It goes without saying that if you’re going to work in the finance and accounting industry, you’ll need to be particularly numerate.
The exams were hard, all the knowledge testing and gaining the qualifications is hard. Yet, being successful isn’t just about doing the hard things well, its understanding that there is a softer side to great business and those that get it have an advantage.
We want to give you these tips because we live by them and have experienced the rewards of building lasting partnerships with some of the South West’s leading companies. Soft skills are not hard when you know how.
Working as a management accountant, finance analyst or finance business partner you’ll already have all the different screwdriver heads and drill bits for the job, but it’s the soft skills that make up the handle into which you fit the ‘hard skills’ for use.
For example, it can be very difficult for a “supernumerate” colleague to be able to explain what they do and how they have come to a decision based on figures when they cannot break away from the language that’s involved. While the ability to “speak maths” is considered a hard skill, a soft skill would be the ability to convey this in a way that everybody can understand within the organisation. Everyone has a communication bias, it’s your job to discover how to engage.
One industry that is all about numbers is sport and in particular football. Manchester United dominated the Premier League in the 90’s and 00’s largely down to a class of players famously known as the class of 92. That class of youngsters included Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Butt and Neville. However, Man United superfans would also be aware of a member of the class called Raphael Burke.
When these famous players asked who the best in the class of 92 was, unanimously, Raphael’s name came up. He signed a 6-year deal as Manchester fought off advances from Tottenham Hotspurs and was regarded as the most talented player in the UK. One paper (The Sun) declared he was the next Diego Maradona.
Yet, 6 years later he left the club hating football and this local boy (from Bristol) arrived home hating football. Why? The coach at the time had a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Shouting, going hard on the most talented to see if they could withstand the barrage of abuse and prove themselves to be men amid boys.
Raphael never experienced anything like it and resisted. All he had known was encouragement and this was not what he signed up for. Alex Ferguson admitted defeat and Raphael was released to Bristol City, later focusing on coaching.
After the documentary that was made ‘The Class of 92’, Raphael’s old coach, Eric Harrison was asked whether he had any regrets. The one he cited was that ‘Raphael Burke never made it as a Premier League player’. If Raphael had played ten years later, it was said he would have made it because clubs have recognized that each player is motivated differently.
Today, Raphael has become a successful coach and mentor to young players who have since excelled through the ranks, going to Bristol City, Cardiff, Fulham and Nice. Bobby Reid (Fulham) and Joe Bryan (Nice).
Raphael’s story shows how soft skills can help get the best out of people who are finding it hard to live up to expectations.
How do we ensure we help finance professionals score big and make the grade from apprentice to professional?
We focus on scoring ourselves and educating where we rate our performance. (N.b. Don’t worry if you feel you are lacking in any of these areas, because the good news with soft skills is that you can start improving them today, exactly where you are.)
Communication skills
As mentioned above, good communication skills are an absolute must. Without effective communication, finance becomes an impossible job to relate to other members of the company. If you’re working as a finance business partner you’ll have to convey to the departmental heads, such as production and marketing, exactly what position the company is in at the time. Being articulate and able to reduce complicated figures to sensible, understandable details is a vitally important skill. However, it’s not always possible to reach everybody in a meeting, virtual or otherwise, so as well as highly developed verbal communication skills you’ll need to be able to send out communications that are written in a clear and concise fashion. A true finance leader paints the vision with numbers and looks at ways to support the vision which are at the same time sustainable and avoid adverse risk.
Analytical Skills
A soft skill that’s very relatable to the financial world is the ability to analyse data. All finance professionals need to have this ability as they are being constantly asked to evaluate financial information as it’s placed in front of them. As a finance professional you’ll be looking for trends and anything in the figures that can give someone a valuable insight into how well the business is doing or where it should be focusing its attention next Data is a superpower. When you have the right data and can communicate effectively the business can make informed decisions to get you ahead of the game.
Organisational skills
Being a reliable member of the team requires good organisation on your part. Time management is a skill that needs to be considered. The effectiveness of your time management can’t always be taught, and it is certainly an area where some people seem to have more of an innate ability than others. If your time management needs improvement, it’s certainly an idea to recognise this shortcoming and work on it. Ahead lie deadlines and there will be a lot of pressure to have work completed by or before due dates. Yet, being prepared well helps you meet every opportunity with confidence. Organisations need organized people. They drive the business and don’t create a busy mess.
Problem solving skills.
Unfortunately, a lack of time management can create a problem and problem solving is something that finance professionals need to have in abundance! People will come to you looking for solutions, which means you’ll have to show a high degree of flexibility and be adaptable (also a soft skill requirement). Don’t get caught up in saying no, learn to show why. Leaders want solutions rather than more problems and this is an area that can be invaluable to any business. Not only will you make a name for yourself, you’ll be the name people will count on.
Flexibility None of us particularly likes to embrace change but when you work in the world of finance it’s something that you must get used to. Legislation and changes from the Financial Conduct Authority or investigations from the Financial Ombudsman Service usually end up creating new legislation that must be adhered to. One way that a management accountant can ensure that they stay on the correct side of all of this is by constantly having an ethical conduct code within their mind. The financial professional generally must deal with huge amounts of data and much of it is of a sensitive nature. Therefore, the financial individual needs to be somebody that respects what others ask them to do, tailoring their advice and their insights appropriately towards helping them and not exceed what it is the customer wants to do. Flexibility equals longevity. If time proves anything it is that change is the one constant that we should always be working with.
Team-working skills
Being able to collaborate and work together in a team is perhaps the most important soft skill attribute that a finance professional can possess. The traditional (and somewhat solitary) image of the finance worker is of a particularly diligent person who sits over stacks of ledgers for long hours, patiently making sure that the figures add up. This may be true to some degree but there is still scope for lots of other people with different diverse ways of thinking to be able to make their way within the world of finance. What’s certainly true is that the more introverted character type who ensures that everything stays on the straight and narrow (and to budget) is of huge importance to any organisation, but there has to be some innovation and influence elsewhere. This is why organisations are not averse to employing people with neurodiversity. In some cases, neurodiverse personalities have a natural tendency to work within the financial sector. Microsoft have adopted this way of working as people with autism are among the world’s best programmers.
What is certain is that, when building a finance team, it’s important to find a balance between those that are of an introverted nature and those that are extroverted. The main premise of building such a diverse team is that the difference will provide greater productivity and diversity of thought, which in turn accelerates innovation. This is not to cancel each other out, it is rather to encourage the other team members’ differences and to harness them in a way that can produce forward thinking ideas and better results for the employer.
That is why values play such a key part in where we can be and fully express who we are. With them, we can still celebrate our differences, but remain united by the common values that bring us closer. Values make your company valuable.
Finally, for an employer, it must be said that one of the greatest soft skills you are looking to engender in your staff is that of being customer focused. People who think this way are the ones that you’ll want upfront, ready to meet and greet prospective new clients and existing customers. Then you’ll know that your business is in safe hands.
Empathy is the soft skill that gives you the unfair advantage over others. When you can put yourself in another person’s shoes and operate with humility and insight you have the skills to supersede even the most hardened of competitors. And that is how, at Core3, we continue to climb.
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