Our collective experience as treasurers over the past 18 months has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Treasury roles and the profile of the profession generally have greatly expanded over recent years, but the pandemic – at once chaotic and tragic – has brought our work into sharp focus.
We’ve seen this in all sorts of ways. Core treasury disciplines – cash management, liquidity and funding – are now at the centre of life in the broader finance world in the sense that there is now a deeper understanding of their centrality to the health of organisations. Boards, CFOs and colleagues from other finance disciplines watched as treasurers organised rolling cash forecasts, accessed government and bank support, and managed currency and other risks in volatile markets. The profession has become more prominent than it once was – and better understood.
What we do and why we do it has become more and more apparent, with so many treasurers at the centre of their organisation’s response to COVID-19.
All of this has highlighted the opportunity that treasury brings as a career choice to play a strategically critical role at the heart of organisations, protecting the smooth running of the business, while adding value by deploying efficient cash, risk and liquidity management.
So now seems like a good time to promote all aspects of the treasury discipline and provide some tools and techniques by which aspiring treasurers can progress. A strong treasury career path will have the AMCT at or near its beginning. The Association of Corporate Treasurers qualifications have a proven track record for employers and help treasury professionals reach a level of technical knowledge to progress, as well as demonstrate a commitment to the profession.
Qualifications are one thing, but so much of learning a role happens on the job and by learning from others. Informal learning can be through coaching, mentoring or shadowing, and by asking questions of colleagues. This is important throughout your career, but is critical at the beginning of a career journey. And throughout the pandemic, this aspect of development has been particularly difficult for many.
We have managed to weather the storm working remotely. In fact, it has been something of a revelation, how much we’ve achieved and how successful we’ve been in maintaining contact – without, for many of us, recourse to the office.
So, as we hopefully approach a time when more of us will be able to see each other face to face, now is the time to re-establish relationships and collaboration, and to reconnect and reignite career planning and development.
If you’re near the start of your treasury career journey, my advice would be:
• Think seriously about what you want from your career in terms of the roles you would like to achieve and the skills you need for those roles. What specific experiences would add to your CV and, more importantly, build your confidence and know-how?
• Think about career progression not in terms of job promotions, necessarily, but a building up of experiences and skills. And if you don’t know what skills or experiences you might need in the future, then canvas views from a more senior colleague or a mentor.
• Remember: professional qualifications are important, but there is a whole spectrum of learning experiences and skills training on offer in the workplace.
As leaders, we have a responsibility to support our teams in their learning and development, not only so that they can progress their careers, but also because it will allow them to be more effective in their roles.
With my team I try to:
• Foster an environment where people are happy to hold informal, open conversations about work or about career moves. Make a point of talking about career planning and encourage them to be specific. Where do they want to be in two/five/10 years’ time? What kind of role do they see themselves in ultimately?
• Help and encourage team members to add meaningful detail to those plans. What experiences or project work will help them in the near term? Who within the organisation or elsewhere might help by mentoring them? What skills could they acquire given the right coaching and environment?
As we move into the next stage of the business cycle, when many of us are looking at trying to manage a blended style of working between the office and home, the benefits of real human contact for collaboration and team building – but also for learning and development – should not be underestimated.
Lynda Heywood is group treasurer at Tesco