LIFE IN A FINANCE TEAM (con’t)

When I joined the bank straight out of university, all I had were theoretical accounting knowledge, with no office working experience. Since moving from a client facing role in a branch to the Finance Department in HQ, all working conditions changed. I was put into a team, reporting to a manager who have led the team for the longest time. There were set ways of doing things, reports that were done up for management not to mention the day-to-day accounting processes. At that time, the ERP system was not integrated so files from the branches were received and uploaded into the HQ system to be consolidated. Everyone had their respective roles and then comes this new guy to the team.

With the high number of management trainees, the bank takes yearly, it was surprising that none, at that time, were allocated to the finance team. This could be due to cost savings in Finance, managers unaware of workload stemming from lack of communications or just no manpower planning. Communications, if any, usually comprise of work-related issues. If there were any discussions of workload, it would be discussed at the ground level and gets settled before it went up the hierarchy. So, finance leadership team members were not fully informed of the people issues as these were seldom raised unless there was a major incident such as bulk resignations.?

I reported directly to the manager in one of her departments which did not have a middle manager. I did on-the-job training which meant learning, doing and then discussing with my manager. The most senior officer there at that time was very comfortable with her position but lacked any leadership responsibility. Nevertheless, she was a gem of information with motherly overtones since she was there the longest of time. These are the people that a newbie needs to make friends and I slowly prodded her for information.?

There were also several more junior executives who ran the system, doing a lot of manual and menial jobs. One was a young fellow who was a few years older than me but has been with the bank for a while. He was excellent doing what he did without really knowing why he did it. He ran the month end data consolidation process with the branches and did that well although he carried a chip of his shoulder. I spent a lot of time with him not only to understand his work to try to make it more efficient but also to understand why he was unhappy with the environment. These are the people who would do the jobs written on their job description and nothing more. Again, it took a while to build trust but once he knew I was trying to make things better, he opened up.

As with my manager, she was always kept busy and seldom had time, so my private discussion time were always after office hours. It helped that she works late and in the first year I stayed late as well in order to learn, read manuals as well as build rapport with the team. I made changes to some of the management reports, going through proper protocols. It was not easy, but it was good that the senior management saw that not being deluge by small details made their business meeting more efficient. So, after issuing the prototype report and getting the buy in from the Finance Director and some executives from the Board, I was given the go ahead to refresh the monthly results booklet. It was my way of telling them that this was why they are paying me. To be able to move up, I took the risk to put my head up to be noticed (or to be chopped off).

Small improvements like these started to pay dividend in a few ways. With a new finance director two years into my employment, things changed faster. I was made the department head but still reported to my manager, and it was easier for me to make changes which made the finance department more efficient. I was happy with the responsibility and even craved for more responsibilities.

I was involved in budget meetings with my finance director and the bank’s executive VP, who was the second man of the bank. The first time I was in the meeting, it was a major shock for me as the second most powerful man in the bank next to the owner, knew who I was and was making small talk. So, it does pay to take initiatives and even if it failed, there are people who knew that you have tried. Just don’t fail too often.

When the bank implemented a new ERP system, I was included in the finance team to study the specifications and put forth our recommendations for the new system. This was a major project as we were building the future of the bank and I was glad to be part of it. This meant that I could no longer be 100% involved in my day-to-day work.

Throughout the few years I was there, I kept very close contacts with several people in HR. They were my first contact with HQ during my training year and if you worked in a major corporate, employees do not always have access to them face to face. I made friends and they were also my feedback on my progress with the bank. Even till today I kept in touch with a few of them, even after they have retired.?

When we join a team, always recognize that there will always be diversity. To be a manager, you need to be able to communicate with them, understand their problems and where possible, solve their problems. Then you will get their buy-in and always be responsible for them. We must understand that there will be those who will do their jobs well but are not team players, those who will not join in team projects or activities. We must gauge to see if the team can survive without these people or that we can still be a team without their full participation.?

In summary,

- Be a team player, with your manager as well as your team

- Your learning journey is solely depended on yourself

- Stay close to the HR, especially if your organization is very large, lest they forget you

- Take your time, Dare to speak up (if you're an introvert, train yourself)

- Do not be afraid to implement improvements

- Dare to fail, just don’t fail too often?

- If you have the opportunity to do high profile projects, take up the challenge

- Do not be afraid to tell those in power what you want, if they don’t know, you won’t get it

This sums up the first five years of my employment, I moved on to be the FC of an MNC. More learnings there which I will share.

#financemanagement