How to Accelerate Growth with Agile Team Building

In many organisations the human resources functions are split. On one hand there’s the financial performance associated with staff, something of vital interest to the chief financial officer and their team. On the other hand, there’s the human aspect of performance, overseen by the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).

According to Race Strauss, executive manager, finance, for the Qantas Group, bringing the teams from the CFO and the CHRO together is good business practice, and the technology tools are now available to make it happen.

Race will discuss the new model generating great productivity and performance improvement results in the industry, and how you can apply it to your business, in his WCOA 2018 session at  1:45pm on 7 NOV.

Race has said that collaboration tools and IT systems are key in managing the relationship between finance and HR. Rather than being a pure play finance or HR system, the IT solutions need to be built for CHROs and CFOs to draw real time insights and share information from the same pool of data.

These systems will enable decisions to be made about staff and talent by drawing on current information to see the complete picture.

However, technology is only an enabler. With digital disruption, changes need to be made in the actual structure of the business to enable departments to fully take advantage of the data insights that are being offered to them. Race said that organisations need to remove the traditional top-down structure, which can hamper collaboration. Another part of this is removing organisational silos, which can also hamper information sharing.

Race has put these insights into action at Jetstar, with the finance group now embedded throughout the business, rather than sitting in its own department or silo. The KPIs of the finance staff have been altered to reflect this change and they must now contribute to the team they are part of to be successful.

“Embedding people, ensuring we have the right type of data skills and the mindset of continual change is how we have responded to the new way of working,” he said.

One of the challenges facing business leaders is to have their communications with staff and other stakeholders really cut through. According to Brendan Hargreaves, one of the key skills to have is making numbers more than just numbers. Instead, those numbers need to tell a story that people can relate to, and apply to their own lives and their careers.

“Data’s interesting, but it’s what you do with data that is really, truly impactful,” said Brendan, who is general manager, liquids and waste services at Cleanaway Waste Management. Brendan will reveal how how data and digits can make your stakeholders say “yes” during his presentation at 10:30am on 8 NOV.

“I think when you understand how to move from being the person that can put numbers together, and actually turn those numbers into decisions or influence the future, your level of satisfaction from a career point of view and your ability to influence an organisation and really make tremendous difference steps up a notch.”

Brendan also said it’s important, when it comes to communication, to think like a CFO, but act like a CEO. If you can add a story to the numbers, he said, then you are able to take people on a journey. Doing this brings  both the credibility of being a CFO, and knowing your numbers, and adds to it the storytelling and inspiration of the CEO.

“Suddenly, if you do that, people come up to you and want to ask for your advice or seek you out,” he said.

Haven’t got your ticket yet? Find out more about the WCOA 2018 program, or buy your ticket now.