The role of FP&A is becoming more important than ever. FP&A is seen as instrumental in helping organisation formulate strategy and drive performance. However, how does FP&A function go about building its brand?

First, work as a team. This sounds a bit of a cliché but what use is FP&A if they do not engage the rest of the business. FP&A can serve a facilitator to enable perspectives from different parts of the organisation to be brought together and help weigh out their significance. FP&A can also serve as a “bridge” where the different views are conveyed back in a way everyone can agree. This brings us to a key soft skill – communication. A successful FP&A is able to bring storytelling to the table. Storytelling helps to bring the what, the why, the how and the now what together. It can serve as an educational piece but also create actionable opportunities. It is important to keep it simple – jargon can distort the message.  FP&A should also be unbiased when providing commentary.

Next, build your network. You begin by reaching out to your stakeholders and make your presence known. It is not always about a formal meeting. Sometimes informal ones can bring people together. FP&A should not work in silos. Through reaching out, FP&A learns about the business, what makes it tick and what keeps it awake at night. Business may be an inanimate object but it is also a makeup of people. By building a trusting relationship, FP&A helps their business partners resolve issues through their expertise. FP&A brings the organisation together to develop a holistic resolution.

You have a network – so, make use of it and shout about what you do and your benefits. It not about volume but presence when it comes to shouting out FP&A. FP&A is often treated synonymously as budgeting and analysis. FP&A equals to finance to a lot of stakeholders.  FP&A are also problem solvers, collaborators, listeners. It is worth spending time educating the business what the department does and can do. FP&A is here to help – value-add activities such as providing timely and relevant insights. FP&A makes use of data past and present to build up a picture and present the likely trajectory. Actions may be louder than words but sometimes it is not enough. I mentioned networking earlier. This gives a platform for FP&A to shine - make use of it.

FP&A also build their brand through trust. This can be promoted through business support with sound analytics. By this I mean

• make use of the data and technology available to generate insights
• discuss these insights with the business partner.

It is important for FP&A to engage – to make the business feel that you are on their side to help them succeed. After all, FP&A is also a support function.

Last but not least, take it on the chin. FP&A should be prepared to take criticism when things don’t go the right way. FP&A have three options – walk away, defend or learn from it. Most of us will agree that learning from failures is one of the best opportunities life can present. Using a project management approach, looking back at what went wrong and what can be done better.

I hope this article has given you a few pointers in building your professional brand. If you are new to a team, build your network and learn the business. This gives you the foundation to excel in your role and be a successful business partner.

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Warranty Group. The Warranty Group is part of Assurant.

The article was first published in Unit 4 Prevero Blog