Financial Management (FM) magazine – Details, episodes & analysis

Change consultant and executive coach Nicola Hopes shares several tips and tricks for crafting intentional business projects that can facilitate meaningful changes for organisations. 

Hopes explains the fundamental questions that help ensure projects achieve intended outcomes, the importance of knowing what good looks like throughout the process, and how leaders can better balance project demands alongside their day-to-day responsibilities. 

"I've seen lots of organisations passionate about doing a great project," Hopes said. "And, at the end of it, what's delivered doesn't quite solve the problem they were trying to solve, or it doesn't quite realise the opportunity, because they just weren't clear enough about what good looks like. Unless you've painted that picture really clearly, you don't know how to navigate the problems as you go through."

Resource: Nicola Hopes' UK & Ireland ENGAGE slides.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Crucial areas to understand before taking on a business project.
• How to improve your approach when pitching initiatives to stakeholders.
• Digital tools that can help organise key information.
• Strategies for improving interpersonal skills.
• How leaders can help stakeholders find common ground during disagreements.
• Three ways leaders can save time and resources on projects.

In celebration of CGMA Week, the FM podcast welcomed two CGMA designation holders who recently spoke at UK & Ireland ENGAGE to discuss the lessons they've learned throughout their careers, how their mindset has shifted over the years, and the advice they would give to finance professionals navigating opportunities in a challenging era defined by potential and uncertainty. 

Simon Ritchie, ACMA, CGMA, founder and CEO of Blox Software, and Olcay Yilmaz, FCMA, CGMA, finance director–Rail Infrastructure at Siemens, explain the importance of continuous learning in a time when knowledge has a faster expiration date for finance professionals. 

Ritchie and Yilmaz highlight the ways finance professionals can position emerging technologies as innovation drivers in the finance function and how to fully embrace those tools in their roles.

CGMA Week is a global celebration designed to showcase the value, pride, and achievements associated with the CGMA designation.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How an early start in technology can prevent finance professionals from working "backwards".
• The importance of learning to love learning — and why it pays off.
• Key areas Yilmaz and Ritchie expect AI to optimise within the finance function.
• Strategies for harnessing structure and embracing change through uncertainty.
• Their advice for professionals preoccupied with career ladders and titles.
• Tips for professionals struggling to map their learning and growth journeys.

Ben Schwencke, chief psychologist at Test Partnership, a psychometric assessment and pre-employment testing service provider in the UK, joined the FM podcast to discuss common recruitment challenges facing employers, what psychometric testing entails and how it's implemented, and the use of artificial intelligence in recruitment practices.

In an earlier FM episode, an expert discussed how businesses are eager to embark on AI initiatives despite remaining wary of its pitfalls.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Why an assessment of recruitment challenges in a business depends on who you talk to in the organisation.
  An explanation of psychometric testing and common concerns companies may have in using such testing.
• Why Schwencke considers it beneficial for job candidates to be allowed to take a practice test version of a psychometric assessment.
• The "two sides" to the use of AI in the recruitment process.
• Why recruitment methods should include tools that both incorporate AI and are resistant to it, according to Schwencke.

CIMA President Amal Ratnayake, FCMA, CGMA, who is also CFO of the Official Community Corporation in Canada, and Sherin Cader, CFO of the financial services industry group and executive vice-president at John Keells Holdings Plc in Sri Lanka, discuss the skills and experience needed to become a trusted and effective CFO. What you'll learn from this episode: - How the scope of the CFO's role has expanded. - What CFOs are doing to lead businesses through the coronavirus crisis. - Why CFOs need to communicate regularly with remote teams. - The importance of being an ethical leader to build loyalty and productivity. - The value of gaining experience in multiple businesses.

Tim Burghout, ACMA, CGMA, the head of finance and accounting for Metro China, a wholesale cash and carry, tells about how he built a playbook as changes due to the novel coronavirus progressed, why it's important to take time thinking through decisions, and why we see empty shelves in supermarkets. What you'll learn from this episode: - Burghout's road map the past three months. - If he could go back in time, what resource he wishes he had. - Empty supermarket shelves — fact or fiction? - How consumer behaviours have changed and what trends will stay after the coronavirus pandemic.

Numerous in-person professional events have been shifted to online only, delayed by months, or cancelled in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. That doesn't mean that we can't strengthen connections with those we know or make new business contacts, according to Todd Cohen, a consultant, speaker, and author. What you'll learn from this episode: - Tips for how to display presence on a video call. - Why presence "is the most powerful selling tool we have". - The value of continuing to build connections despite a lack of in-person interaction. - The importance of specific questions in online meetings.

Ankur Agrawal, McKinsey partner and co-author of "The CFO's Role in Helping Companies Navigate the Coronavirus Crisis", offers tips and insights on how CFOs can most successfully steer their organisations through the crisis.

When one country after another took measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, BrewDog faced a 70% drop in revenue because customers could no longer visit its 102 bars worldwide. The Scottish brewer, distiller, and bar operator decided to switch from producing gin, vodka, and rum to making hand sanitiser. Ben Press, ACMA, CGMA, BrewDog's retail finance manager, explains how the international company managed to change production quickly and how it plans to survive the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

CIMA President Amal Ratnayake, FCMA, CGMA, and Alfred Ramosedi, FCMA, CGMA, the CEO of Bayport Financial Services in South Africa, discuss the traits of effective leaders and how they can get "buy-in" from employees to drive change.

Chris Clearfield, author of Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It, talks to FM magazine senior editor Drew Adamek about how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing complexity in global supply chains, trade, and economies. Clearfield offers advice on how finance professionals can improve their strategic decision-making in the face of this complexity.