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How hiring the right CFO will help you thrive

Posted on by tribusadmin

With businesses evolving and adapting at pace to drive growth and competitive edge it is imperative that key business functions, such as finance are aligned and have the required skills and expertise to step beyond the traditional remit of the function and into the modern-day needs.

The CFO’s role has evolved considerably and is no longer limited to finance and accounts. They are now playing a central role that gives them a 360-degree view of the entire business.

What makes todays finance leaders different?

Recent research from McKinsey pointed toward four imperatives that outline what a company needs to do differently to be considered finance leaders, these are:

  1. Cast a wider net for new efficiency opportunities
  2. Boost finance’s role in managing data
  3. Strengthen decision making
  4. Reimagine the finance operating model

How do these points relate to the skills a finance leader would bring?

  1. Cast a wider net for new efficiency opportunities

They will understand the bigger picture and become more aligned with the wider team e.g. by aligning with your CIO they will help identify, implement and support the adoption of new tech, increasing self-service, improving efficiencies and reducing costs.

2. Boost finance’s role in managing data

Through understanding the value of data across the company they will champion the consolidation, use and management of it to provide valuable insights.

3. Strengthen decision making

They will help drive the changes needed within your organisation to ensure teams are able to access and understand data enabling critical data driven decisions to be made.

4. Reimagine the finance operating model

They will understand the importance of automation, the efficiencies gained and have the ability to structure a team that is able to deliver the company strategy.

The finance leaders of the future are those who are ready to break traditions within the finance function and release added value across insights, relationships, tech adoption and enhanced skills to name a few ultimately, improving efficiencies and decision-making across the organisation.

Is your organisation ahead of the game when it comes to being finance leaders? Or are you looking to change your strategy to secure success?

Tribus provide insightful people solutions including culture development, talent acquisition and leadership development to SMEs, helping to target and eliminate barriers to growth.


Get in touch to talk to us about what you need to be looking for in your next Senior hire.

Sources

Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values – it HAS to be more than marketing fluff!

Posted on by tribusadmin

An organisation’s purpose, vision, mission and values can get a bad rep…often deemed as ‘marketing fluff’ in many instances they are never given the opportunity to reach their full potential, and have the positive impact on an organisation, it’s people, clients, partners and performance that they truly could.  Done right they bring cohesion and focus to a team, create an environment and culture that thrives, help attract new talent and retain the best.

So how can you ensure your purpose, vision, mission and values have tangible outcomes and don’t fall into the trap of ‘marketing fluff’?

Spending time to understand what each of these actually means is the first step.  You can’t define something if you don’t understand it’s reason for existing or the value it can bring.

Defining the right purpose, mission, vision and values for your organisation should play a key role in helping to shape a clear business strategy and enable you to effectively and consistently execute it. Here’s what each means:

  • Purpose – this defines why the organisation exists, why do you do what you do?
  • Vision – this is where your organisation is going – the future and what it looks like
  • Mission – this is focused more on the immediate goal, what you do, who you do it for and why you do it
  • Values – these sit at the heart of all you do and help shape behaviour, culture and shared attitudes.

Here’s an example of some of these elements for two well-known companies, Patagonia and Tesla:

Purpose (Why do we exist as an organisation?) – Patagonia
“Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.”

Vision (What is the world going to look like in the future?) – Tesla
“To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

Mission (How are we going to make the vision a reality?) – Tesla
“To accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible.”

Values – Patagonia

Build the best product
Our criteria for the best product rests on function, repairability, and, foremost, durability. Among the most direct ways we can limit ecological impacts is with goods that last for generations or can be recycled so the materials in them remain in use. Making the best product matters for saving the planet.

Cause no unnecessary harm
We know that our business activity—from lighting stores to dyeing shirts—is part of the problem. We work steadily to change our business practices and share what we’ve learned. But we recognize that this is not enough. We seek not only to do less harm, but more good.

Use business to protect nature
The challenges we face as a society require leadership. Once we identify a problem, we act. We embrace risk and act to protect and restore the stability, integrity and beauty of the web of life.

Not bound by convention
Our success—and much of the fun—lies in developing new ways to do things.

Defining these is just the first step in the process and equally where many organisations often stop. The real value is in bringing them to life, that’s where you start seeing tangible outcomes. When you reach this stage, some of the things you will need to consider include:

  • How will they be positioned and communicated to the team?
  • How will they become a part of organisational practices and processes?
  • How will you make sure they ‘stick’ and that their associated behaviours become a central part of your organisation?

If you want to chat through your current purpose, mission, vision, and values or, start the process of getting them shaped, get in touch.

Stop hiring people you like!

Posted on by tribusadmin

Okay, so maybe the title is a bit misleading – we’re certainly not suggesting you hire someone you don’t like, merely suggesting that it really can be all too easy to hire someone you like and overlook the potential fit (or lack of) when it comes to skills, expertise, culture and values.

