Discipline  Organizational Development:  "Transforming the Financial Function of a Public Company"

Challenge  I took over as CFO shortly after the company had closed on its largest ever acquisition, borrowed long-term debt for the first time, was in the midst of integrating a new ERP system, and facing changes in SEC regulatory requirements.  Each of these would have been challenging alone. Undertaken at the same time, they were back breaking for the company’s global financial team.   

Result  I knew that we had talented, hardworking professionals on the finance team.  We simply didn’t have enough of them and the new demands were beyond their capacity and capability.  As a public company with statutory reporting deadlines, we were in crisis mode. To address the problem, we helped the team with clear priorities, eliminated work that wasn’t essential to reporting deadlines, revamped the closing process, involved other functional areas to alleviate workload, engaged short term assistance to raise capacity, and also refinanced the debt.  Over time, we reshaped the finance team to meet the new ongoing business needs.  I’m proud that we emerged with a more motivated team and didn't lose anyone.