interim executives Archives - The Finance Team

Five ways your interim financial executive can help you expand into Africa

The African growth story is an exciting one, dotted with giant forward leaps and unexpected dips. It holds the thrill of an under-exploited market, and represents huge diversity that is still shrouded with mystery for many. Many international brands choose South Africa as a springboard for growth into the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past year, Hilton Hotels, Airbnb, Cotton On, H&M and Forever 21 have been just a few of the mainstream international brands making an entrance into the continent via our shores. Theoretically, this means companies like yours — that were founded and established in South Africa – are one step ahead. Already successful in the South African market and more familiar with their neighbours than non-African entrants, many SA-founded companies are perfectly poised for expansion into the rest of Africa.

However, it only takes one attempt at doing so to realise that this is no light undertaking. The first lesson to learn is that categorizing the “rest of Africa” as a homogenous ‘other’ is a foolhardy mistake. Every African market is vastly distinct from its peers, and it takes expert insight to understand the market you’re entering. At times like this, an interim financial executive can act as a subject matter expert and partner during the expansion process. Here are some of the insights an interim financial executive can offer as you weigh up the possibility of expansion in Africa.

Understanding the GDP

Anyone can google the GDP of an economy, but your interim financial executive will know what the numbers mean for your business. For example, Nigeria, with its Gross Domestic Product of $522-billion has recently officially overtaken South Africa’s GDP $351-billion to bag the title of having the largest GDP in Africa. Does that mean your company’s market would be more buoyant in Nigeria than SA? Not necessarily.

South Africa’s wealth per capita is double that of Nigeria, at $6 600 per capita here versus just over $3 000 in Nigeria, according to World Bank 2013 figures. Your interim financial executive can further help you understand the cost of overcoming infrastructure and transportation limitations in your host country. Understanding the GDP means knowing how likely people will actually purchase your product in the new country, not just how much money is collectively amassed in the country.

Understanding who the big players are in the new country.

Your interim financial executive can help you know who is already established in your space, how long they’ve been there for and what they did to get there. Knowing your competition – and how they prosper – is key to your own strategy and survival plan.

Knowing the labour market.

Your interim financial executive can research and help you understand things such as wage and salary trends, and what they mean for your business. Assuming that you will be able to find and attract the right talent in your new host country, how much will it cost you to keep the human resources you need? Can your company afford to pay employees what they will expect to receive, in light of operational and capital costs? Your interim financial executive will be able to analyse these possibilities and answer these questions.

**Becoming au fait with tax requirements.**

If you thought doing tax in South Africa was a headache, try navigating a completely different set of tax requirements in a foreign country where the system is likely much less sophisticated. Your interim financial executive will make it his job to get to know the ins and outs of the system, what the reporting requirements are, how your company needs to comply, and when.

The nuances around paying employees and suppliers.

In South Africa, you may be used to a “30-day from invoice” expectation with your suppliers. In the new host country, suppliers may demand cash on delivery. You might be used to paying employees via bank transfer, whereas your host country may require cash payments for many of your workers. Your interim financial executive will get to know the local way of doing things, and help gear up your company with the right systems, processes and checks to make this work.

Expanding into the vastly under-explored continent of Africa is both daunting and bright with opportunity. With the right partners assisting you, it can be part of a fulfilling and successful endeavour. Contact The Finance Team to find an interim finance professional who is willing to travel with your company and become your sounding board and partner as you take the leap.

October 22, 2015 / No Comments /

The rise of interim executives

Open your favourite search engine and type in the words “interim executives trend”. The results may surprise you. You’ll come across a wealth of documented findings that point towards this latest movement in management. In years gone by, companies only hired interim executives when called upon by extraordinary circumstances or crisis. All that has changed now.

Simon Drake, an HR director at Penna PLC writes in blog.changeboard.com: “The interim management market has become more and more sophisticated over the past ten years. A decade ago, interim management was typically a career option pursued by senior professionals towards the end of their career, having taken voluntary redundancy or perhaps early retirement. Now, it’s a fully fledged career option for experienced managers of all ages, recognised for the diversity of assignments it offers and the rewarding nature of working on a project basis, often dealing with complex issues and providing a sense of satisfaction once the project is complete.”

According to Drake, the popularity of interim executives differs in different countries. The most established markets for the practice are the UK and the Netherlands, with the economic slump acting as a catalyst to give it its current momentum. “Through recessionary periods, business leaders in these countries understood the value that interims provide,” says Drake. “With recruitment freezes and redundancies having been the economic reality for many companies, change and innovation still needed to happen to survive. Interims provided a quick-fix solution, but with lasting impact, and without a full time contract in place.”

