As Group CFO of the Media/Publishing firm, being told by the President of the Unit “you work for me and will do what I tell you to do, you support me and my operational team”. We managed to build and expand our relationship from that first experience by listening, learning, challenging, and respecting each other’s diverse viewpoints and most importantly, the role of a Finance partner versus that of a reactive support function. 

Keval: I would not say it was bad, but my worst experience was at L’Oréal. The role was new, so I would not say there was a well-organized onboarding plan. I recall having sat in meetings that I did not necessarily feel was necessary for me to be in at the time. 

What do you think are the most important things to achieve on your first day as a business partner? 

Keval: Aside from getting the right equipment and being set up on the relevant systems, I would prioritize short informal introductions with your team/key stakeholders to start building your relationships from day one. 

Tom: Develop a trust-based relationship (first impression) with your key operational “clients”; willing to learn, listen to, probe, and understand the strategy, their concerns, challenges, requirements, performance objectives, and “begin” to construct a preliminary conceptual plan for collaborative success. 

Do you think there are some things that are more important for a business partner on the first day compared to an accounting role? 

Tom: Yes, Business Partner: focus on building relationships, knowledge of products and/or services, competitive position, status and forecast of financial and operational performance/metrics versus Accounting Role: focus on business structure, data structure, key processes & controls, process metrics, relevant accounting standards, monthly cycles. 

Keval: Yes, I strongly believe a strong differentiation is needed to build relationships from the get-go. You would already be expected to be skilled/knowledgeable in your area if you are in a Senior position, therefore it is important to invest time with your stakeholders but also to understand the objectives, strategy, and direction the company is going in. 

How do you prepare well for a successful first day? 

Keval: It is essential to have an early night the night before to be rested and comfortable on your first day. You would undoubtedly be bombarded with lots of information and new faces, so it is important to be relaxed and make a good first impression. 

Tom: Similar to a job interview; research and learn as much as you can about your new team members, the business – annual reports, operational reviews, business plan presentations, the competitive position of your firm’s products and services (Gartner Market Quadrant), and most importantly to prepare yourself (mindset) and with a list of questions to expand your academic knowledge of your new journey. 

What advice would you give to chartered accountants who are about to have their first day as a business partner? 

Tom: Resist any desire to speak the language of GAAP, FASB, or IFRS; you will need to apply your intimate knowledge of accounting into a language that your operational partners will understand. 

Keval: Be confident – you already have all the technical skills having gone through the rigorous training of becoming a Chartered Accountant, so it is important to be yourself and start to build those relationships. You will become that go-to person the Business will rely heavily on as an all-rounded finance professional. 

What more do you need to know for your first day? 

What a wealth of advice you can get from 25 first days in a new role. There is no doubt that you should not downplay the importance of the first day. As they both say you need to prepare well both functionally but also when it comes to your personal energy. You want to be sure you are the best version of yourself on the first day in the new role! 

You can almost take all the advice shared here and put it into an action plan for your first day. What to do before, during, and after. What are you doing to prepare well for the first day in a new role? Do you have some examples to share of when it went well and perhaps also not so well? The first day in a new role is critical for a business partner. Prepare for and use it well. It will greatly increase your chances of being a successful business partner!

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This was the seventh article in the series "Profiles in Business Partnering" and you can read previous articles in the series below. Together with the series "Becoming a Business Partner" there is a lot more content coming. Do not forget to subscribe to this newsletter to avoid missing a beat!

An Audit Officer's Journey Towards Becoming A Business Partner

One Accountants Untraditional Route Through The Business To Business Partnering

What This Accountant Learned From A Stint In The Business

How An FP&A Director Provided Line Of Sight To Millions Of Dollars

A Note To Self From The Future From A Soon To Be Business Partner

Fast-track Your Career Path To Business Partnering Through Mentorship

Interview Guidance To Would-Be Business Partners From A Senior FP&A Manager

What Is Your Sales Pitch To Land A Business Partner Role?

Here you can read previous articles in the series "Becoming a Business Partner".

The Accountants Journey Towards Becoming A Business Partner Unlocked

Your Career Path From Chartered Accountant To Business Partner Defined

Why Delivering Results Is A Key Priority For Would-Be Business Partners

The Resume That Will Surely Land You A Business Partner Role

The Cover Letter That Lands You The Business Partner Interview

What Senior Finance Leaders Look For In Business Partners

What To Do On Your First Day As A Business Partner

The 100-day Plan For Successful Business Partner

Are There Second Chances In Business Partnering

The Senior Finance Leader As A Business Partner

If you want to become a better business partner you should consider taking our online course "Business Partnering Explained - Value Creation Unlocked" to get a better handle on the role. It's accredited for 5.5 CPD hours.

You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box” where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the Finance Business Partner Forum which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community where we will continue to discuss this topic and you can click here to follow me on Twitter.

All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders" (the last article in the series about our new capability model)

Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering? (part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive on the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)

Your Journey To Successful Business Partnering Explained

How To Create Value Through Business Partnering

Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset (part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)

From Business Partner To Working Within The Business (part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)

Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation? (part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)

How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight (part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)

The Future Of FP&A: Two Ways To Take The Reins

What Is The Accounting Profession Paradox?

What Defines A Finance Master?

The New Career Path For Finance Professionals

How Finance People Can Be More Successful

The CFOs Roadmap To Transforming Finance

How To Become A Finance Business Partner

Financial Analyst vs. Finance Business Partner

Finance Business Partner Is A Bullshit Job

How Business Partners Keep A Plan On Track

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder, COO (Chief Operating Officer), and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) at the Business Partnering Institute and owner of the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn with more than 9,000 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 57.500+ followers.