The Art of Collaborating Across the Enterprise as a CFO

CFOs are increasingly being challenged to lead across the enterprise. How does a CFO become a trusted advisor to HR, Marketing and Sales leaders? According to several hundred Finance Leaders in 8 cities across the country from Washington DC to Newport Beach, California who recently attended CFO Roundtables powered by the CFO Alliance and Oracle:

• CFOs need to look in the mirror and change the inherent bias in just looking at marketing and sales as overhead, and as a means to budget to drive the bottom line. Just because CFOs in general have not focused on measuring the value of marketing and sales activity does not mean it should not be done, and that by not doing so CFOs have cost their companies much more than cost savings which delivered a short term, unsustainable impact to the bottom line.
  • Finance needs to have our own house in order before we go around trying to fix other departments.
  • Finance should measure itself relative to our internal customers and define internal metrics relative to our success in supporting HR, Sales, and Marketing.

• Define how Finance can impacts sales, marketing and human capital management success with OUR skill set, i.e., what is Finance bringing to the table to earn the role of Trusted Advisor across departmental lines
  • Create a culture of data driven decision making
    • Data driven decision making mitigates decision bias from sales and marketing.
  • Finance needs to define and communicate the common language needed to measure and monitor success in a financial and non-financial context as more value drivers are defined by intangible assets.
  • Finance should take on the role of Chief Data Steward for the organization
    • Finance does not need to own the data. Finance can set the standards how data quality is ensured and how data analysis is done.
    • Finance can develop processes to define the timing and flow of data without owning where it comes from and reviewing all data for accuracy and relevance.
    • Determine the data diet for HR, marketing, and sales (each department) in this age of Big Data where data is coming in from many sources in many formats.
    • Have meetings with HR, marketing and sales and collaborate to determine how to measure the KPIs that define success relative to HR, marketing and sales
      • Ask HR, marketing and sales what information and/or analytics they need to understand AND influence the behaviors of employees, existing customers, and potential customers.
      • What needs to be measured, communicated, and how does it impacts company performance?
    • Develop to a structured ROI Structure to facilitate the alignment of the cultures of HR, Sales, Marketing & Finance.
    • Finance should earn an invitation to the annual Sales (HR, Marketing) meeting to become an insider (Trusted Advisor)
      • Finance needs to show a commitment to understanding the markets and customers.

• Consider Internal Internships
  • Have a Finance team member work in HR, Sales, and/or marketing and invite them to have an intern in Finance.

• Ask colleagues in HR, Sales & Marketing what Finance can do to make them more successful.

• Establish clearer lines of communications, i.e., educate sales in terms of pricing issues and decisions.

• Role play at meetings- manage the perception of the personality (or lack thereof) of Finance.

• Collaborate with Sales to monitor and measure the health of the company’s sales pipeline.

• Review and help adapt Sales Incentive Plans
  • Incentives need to align with value drivers which define company success.