Having to work through its own continued sluggish growth pace, the South African market has followed the lead of its British counterpart and seen a growing place for interim executives. Most of these roles remain highly specialized ones that require years of theoretical training as well as on-the-job experience. They generally pull from the areas of general management, financial, information technology and operations management.

The profile of an interim executive

As noted by Drake, the role of interim executives were traditionally filled by middle-aged men nearing the end of their career. Today, however, the profile of an interim executive is less predictable. For one, more women are being drawn to the role. Some are attracted by its diversity; others are drawn to the fact that there is less pay discrepancy between men and women in the “interim” industry than others. In this environment, people are not appointed based on internal politics or history. As such, the interim executive industry is emerging as a true meritocracy – where people are appointed and paid based on skill rather than other criteria.

Younger candidates are also entering the industry.

Because interim executive roles often require management skills, you won’t be finding someone fresh out of varsity applying for a position. But you’re no longer just choosing from people at the end of their careers. There are those at the height of their profession who have decided on interim management as their work of choice.

Interim executives often have a love of travel.

They recognize the need for their management skills as companies extend their footprints and start up in new markets and countries. Interim executives are willing to go where the next big project is, set up systems, policies and processes, and then move on to the next big thing your company needs them for. It’s what they thrive on.

If your company is looking at the possibility of bringing on interim executives in the financial sector, get in contact with The Finance Team. We have developed a niche network of experienced finance professionals who provide expertise on an ad hoc or interim basis. They help your company when you need it most, for the time you need it.

Image credit – forum.nationstates.net

July 16, 2015 / No Comments /

The evolution of Interim executives

Fifty years ago, you would have walked out of university with your qualification in hand, and applied for a job at the bank. You would have performed consistently in your position, and slowly worked your way up the ranks. Forty years later, you would still be at the same bank, occupying a solid, mid-senior position. You would have retired from the institution and lived off a moderate pension for the rest of your days.

But that was fifty years ago.

Today, the job space is completely different. According to a survey conducted by New York University, New York professionals expect to change their careers an average of three times. In 2006 (the year with the most recent statistics available), 54-million Americans – that is to say, 40% of the American workforce – left their jobs. Of course, not all of these people did so voluntarily, and not all of them were starting a new career. But if the US workforce is a microcosm of the global work space, it gives you an indication of the kind of transience that exists in today’s working environment. The job of a lifetime, as the adage goes, no longer lasts a lifetime.

As career-long jobs have become a thing of the past, other versions of employment have sprung up in their place. Among these is the advent of interim executives.

Responding to a changing workplace

The need for interim executives has sprung up in response to the increasingly fast-changing workplace. Companies are finding that, inevitably, gaps arise in the highest levels of their management teams. Often, these changes are unplanned for – senior executives make those career shifts spoken of, or are head-hunted by a competitor. The definition of the word ‘Interim’ is “in the intervening time” or “in the meantime”. And interim executives provide just that – high level professional service for the space of time that a company may need them, while hunting for a permanent replacement or a secondary solution to close the gap.

Interim executives fill a role that is the complete converse to the career-long job. Instead of settling into a position which they assume will last a lifetime, interim executives know that their tenure will be short-lived and specific. They come in to fill a space that demands immediate attention.

Instant productivity

Due to the nature of their roles, interim executives need to become productive very quickly. Unlike a fulltime position, where weeks or months may be devoted to training a new employee, interim executives need to take over the reins at a gallop.

They occupy roles of seniority, and are thus required to make high-level decisions. Skilled interim executives need to quickly understand their new working environments, correctly assess the various factors weighing in on their positions and act decisively.

While the average interim executive only acts in a particular position for a limited amount of time, they need to strategically consider the future of the business they’re operating in. They therefore need the ability to see the bigger picture, and make decisions that are best for the company in the long term, despite the fact that they probably will not be there to reap the rewards.

A growing phenomenon

It’s easy to see then, why skilled interim executives are both a rare and a valuable commodity. With the changing nature of the workplace, more and more companies are seeking out these professionals who can keep the wheels turning and leave when the time comes — without creating bumps in the road ahead. In fact, interim executives are increasingly being seen as a favourable option in senior management settings. They are able to objectively weigh up options for the business without letting any career aspirations cloud their judgment. And with that, some of the world’s most sought-after professionals are choosing to make careers as interim executives. They enjoy the changing nature of their job specifications, and the thrill of being thrown into the thick of things.

The growing phenomenon of interim executives is attestation of our changing job environments and the new ways in which these requirements are being met. Indeed, this new brand of professional has become a living, breathing sign of the times.

If your company needs a top notch interim executive, The Finance Team can assist. We have a wide network of finance professionals who provide interim and part-time services according to the needs of your business.

Image credit: http://www.livewired.co.za/

February 18, 2015 / No Comments /