INTHEBLACK December 2023/January 2024 Special Edition - Flipbook - Page 11
Sonia Kammel FCPA
Yvonne Chan FCPA
CFO,
Export Finance
Australia
CFO and vice president,
Singapore Management
University
The role of the
CFO has evolved
significantly over
the years. No longer
is the CFO just a
“numbers” person.
Today, they are required to have a diverse
set of skills to navigate the changing landscape
for businesses.
The CFO plays a strategic role in an
organisation. This means they must not
only possess strong financial acumen, but
also embrace and understand changes in
technology and data, as well as environmental,
social and governance (ESG) issues.
The CFO must be adaptable and have
the ability to pivot with the changing
business environment, leading the
organisation and team through change.
A keen understanding of technology can
allow the CFO to transform an organisation.
At Export Finance Australia, we are
undertaking a large technology transformation,
implementing out-of-the-box technologies
with limited customisations. This will ensure
that we can support large-scale business
growth without the added back-office
costs, while also enhancing customer and
employee experience. The transformation
will lead to more efficient workflows,
creating capacity for employees to do
more meaningful work, and will deliver a
healthier bottom line.
The CFO of 2024 will be a change agent,
driving and supporting the organisation
through the challenges of the modern
business landscape.
This requires strong leadership and a
multifaceted focus, driving not only financial
health, but also long-term sustainability for
the organisation in 2024 and beyond.
“CFO” tends to be
associated with
creating charts and
graphs, and working
with hard numbers –
skills that are normally
linked to systematic left-brain processing, which
may come across as unfeeling and inflexible.
However, more so now than in the past, the demand
is transitioning to skills that use more right-brain
processing, such as creativity and human-related
skills. The orientation is more on people than on tasks.
Let me name three of the human-related
skills – people management, storytelling and
business partnership.
First, with more hybrid work, the office has
morphed into a place for interactive collaboration
such as discussion, brainstorming, training and
meetings. CFOs are required to understand
individual and team motivations in order to achieve
organisational goals and outcomes.
Second, there is a shift to developing a compelling
narrative around numbers and graphics. What
is the story behind what is being presented? Is
it contextualised to the stakeholder that we are
speaking with and in a format they understand?
Third is business partnership, to comprehend
the industry and unit that we are supporting.
Resources will continue to be limited for competing
needs. Hence, it is imperative for the finance
partner to be more customer-centric, understand
the constraints and help businesses to scale their
mountains and jog alongside them, especially
during the most difficult times.
The instrumental skills that I will prioritise will be
mentoring and coaching skills, as part of people
management. Leaders need a team to help them
succeed, and keeping the staff constantly motivated
is getting more challenging in this fast-paced,
tech-heavy environment. We, likewise, need to
receive ongoing updates in order to lead the pack.
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