Is your CFO a Ferrari or Renault ?

I was recently watching some highlights of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix which was the last race in the 2008 season. It really came down to the wire for both the race winner and the 2008 Championship. Wow what a race !

The race was delayed by rain and even after the start further rain hampered the drivers ability to stay on the track. Mix in a few sensational crashes with Massa and Hamilton's grudge on the Championship - it all meant the race provided all the necessary suspense and drama.

Massa with Ferrari ended up winning the race with Alonso coming a close second in his Renault. Hamilton came fifth so managed to win the drivers Championship by just one point over Massa.

We all know that winning a Grand Prix is a team effort. Everyone in the team has a role to play and must perform at their absolute best. Winning comes down to milliseconds.  As CFO's we need to ensure our teams are primed like Massa's Ferrari. 

This is an great time of year to assess the performance of your team. Are they primed like a Ferrari ? Are they all clear on their role, responsibilities and KPI's ? Are they ready to fire in 2016 ?

An often overlooked performance tool is to ensure development plans for key team members are constantly reviewed and updated. When you get development plans right your team will rock ! Engagement, job fit and commitment to goals increase by 50% and retention risk reduces by 200%. When you get a team that is consistently reFUELED they stay loanger, perform better and don't conk out mid-race due to engine failure. We all know its hard - we are so busy we often bump development chats, our high performers are burning out, top talent is also being poached (constantly), and unwanted turnover ultimately causes problems with delivery and costs money.

Do your key team members have a development plan for 2016 ?  If not a great first step is to increase awareness is by having them complete the Business Acumen Gauge to assess opportunities for further growth. Base on this you can ensure alignment with organisational objectives and put the right action plan in place for 2016.

If you would like further information on how the Business Acumen Gauge can assist your team performance please contact me directly through LinkedIn or just complete this online form.

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 James O'Brien is the  Founder of CFO Accelerator which offers exclusive mentoring and coaching to CFO’s across Asia Pacific.

Go to www.cfoaccelerator.com  for further information and register your details for the monthly email newsletter.

James is accredited in the Business Acumen Gauge from Quad Assessments.