What To Do On Your First Day As A Business Partner

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You have made it! You applied, interviewed, and scored the business partner role. A journey that started as an article assistant and ventured into chartered accountancy has now reached a new high. Today is your first day as a finance business partner and you could not be more excited. However, you are also feeling anxious as you have never been a business partner before. 

How exactly are you going to create value? How are insights generated in this company? How will you be able to influence senior decision-makers? How are you going to learn about the business and the industry? All these questions are popping into your mind and it is just your first day! So, first things first. Slow down and take a breather. You will not be able to accomplish any of this on your first day… 

In today’s article, we will talk about the things that you will be able to do on the first day. We will also discuss how those things will potentially shape your future career in the company and if you are successful in the role or not. Yes, it is daunting to know that the first day can decide all of that but see that as an opportunity to make a difference on your first day! 

Let us take a tour through your first day 

First days are of course different in all companies but they often some have some common characteristics. We will take a tour through some of those common elements and discuss how you can leverage each of them to get off to a flying start. 

• The employee orientation: You are picked up by someone from HR together with a group of new hires and taken to the standard employee orientation. Here they tell you about working at the office facility and some common rules and guidelines for employees in the company. TIP: Why not use it as an opportunity to ask what are some of the most important things that have happened in the company recently? It is possible you could have read about it in the news but hear you hear it firsthand from an employee on the inside.
• Meeting your manager: After the employee orientation, you are picked up by your manager whom you have obviously met during the interview stage. TIP: Still, this is the first time you see your manager in a while, and you want to come across as excited as you were during the interview stage.
• Meeting your team: Your manager will bring you to your new seat and takes you around to meet the team. TIP: This is a great opportunity to ask questions after you have made mutual introductions simply ask, “so what is the most important thing you are working on at the moment”? You might need to mention this to your manager as you walk up to their seat to make sure they do not feel you are wasting their time.
• Meeting your stakeholder: As a business partner you most often have a business stakeholder that you support (maybe that is even where you are sitting) so it is natural to meet them on the first day. TIP 1: Make sure you have a subtle elevator pitch prepared as you need to make a strong first impression. TIP 2: Use what you learned at the employee orientation about recent events in the company to ask your stakeholder(s) what they think about it.
• Meeting the technology: Once you have done the big round of introductions you will likely get some time for yourself at your seat with a laptop and the technology you will be working with. Technology can play a huge enabling role in your success as a business partner. TIP: Do not underestimate this task but do some thorough exploration and note down any question that comes to mind. You can later ask your new team members to fully understand how the technology supports your role as a business partner.
• The tasks and objectives meeting: The last element on a first day is typically a sit-down with your manager. Here you review your daily tasks and the objectives that you will be measured on in your work. TIP: make sure your objectives are aligned with best practices for business partners. That means being measured on helping stakeholders meet their targets, their satisfaction with your support, and your documented contribution to value creation.

There is always a lot to take in on the first day. However, rather than just letting it happen to you make sure you approach every element of it with purpose. Be specific about what knowledge you would like to gain from each interaction and how you present yourself. 

One first day – one first impression 

First impressions are critical as we know and can be the difference-maker between creating trusted relations or not. You do not get a second chance at first impressions and getting off to a poor start could set you three-six months back in your development in the company. That is why you must have a plan for how to make a good impression! 

In this article, we have shared tips on how to make a great first impression and set yourself up for success. That said, the first day is not about you (it is actually never about you). It is about getting to know everyone else and learning what they do to be successful and how you can help them be successful. Always remember that business partnering is about helping others be successful! 

How do you approach the first day in a new job? Are you purposeful about maximizing the opportunity of each interaction you have? If you have a great story to share about the first day, then feel free to do so in the comments. You can also send me a message and we can make a full article out of it. The first day matters more for business partners than for most else in Finance. That is because it is about building relationships and you need to get a strong start to be successful!

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

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

You can also read my interviews with profiles in business partnering below.

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

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 55.000+ followers.