Leadership in treasury
At the end of 2007 Gordon Brown’s treasury was criticised for its poor leadership and lack of direction. Gordon Brown was accused of ‘leading in splendid isolation’, and the department failing to encourage teamwork, motivate staff and liaise effectively with other parts of government.
As we plough further into 2008, issues surrounding good leadership are continuously coming to the forefront; businesses are putting leadership skills high on the list of personal development plans and recruiters are increasingly seeking leadership qualities in their candidates. In 2008 Hays Senior Finance team are doing everything they can to highlight these issues to their candidates and clients.
The prevalent theme of leadership comes from the recognition that more and more in Accountancy and Finance the skills that make a good accountant are not just the mathematical. Businesses are beginning to understand that these accountants are future leaders, that will one day have to be able to advise on the numbers and lead from the front, not just knowing the numbers but knowing what to do with them.
There is a plethora of leadership training and specialist books on offer, however many accountants will find that in-house leadership development can be thin on the ground after qualification. This is changing, and Hays are doing everything they can to ensure that this skill gets the recognition it needs. Having moved into a management role, professional financial managers in the treasury sector will have an eye on progressing their careers into the senior roles that will allow them, not only to influence, but also to lead their business and the people employed within it.
For those looking to develop their careers the first step is to carry out an assessment of your own leadership skills and where you can demonstrate them in job interviews. How do you motivate other people? How have you added value to your organisation? A financial leader is now importantly becoming more than a person who knows their numbers. A financial leader must know their numbers and be able to effectively advise on them, thereby leading the business forward.
In a proactive fashion to kick off 2008, Hays Senior Finance team has given clients reason for a unique and inspiring resolution, in the shape of a book. The book ‘Good to Great’ celebrates business leaders and their journeys through a variety of case studies, looking at what turns a good company into a great one that gets sustained results.
The leadership themes in this book run parallel in other initiatives that the Hays Senior Finance team has planned for 2008; the Hays Leadership Forums for example. These networking forums are designed to run across the UK allowing clients to openly discuss their views and experiences on what makes a good leader, and the way in which their own leadership roles and businesses have developed. The Hays Senior Finance Leadership forum is the big initiative that is currently being rolled out across the UK. The opportunity enables aspiring leaders to get together with established business leaders in order to examine just what it takes to become a leader in their field. The forums are being held nationally and focus on three key themes: leadership skills deemed important, training and development available, the role as a mentor and the skills needed to become an FD or a CEO now and in the future.
Teresa Thorrington-Allen, Director of Hays Senior Finance is behind the Good to Great books initiative: ‘At Hays we are encouraging all of our consultants to look for leadership qualities in potential candidates. It is incredibly important particularly within Senior Finance roles where the promotion gap is bridged so abruptly. The vast transitions that professionals make in their roles need to be understood and better supported.
We appreciate for example that an accountant must have a great eye for numbers when we hire but how many of us think forward to the inevitable stepping stone that follows this role? It is infinitely important, and the more we begin to recognise this the more we will see trained accountants taking on these new challenges with a greater ease. By giving these books as gifts we hope to reiterate the importance of these skills and help our clients to recognise them in their own future leaders.’
Businesses need to learn to think in the long term, strategic thinking that will involve not only exerting their own power and influence in their leadership but identifying those who will succeed them. Candidates need to be prepared to consider their own leadership skills and how they can hone them in the future to lead the way for others.
Hays Treasury team are exhibiting at the annual ACT conference this April.
For more information about Hays Senior Finance, go to our senior finance jobs and qualified accountant jobs section .
Notes to Editor
Hays Senior Finance has been developed from Hays’s established Accountancy & Financebusiness to provide a specialist service for qualified accountants and recruiters. Hays has a national network of experienced Senior Finance consultants. Hays Senior Finance recruits qualifieds accountants across commerce and industry, financial services, practice firms, public services and not for profit organisations at all levels, up to finance directors and partners in practice firms.
Hays Senior Finance team is a subdivision of Hays Plc, the FTSE 250 Company which employs 7,753 staff operating from 376 offices in 25 countries across 17 specialisms. Hays Plc placed circa 68,000 candidates into permanent jobs and paid circa 46,000 temporary workers weekly during the year ending 30 June 07.
For further press information, please contact:
Sarah Swailes
PR Executive
Hays Senior Finance
e: sarah.swailes@hays.com