So, how do you avoid hiring someone that is a perfect team fit but not necessarily one who has the skills to help your organisation realise its growth plans?

1. Consider the diversity of your team

In this context diversity is as much about varying characteristics and backgrounds as it is about diversity in thinking. There’s a plethora of research that outlines the benefits a diverse workforce creates from improved productivity, ability to problem solve, pace of innovation and so much more so be sure to consider these aspects to diversify your team further.

2. Structure your recruitment process

Create a recruitment process that allows you to compare potential candidates as easily as possible across a variety of areas. Consider the following:

Structure the process
This is not meant to stifle valuable conversations but, provide you with a consistent benchmark and way to get a well-rounded view of your candidates, both in terms of experience, skills, track record, strengths and cultural fit.

Team involvement
Which are the key relationships for this role? Can you/should you involve them in the process for a meet and greet or follow-on interview?

Keep it slick!
There’s no point in adding stages to a process that aren’t necessary, make sure each stage adds value and that you have internal agreement on the turnaround time of each so that candidates’ expectations can be managed.

3. Consider psychometric testing

Interviews and practical exercises can only provide so much insight into a candidate. If you’re keen to get a good feel for the true fit with your existing team (such as leadership team and key stakeholders) then consider psychometric testing.

The output of testing such as this will dig into areas including key competencies, behaviours and motivators allowing you to see how they align with existing team members. In addition, it can also inform your onboarding and development plan for the individual, ensuring you continue to provide the best support and opportunities to allow them to thrive.

“Absolutely loved the tools that came alongside the process, where we were able to profile some of our leadership team and then profile candidates alongside that, to see how they would fit.”

Owen Richards, Founder and CEO, Air Marketing

4. Get it right – but don’t delay

We know it’s a candidate driven market and talented individuals have more choice than ever but, you need to balance the need to make a quick decision with making a good decision. If you’re recruiting, you’re recruiting for a reason, and you’ve committed to investing time and money into the process so take the time to make the right decision.

If you want to discuss your current processes or understand more about our approach to providing insightful people solutions, get in touch.

Culture & Climate – How to make tangible change

Posted on by tribusadmin

In recent years, most businesses have recognised that culture is as important as strategy. However, although culture should be consistent across their organisations, many leadership teams note that some of their teams are consistently less productive than others and have a very different ‘mood’ or atmosphere. This blog explores the reasons for this and outlines a data-led approach to measuring and understanding these differences and improving team performance.

Introducing team climate
Although it’s never specified in their job description, each team leader is responsible for developing the ‘climate’ of their team.

In a healthy climate, the team leader ensures that team members are primed for success. They empower their team members, encourage them and ensure that they understand how important they are to the future success of the company. As a result, team members find work enjoyable and rewarding, making them more likely to put in the effort needed to achieve or exceed expectations. In an unhealthy climate, a lack of transparency, communication or trust results in the team feeling demotivated and disengaged. Micromanagement only exacerbates the situation.

By giving your team leaders objective insight into the unique climate of their team, you make it easier for them to own and improve their performance. This can result in enhanced productivity, innovation and loyalty.

Simple yet effective ways to measure climate

To measure a climate effectively, we use a range of techniques and metrics to assess both ‘transactional’ and ‘transformational’ team and leadership performance, utilising the Performance Climate System tool.

Transactional measurements serve to create structure or definition for a team. To analyse transactional performance, we ask the team leader and all team members to consider:
• Goals – does the team have a vision and targets?
• Roles – does the team have the right people with the strengths and capabilities needed?
• Processes – does the team have robust processes which ensure consistency?

Transformational measurements are about taking a functioning team, turning them into a high performing team and sustaining that performance over time. Again, we gather feedback from the whole team to help us ascertain:
• Adaptability – does the team have the ability to flex and innovate?
• Connection – does the team have a healthy network of relationships?
• Resilience – does the team’s working practices and behaviour enable long-term success?

Results are collated and displayed on a Climate Circle graphic, as shown below. This enables team leaders and the company’s management team to quickly understand the team climate. By mapping the team’s results against the leader’s own scores, we highlight areas of both alignment and disconnect and help to create a plan for improvement.

Copyright Performance Climate Systems Ltd 2021

Reading the circle
The climate circle begins with ‘vision’. If a leader fails to communicate the business’s vision, it’s impossible for employees to understand the role they play in the company’s success. From vision, we proceed clockwise around the circle. If improvements are needed, we recommend that they are carried out in the same clockwise manner.

In conclusion

Leadership performance can be a very emotive subject. This climate scoring technique provides an objective, non-confrontational and supportive way to enable leaders to take responsibility for improving their own, and their team’s, performance.

For more information and to find out how you can measure and improve both climate and culture, please contact us at hello@tribuspeople.co.uk

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