The Future Leaders in Treasury panel discussion at the ACT Annual Conference looked at the skills needed to succeed in a treasury career. The panellists included Martin Hoad, Principal Value Engineer, Kyriba, Joanna Bonnett, former Group Treasurer, PageGroup, Elisia Teese, Finance Manager – Treasury, Rathbones Group Plc and Jayesh Hirani, Assistant Treasurer, Segro who chaired the event.
The session was a reminder of the dynamic and evolving nature of a treasurers’ role. It highlighted the merit of business and behavioural skills, especially those of adaptability and curiosity, and the importance of continuous learning.
This blog provides a summary of the key questions that were asked.
Question: A treasurers’ role is becoming increasingly strategic – how do you manage the move to being a more strategic partner in the business?
Balancing technical skills with strategic thinking is essential for career progression in treasury.
As you move up the career ladder you do less ‘doing’ and more managing. Having a strategic mindset is crucial – asking questions such as why are we doing the process like this, what is the company’s strategy and where are they going (e.g. they may want to expand outside their current country – what implications does that have) all help you to bring a wider perspective to the role.
A great piece of advice from one of the panellists was that your key role is to keep your boss happy – if you know what the CFO is worried about you can address that, and this not only makes your role easier as you know what they are focussed on, but also helps in your longer term aspirations.
Question: What have been the key skills you have taken with you as you have moved roles?
Business and behavioural skills are key when you move roles. Being adaptable and understanding your transferrable skills is critical, as is being resourceful and not being afraid of challenges. When moving roles, it’s important to have a positive mindset and to tackle the new environment with an optimistic outlook.
Core treasury skills are transferrable, and therefore, when looking to move roles, you don’t need to restrict your search to the industry you currently work in. The key thing to ask yourself is what does the role entail and how does it fit with my future aspirations – does it supply enough challenges to keep me motivated?
In addition, it’s good to think about your development and what you need to succeed. Continuous learning – be that through a training course, on the job learning or a qualification – helps you to understand the role, what knowledge is needed and how you can develop and grow.
And finally, it’s good to be curious. Curiosity helps you to think about whether what you are doing is the best way of doing it, what improvements can be made and how to think beyond the immediate task.
Question: When looking at recruitment, what would you say is different in terms of the skills you are looking for in your team now vs ten years ago?
Treasury roles are no longer just about the technical skills – business and behavioural skills are increasingly important. These bring greater diversity of thought and skills. One way to look at the softer skills is to see whether the individual is curious – will they investigate problems/can they show they are prepared to think and challenge/do they use their network to find solutions and benchmark/how will they partner with the business. A lot of roles in treasury are about problem solving and it’s important to show how you approach this.
Question: What would you recommend doing to get the best out of your team?
It’s important to think about what motivates individual team members. Then you can look at how you can align this with the projects you have and the team deliverables. If there is a desire to grow, you should try to help the individual to achieve this.
Tailoring your approach to each team member and using your one-to-ones to understand the person and their career aspirations also ensures you understand their motivation and what they want out of the role. If they want to go into an area that you don’t cover in the team, for example an IDO, you could help them to connect with other people in the organisation to get this experience. In addition, it’s important to encourage and support your team members to take on additional projects – this will help raise their profile and learn new skills.
One of the key areas to remember is that it’s important to be very transparent and honest with your team members. You may not be able to provide all the experiences they want - treasury teams are typically relatively lean – so speaking to them about what can be achieved in the role/team is essential.
Importantly, encourage your team not to limit themselves. If they have the drive then support them to take opportunities as they come, for example seconding to another team, and remind them that there is no ideal career path.
And finally, encourage them to continuously learn. There are a range of resources available, including conferences, qualifications and bite-sized learning, and these will all help them to develop their professional and technical skills and therefore support their career development.
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The ACT would like to thank the panellists Martin Hoad, Principal Value Engineer, Kyriba, Joanna Bonnett, Elisia Teese, Finance Manager – Treasury, Rathbones Group Plc; and Jayesh Hirani, Assistant Treasurer, Segro for chairing the event.
We have a number of resources to help members with their career journey, including the Community Hub and the Career Hub.
