New Skills in Management Control – by Grégoire Beaurain

New work organizations, increased CSR challenges, evolution of the relationship to work, search for meaning… Over the past two years, the lines have moved enormously within companies. Within the finance community, as in other functions, new skills are now highly valued. An overview of these skills, both technical and behavioral, which, in my opinion, are necessary for a director of management control.

HARD SKILLS

Among the new technical skills sought is, of course, that related to the fight against CO2 emissions. Management control increasingly manages extra-financial reporting, particularly within large industrial groups that are highly exposed. This involves designing the method with the Sustainable Development department, defining the main concepts and then the reporting tools. Some controllers have even defined CO2 budgets by region, by sub-region. In doing so, they are led to conduct complex training for operational staff involved at the plant or at headquarters. They thus participate in the implementation of specific governance. Some even go as far as adding climate objectives to the calculation of managers’ bonuses.
More broadly, what companies seek today in the management control function is an excellent professional, capable of steering the company out of crisis, allowing the organization to navigate a resolutely complex and uncertain world with composure, and with a certain strategic vision. More than ever, companies expect them to position themselves as a true business partner. General management also wishes today to have a finance department capable of modeling the future at will, or almost. It is a matter of forecasting and re-forecasting continuously. In 2020, for example, many controllers first switched to micro-forecasting. Because companies wanted to have a day-to-day, or even week-to-week, view on sales and margin forecasts, as well as on cash flow, management controllers sought to model different scenarios; a) the catastrophe b) the serious crisis c) the lesser evil scenario d) preparation for the recovery. To this end, they developed skills in BI tools, management control, and data analysis, which are increasingly intertwined.

The depth of the crisis made it possible to execute digital projects in record time. Management controllers were then engaged in a wave of implementing digital tools, more or less “willingly.” Another hard skill they had to strengthen or acquire was to redesign reporting tools to have a 360° vision. The goal is then to provide autonomy to users but also to simplify budget construction. Users are sometimes more numerous, and the new reporting tools allow management to monitor the progress of closings in real time. Some controllers were assigned 100% to these projects, others shared their time.

SOFT SKILLS

It is obvious that directors of management control had to learn to manage remotely in record time during the first lockdown in 2020. Some directors, more accustomed to remote work than others, immediately took the bull by the horns and brilliantly got through it. Others found this imposed situation very complex or even anxiety-inducing.
Human and behavioral skills sought since the health crisis are largely correlated with the reorganization of work:
maturity, composure, and, “I dare,” optimism, to quickly reassure both their superior and their collaborators, agility, that is, the ability to make and undo continuously, crisis management, and therefore management of their own emotions, empathy, genuinely caring about the well-being of their team, communication, both oral and written, to strengthen trust with both the team and hierarchy.

In truth, soft skills have evolved because it is about re-creating trust, strengthening it in a time of crisis and reorganization of operational methods.
The most anxious controllers may have tended to overprocess their daily work but also their communication. The most comfortable management controllers quickly understood that relationships were the only path to Salvation! It is a bit like the chicken and the egg. Did they react this way because they had already experienced this scenario? The lockdown was indeed a world first. On the other hand, managers who had already experimented with remote work (especially in large multinationals, mostly Anglo-Saxon, and mostly in the services sector) were able to rely on their experience and probably bounce back faster than others. Did they react this way because they were more “mature,” more aware of their strengths and weaknesses, more connected to themselves and therefore to others? Undoubtedly.

For some, the crisis acted as a revelation… or as an accelerator. Being alone at home, the place and the moment made deep and sincere introspection possible, which could create the ideal conditions for a more or less complete reformatting. For a number of them, this had a significant side effect, at the origin of the Big Quit!

Many controllers realized that friendliness and humility are qualities too often relegated to second place. Let’s be honest! How many job ads mention these two qualities? In finance, it is fashionable to be rigorous, organized, analytical… In 2016, I read this article by Jean-Marc Vittori in Les Echos: “In the world of work, physical strength first prevailed, then intellectual strength. In the economy of tomorrow, the ability to cooperate will be central.” Even more interestingly, and in the same vein, Dov Seidman, an American consultant and lawyer by training, perfectly summarizes the ongoing revolution: “We have moved from an industrial economy – where arms were hired – to a knowledge economy – where heads were hired – and now to a human economy – where hearts are hired.”

Article by Grégoire Beaurain, Director of the Finance Practice Grant Alexander – Executive Search.