Financial Engagement?
Cherry Birch
Financial Training | Business Finance Training | Business Acumen | Financial Understanding | Financial Wellness
In the last few weeks, I have been talking more and more about financial engagement – yet I have been asked more than once to explain what I mean by this term.
There is undoubtedly a need to improve the financial acumen skills of many operational managers so they can make better and more informed financial decisions. However, the role of Finance is, or should be, changing. Transactional accounting and reporting is increasingly being digitised with far more emphasis on greater accessibility to reporting for all. So where is the value add that the Finance team can deliver? As one CFO put it – he wants his team to become ‘Indispensable Business Partners’.
So what we are doing is working with both sides of the business – working alongside Finance to get them involved in supporting the financial acumen training, but also working with them on their communication skills and commercial commentaries. Internal finance teams need to see themselves and act more as internal consultants and you cannot do that from behind a laptop!
Financial engagement can be very powerful when communication is improved – operations understand the language of finance and finance understand operations!!
I would love to hear your views.
You can always give us a ring (03) 9510 9401 or drop me an email at cherry@financialtrainingaustralia.com.
Cherry