Firms urged to ëtransform financeí to stay competitive

Many finance departments are too tied up in ëbottom heavyí functions, leaving not enough flexibility to help steer their firm toward successfully growing the business, a finance expert has warned.

Rob Smith, senior partner in Bizops, a UK recruitment and financial analysis consultancy, states that a recruiting and finance ëtransformationí is needed in order to manage those problems and risks which can undermine competitiveness.

Bizops, at www.bizops.cc, based in Worcestershire, is helping finance directors to focus on finding new skills to deal with the risks around new business ñ by helping them to recruit staff who can provide solutions.

Mr Smith said: ìBy standing still companies start sinking. Finance needs continuous transformation to deal with global trends, and the increased risks involved in taking on new contracts.

ìRather than training on the job, companies may need to recruit staff who bring an injection of skills, and speed up the learning process.

ìPlacing more skills at the top end of finance, and finding simpler solutions to dealing with administration such as invoice processing, corrects the balance, and ultimately will increase the value of the company.

ìFor example, a Bizops Partner recognized the need to re-balance the skills for a client. They designed, and managed a risk management process while a highly-skilled candidate was introduced to provide commercial support for the new business going forwards.

ìThe client, computer systems giant EMC UK Ltd, benefited from a successful injection of high quality commercial skills, while short-term risks were managed.î

Client Ingrid Olsen, Finance Director of EMC UK, said: ìThis service was of the highest order, way beyond anything I have seen before in this marketplace.

ìThey didnít just deliver us world class people, they took ownership of my challenges and helped me to solve them.î

Chartered management accountant Mr Smith, an MBA with an ethical background in recruitment and finance, said since accountancy changes in the wake of Enron, the close relationship between auditor and consultants had been broken, and finance directors needed support in dealing with the risks around finance transformation and recruitment.

ìIn our company, we add value to the recruitment process through this transformation, and also provide a guarantee of interim management to cover any risk. We either find the right candidate, or will provide free consultancy, extra advertising and interim management.î

As a result, organisations that Bizops assist not only gain top-level advantages within their Finance area, but also benefit elsewhere, for example, by assisting the salesforce in developing refined business cases resulting in new customers.