CFO Studio Magazine with Robert Falzon, CFO, Prudential

Q2 2017 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 29 happiness and job satisfaction, and that you’re providing an environment where they can make progress and excel in their roles.” Continue to show you care about the human side of your team by encouraging opportunities for career development. “Invest in training for your people to improve their skill set, whether it’s a specific subject matter expertise, or just general communication or leadership skills,” Mr. Settersten advised. In some cases, however, you may need to reassess your talent. “If you have four high performers and one weak one, the high performers are going to look to you to address the situation.” Mr. Settersten acknowledged these are tough calls and difficult discussions, but sometimes they’re necessary to allow the team to move ahead. The creation of a “road map” can help. “Talk with your team, acknowledge what the gaps are, and develop a plan on how you’re going to ultimately reach your goal.” But don’t stop there. “Engage with them, be accessible, and become an active feedback loop for them.” The notion of a “road map” resonated with CFO Studio Business Development Partner Marilyn Bird, District President at Robert Half, which provides specialized staffing services for temporary and permanent accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals. “Having a definition of what a high-performance team means to you can help determine your action items, as well as how you measure where you’re trying to take the team.” Keep It Going Once you’ve witnessed your team transformed into a well-oiled machine of high performers, “It’s up to you, as the leader, to stay committed to sustaining the positive momentum.” Mr. Settersten said it’s a constant cycle of measuring and revisiting; and no news is not necessarily good news. “Go out there and proactively seek feedback to determine if you’re still making progress and achieving success.” And don’t be afraid to ask for help. “Financial leaders resist seeking assistance because we’re the ones that are supposed to have all the answers,” Mr. Settersten explained with a laugh. “We may just try working harder, but working harder at the same thing isn’t going to solve the issue. You have to think about doing it a different way.” He suggested looking into benchmarking avenues and peer-to- peer networking groups to generate ideas, see what others are doing, and to borrow any best-in-class practices that make sense for you. After all, “More brainpower naturally leads to better outcomes.” In addition, continue to invest in your team’s success. “The finance function always tries to do more with less, striving to be the role model for fiscal prudence in the organization,”Mr. Settersten pointed out. “We’ll feed the rest of the business, but in our area of oversight, we’ll just make it work somehow, because there’s not enough to go around, and it’s better to invest in sectors that are going to drive the top line and result in the biggest payoff.”That mind-set will suck the life out of your high-performance team, he said. “Resist the inherent urge to pass over your department when it comes to investing in new tools, training, and career-development activities.” Worth the Effort Mr. Settersten admitted there’s a lot to consider when building and sustaining a high-performance team. “With so many areas of finance in the CFO’s purview, and with tax laws and the like in flux, it’s quite a challenge. You’re always trying to get better while attacking a moving target.” That said, “It keeps it very interesting!” But at the end of the day, Mr. Settersten said that we are all looking for the same kinds of things: “We want good people who are motivated and care about the quality of their work. We want to be able to foster a positive working environment for our teams so that, together, we can focus on delivering great business outcomes.” C BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS Scott Settersten CFO, Ulta Beauty Discussion Leader Marilyn Bird District President, Robert Half Matt Carolan Managing Director, JLL Maria Fiore Chief Financial Officer, Encyclopaedia Britannica Joe Kayser Executive Vice President, Finance AIT Worldwide Logistics Erin Lavelle Chief Administrative Officer, Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. Shiwali Varshney Chief Financial Officer, Skybox Capital CFO Studio hosts the Executive Dinner Series, including World-Class Companies CFO Dinners and Middle Market Companies CFO Dinners quarterly in New Jersey, Manhattan, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and other markets around the U.S. CFO Studio hosts the CFO Breakfast Learning Series in multiple markets, as well, and hosts online Diginars, CFO Studio Receptions, the annual CFO Innovation Conference and the CFO Innovation Awards. The comments made by these guests are their own and may not reflect the opinions and/or policies of their companies or of CFO Studio and/or its promotional partners. “BECOME AN ACTIVE FEEDBACK LOOP...” CFO GUESTS