Finance & Legal

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Navigating Growth: CFOs at the Helm
The CFO of a growth company is tasked with laying out the financial pathway to support its growth objectives. This involves fundraising, capital allocation and reporting, but nowadays the role is much broader. Criticaleye’s Jacob Ambrose Willson spoke to Salar Farzad, Chief Finance and Operating Officer at Gleeds, about the nature of the role, in the latest instalment of Critcaleye's CFO Interview Series.


The Transforming Role of the CFO
The chief financial officer is no longer just the leader of the finance function in a given organisation. Senior Editor Jacob Ambrose Willson explores the expanding of the CFO in this Community Update article following Criticaleye’s recent CFO Retreat.

Featuring commentary from:

Tim Roberts, Partner & Managing Director, AlixPartners
Priya Chowdary, former CFO Europe, Encyclis
Ed Jones, NED, NOW: Pensions and former CFO, Carnival UK
Matthew Blagg, CEO, Criticaleye
Peter Morton, CFO, Rolls-Royce SMR
Fiona O’Shea, CFO, Córas Iompair Éireann
 
Pushing Boundaries as a CFO
Finance leaders must be prepared to lead from the front and create a strategy and culture that is focused on sustainability. At Criticaleye’s CFO Forum, Community Members told Emma Carroll how they have driven this transformation in their own organisations.

Featuring commentary from:
 
Julie Brown, Chief Operating & Financial Officer, Burberry: We’ve […] really brought about change with the climate impact, risk assessment and scenario planning we now do for our business.
 
Maximillian James-Richards, Relationship Manager, Criticaleye: Becoming a sustainable business requires a shift in culture. People throughout the organisation must understand and buy-in to the vision.

Iain Kirkwood, Head of Transformation, Capita Consulting, Capita plc: Individuals who can align with their organisational purpose are far more engaged, motivated and productive.
 
Janet Mui, Investment Director, Brewin Dolphin: One important thing that came out of the G7 Summit is the greener economy. The transition to green energy is… accelerating.
 
Alan Stewart, Non-execeutive Director, Diageo: Be prepared to step into areas where you don't know exactly what the answer will be. Push the boundaries.
From Agile CFO to Transformation Change Agent
As the transition to real-time business gathers pace, ambitious CFOs need to be leading the way forward. This report from Criticaleye partner TCS provides an insight into how CFOs are navigating change and ensuring they are well equipped to thrive.
 
Key takeaways include:
  • 47 percent of respondents believe that empowering teams with new digital leadership approaches will be most effective for changing employee behaviour. Furthermore, four-in-ten people pinpointed the introduction of performance metrics and KPIs as key tools.
  • 58 percent of respondents say the CFO is responsible for digital change, yet half admit that their organisation’s execution of change management is falling short.
  • 43 percent of respondents say long-term strategic planning is a top priority for development, as their organisation moves towards becoming a real-time business.
 
This topic and more will be discussed at the next CFO Roundtable. This event is set to take place on Wednesday 22nd September and will focus on Connecting & Engaging with Customers.
 
More information can be found via the events page. To register your attendance, please contact your Relationship Manager or the Events team.
 
Finance Digital Transformation
COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the business landscape. Criticaleye Partner, Workday, surveyed 225 CFOs from global organisations of different sizes to understand how these unprecedented circumstances have affected their plans to use new technologies, build skills for the future and provide insight to guide the wider business.
 
The key findings are as follows:
 
The two greatest challenges of finance digital transformation are technology skill gaps and internal resistance to change. Unlike budget or infrastructure deficiencies, it is within a CFO’s power to directly address these challenges.
Nearly 50 percent of CFOs have not implemented any finance digital transformation initiatives. This presents a significant opportunity to advance key capabilities that CFOs value, such as predictive analysis and risk management. 
88 percent of ‘digital accelerators’ are more than somewhat confident that the culture of their finance function supports digital transformation, compared to only 35 percent of ‘digital novices’.