Video & Presentation: http://www.proformative.com/events/building-best-finance-team-possible-through-talent-management The saying goes, "You're only as strong as your weakest link." This is very true when it comes to your Finance Organization. The key to success is talent management and how to build the best finance team possible. Learn best practices and frameworks in which you will be able to successfully build your dream team. Speaker: Mark Richards, SAP Cloud for Money & Creator of CandidatesChair.com Presentation delivered at CFO Dimensions 2013 - http://www.cfodimensions.com Track: Leadership | Session: 1

1. 1© 2013
Building the Best Finance
Team Possible Through
Talent Management
Preparation for Talent Management Process
Mark Richards – Proformative Advisory Board & SAP Cloud for Money
Materials presented within are property of Mark Richards/CandidatesChair.com

2. 2© 2013
Best Advice From
Human Resource Colleague
“My role is not to understand Finance, my role is
who to know in Finance.”
“Why? Because I‟m not working in Finance day-to-
day – I understand the role, but not the key nuances
to deliver – that‟s where you come in.”
HR will lead talent management,
Finance will lead HR where to take our talent.

3. 3© 2013
Mark Richards
25+ years in Finance - 5 industries, public, private, start-
up, early stage and global entities
Managed finance teams for 20+ years - local, remote
and international
CandidatesChair.com & Advisory Board of Proformative
20+ tools created – 30K downloaded
Proformative blog: Networking & career search – 80K+ reads
Currently with SAP Cloud for Money

4. 4© 2013
Our Role in Alignment of Team
Visualize the business direction
& map it to Finance
Identify the skills needed and
where you stand today
Building to your future Team
through Career Planning and
Hiring My objective: Share how I solved my
own problem of preparing for broader
talent management

5. 5© 2013
Putting Into Action
Keep the process simple
Involve your entire team – starting with your direct
reports
Leverage your systems. Less manual work = higher
likelihood to repeat
Use this as a starter set of ideas to get yourself
prepared

6. 6© 2013
Visualize the Business = Talk as Operator
CFO surveys: ½ of time on compliant financials –
leaves less time for being „in‟ business
Commit time in field for discovery
Your discovery goal: Confirm & Learn
Where is the business heading
Path needed to get the business there
How is success measured – especially along the way
Upcoming slides - 3 sets of discovery questions

7. 7© 2013
Phase 1a: What Should We Sell?
Solution may be more
than single product
Clarify specifics where
possible
Ask: What are the
indicators of success?
Multiple divisions –
divide with team

8. 8© 2013
Phase 1b: What Should We Sell?
Your support:
Planning, business
case, analysis, proj
ect plan, KPIs,
Chart of accounts
Build Your Dream team:
Skills required to deliver
(near-term & future)

9. 9© 2013
Phase 2: How Should We Sell?
New elements added
for skills: Need by
product, geography or
sales channel
Competition: Often
leads to build vs buy –
where M&A can come
into play (or divesting)

10. 10© 2013
Phase 3: How Do We Deliver?
Focus on how to link
strategy & tactics
Governor on growth -
usually most
expensive to overcome
Financial skills a good
fit to building even-
handed business case

11. 11© 2013
Identify Where You Stand Today
How to support: Highlight near-term vs. future
Train or Hire: Initial assessment of team
Review full grid: Perform with immediate team and HR – the result is
skills needed, gaps, how to fill and when

12. 12© 2013
Building the Team – Train
First hurdle: Urgency to deliver near-term
Time to deliver vs. Time needed to train
Second hurdle: Benchmark talent
Staff self-assess of their skills – validate your assessment
Third hurdle: Opportunities to train
3rd party training vs. hands-on – what is best & realistic
Fourth hurdle: Match with staff career goals
Best performance is when need matches goals

13. 13© 2013
Building the Team - Hiring
Help HR to Help You
Build a profile of skills needed in what priority
Create specific questions that HR can ask candidates
about the skills/experience you need
Give the titles/industries of roles likely to develop/utilize
skills needed (remember, you‟re the finance expert) – add
this to your grid wherever „Hire‟ is marked

14. 14© 2013
Success Story
Through discussions with Sales team - discovered
we were expanding to Latin America
Integration into broader organization was critical
(cash, risk, etc.)
Career plan of staff member indicated they wanted
to work in Latin America – moved into new role
Local teams appreciated finance team that could
guide their integration

15. 15© 2013
Other Benefits Discovered Along The Way
Discovery – Impact on team:
Stronger relationship with field, thought differently about what
we currently delivered and invites to strategy/ops
Talent Assess:
Found common needs – able to consolidate training
Self-assessment – better visibility to skills
Career plan
More open dialogue with team on future – avoided gaps from
people leaving

16. 16© 2013
Thank You!
Building the Best Finance Team Possible
Through Talent Management

17. 17© 2013
Mark Richards
SAP Cloud for Money
Mark.richards01@sap.com

18. 18© 2013
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