The one skill for finance people to learn in 2022 - and it's not coding...
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
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In this series we've been asking: is coding really the new frontier for Finance? In order to progress in a newly-automated world, and with digital transformation radically altering the Finance Function, is it time that we all jumped ship and learned Python instead?
As I've explained, I think the answer is a resounding 'no'. To my mind, rather than doubling down on technical ability, we should instead be focusing on the skills that we are uniquely well-positioned to hone: collaboration, communication, strategic thought, leadership, and more besides.
Prioritize communication
In fact, most of you seem to agree with me. According to a recent poll, I ran here on LinkedIn, of all the 'upskilling' opportunities with which we are faced, there was one that you think we should prioritize: communication. And communication is at the very heart of the Finance Function of the future - or, if you prefer, Finance Function 4.0.
We've all already seen the impact of Finance Function 4.0: work is being automated, technical accounting tasks account for less and less of our time, and more (and larger) workstreams are being handed off almost entirely to software.
There are two reactions to this new situation. One is to learn to code - to become more deeply involved in the creation of the processes and systems on which we increasingly rely. The other reaction manifests as business partnering - to position ourselves as facilitators within organizations, making connections and enabling collaboration in the service of broader, strategic goals.
Value, value, value
Business partnering is about moving up the value chain, making ourselves indispensable, and ensuring that Finance has a place in the cockpit of every business. Rather than an overhead to be minimized, business partnering allows us to become assets in which to invest.
This all rests on communication - to my mind the most important skill we can develop, but also the one that is traditionally thought of as being lacking amongst Finance workers. We tend not to be naturally adept communicators, which certainly contributes to the 'siloing' of the Finance Function within organizations.
I've had my own odyssey to face when it comes to communication skills, as I've explored in the previous series on business partnering (LINK ). But developing these 'soft' skills is without question the most valuable thing any Finance professional can do for their career. By becoming a communicator, facilitator, and enabler, you become valuable to your organization not because of what you know but because of the person that you are. This is the crux of the distinction.
Let's get started
So rather than learning to code, let's try something else. Close the tab you had open for the Coding Bootcamp, and instead start jotting down ways to do the following:
What skill(s) will you be learning in 2022?
This was the third article in my new series about coding. You can read the past article(s) below.
While you await future articles why not read my latest series about frontier technologies in Finance? You can read all the articles below.
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Continue reading below for more articles about how digital is impacting Finance.
Anders Liu-Lindberg ?is the co-founder and a partner at the?Business Partnering Institute ?and the owner of the largest?group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering ?on LinkedIn with more than 10,000 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 70.000+ followers and 150.000+ 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.
Market Strategy | Business Intelligence | Financial Analysis
2 年What if relevant timely data is used for comparisons and visualized using new technology? Does that count as leveling-up communication?
Finance Business Partner | Writer | Geek
2 年Thanks for sharing this Anders! And I agree with you but whether we want to or not, I'm not sure how much emphasis employers would place on digital skills to work in finance and in particular, in a couple of years. I also see communication to be a skill held in tandem with other skills.
Helping Managers of busy-but-struggling SMEs improve profits | Turnaround 'busy' loss-makers | Improve profits of the already profitable | A proven step-by-step process | 90-day projects | Training & Coaching throughout
2 年Fully agree, Anders. "Needing more data" can be a way of 'hiding' from using what is currently available. Data doesn't answer back. Data doesn't argue. Data doesn't have good days and bad days. But 'decision makers' do. To add real value, the focus has got be (1) Understand the business (2) Understand the decision makers (3) Understand what we need to learn and develop to be 'trusted advisers' - and (4) Do it
??I train, coach and develop finance teams and individuals how to business partner other functions and influence the C-suite
2 年Great post Anders - there’s a job in IT for those who love to code Which for my IT friends is ok - it’s a skill an organisation needs But coding is IT it’s not finance