‘Tip Tap… Tip Tap Tap… Tip Tap Tip Tap…’ More and more raindrops hitting the window frame.
With a cup of coffee in my hand, I enjoy the rhythm created and sent from the nature. Although this is my long-waited weekend, work matters still occupying my mind on this cosy raining afternoon.
(I feel lost, recently…) Trying to sort out and look for the root cause of this feeling I have. (Let’s do this slowly. No rush.) It’s good to sort out our feelings and discern the thoughts that came our way, from time to time.
Last quarter, our CEO came all the way from UK to visit this branch that is located in ASIA. He demonstrated approachable energy to local team, irrespective of the level or position each hold. (That’s a good quality in one, as a person. No bias; not distancing themselves from lower-rank workers. I am happy to see that. Not all visitors emit such positive vibes. I have witnessed enough; not all.)
“We received question from our shareholders – Is there anywhere that needs to be invested to boost more returns?”
“Go, go explore the opportunities, sales streams, to increase our market share. If you have any, we put it into business case and let’s discuss on funding.”
Encouraging words from him ignites the passion in local management team. ‘Support’ is what we have been sought for, from the company. We do have vision on exploring new sales stream, ASIA-wide. Those 3-day short trip in our site, CEO has boarded his long flight returning to UK, i.e. our headquarter.
TEAM WORK? TEAM WORK? TEAM WORK? TEAM WORK? TEAM WORK? TEAM WORK?
As a team member in finance, I dealt with various stakeholders. Being the liaison between Chief Finance Officer (CFO) and Local General Managers (GMs) is the major role I hold beside overseeing the local finance team.
Like any other multi-national companies (MNCs), we too, need to have budget and quarterly forecast exercises, and actual performance results presentation work, and at times, business case that comes on ad hoc basis.
I have a habit of observing. Observing the way people doing things and surroundings. Over times, I saw that local GMs are enthusiastically exploring new sectors that have promising market that we should penetrate. Business case presented as required, to the CFO and management to review its potential.
First gate keeper – the CFO, scrutinize big and small expenses that this potential business must include in its income statement (i.e. profit and loss statement in layman terms). Small expenses to the utility bills; big expenses to the ‘internal’ management recharge fees. In practical, the beginning two to three years establishing a new company or branch, we can’t see immediate profit returns. But down the road, with more customer base built up and company branding penetration to the local market, profit would increase with the doubled-up sales volume.
So now, even before this new company being established, we already think of loading it with hefty internal management and allocation expenses.
(Are you serious? Is there a rush to allocate the expenses from a profit-making established company onto this yet-to-make-its-first-sales-company? Is this even rational?)
As if we see a child who just starts to learn standing up, we load him with 25kg hiking backpack. Are you trying to kill him or what? You want to see this new business opportunity to bloom or kill it right away?
What is the role of finance team in a company? Isn’t finance team’s role to support management decision by assisting in funds monitoring, safe-guarding the assets against any improper handling; and complying to regulations in place? Or should finance team plays the role of the black sheep to stop and fail any potential business opportunity without thinking for options outside the box? What are we as finance team?
I let out a heavy sigh when I heard CFO asking me to put all those ‘internal’ recharge expenses onto the business case in question. But she’s the CFO and I’m reporting to her. What can I do? Do the report as instructed. I feel pity to the local GMs.
Who on earth will approve such business case that can’t be profitable within first five years? Do you think management team in headquarter will approve this business case? Only if miracle happens, I guess.
Another scenario that disappointed the local GMs that I heard was the sales of the machines. Years back, before I joined this company, local GMs managed to secure an order from overseas customer; they want to buy our in-house built machines to add into their current machines range, in order to align and support the green emission sustainable plans they have in their company’s vision. The deal discussion went well. Next, local GMs were to get the supports from our engineering team as they are the team that profession in building it, ensure the safety requirements needed and machine output performance that we guaranteed to customers. The engineering team’s speed was kind of slow, maybe due to manpower resources they have, beats me. Finally, two machines arrived at local office and ready to sell to customer; shipment arrangement would be next thing to do.
But, out of everyone’s expectation, engineering lead claimed that those two machines didn’t fulfil the safety requirements in our company policy.
“What are you talking about?” was the question local GMs asked. Same answer received from the engineering lead; i.e. not compliance to company’s policy; therefore can’t sell to customer. The End.
This was the root cause of the work-relationship gap between engineering team based in APAC and local GMs, ever since then. (How could that possibly be? When they were the ones building those machines, did all the necessary checking and the sort; now at the point of sales, you are telling me the machines failed to comply to company’s safety policy. World-class joke I have ever heard!)
So, again, we lost the business opportunity with that overseas customer and our reputation damaged as we can’t deliver what has been committed. We lost the sales; we lost the opportunity to penetrate into that country. This business network is rather small; so such bad news could easily spread and be known by the market players in that country.
CEO would like to achieve the objectives from shareholders. CEO conveys company’s direction to all key stakeholders worldwide, loud and clear. Yet, local team does things their own ways.
Sipping my coffee, I envisage the following image in my monkey mind. There is a huge sailing ship (in the size of the ship in Captain Hook cartoon or Captain Jack Sparrow’s movie).
“Follow the north star at our front, we are moving forward to this direction, to find our dreamland!” The captain of the ship shouts out loud at the sail control deck.
And then, the small-team crew led by the supervisor A, was being told by supervisor A, to keep paddling towards the left direction. Supervisor B who was in charging of the right side of the ship is instructing his crew to paddle to the right direction. And the ship tail deck, one crew member quietly lowering the anchor into the sea bed; trying to stop the ship from moving an inch.
Me, the small little kitchen helper on this ship, saw all these actions while delivering food to the crews in each department.
“Aren’t we supposed to head towards the North Star direction? I heard the Captain said so. Did I hear it wrongly? No… It couldn’t be! Captain even pointed to the front while he said so. Where are we going then?”
Coming back into current reality world that I am in, CEO vs. CFO, or Local GMs vs. CFO/Engineering lead, whose order and direction should we follow? Could there be some conflict of interest in their action or even some personal interest element in it? Try to stop other branches to outshine their current established branch? Try to keep a good profit for their income statement by allocating more and more expenses onto other branches; in which this action will lead to boost the likelihood of huge bonus announced to their branch in the end of the year?
When personal interest kicks in, are we still having the same direction? Are we still qualifying to call ourselves as a team? Poor shareholders that invested their money for a team that can’t go the direction and achieve what has been asked for.
In these different directions and actions that I observed and witnessed; I think I am the one being lose… Guess, I am too inexperience in management’s world and couldn’t comprehend the way of management team’s thinking.
Rain stops, I think I should go and get myself some books on management skills from the nearest library.