When discussing the future of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), technology often takes centre stage. Conversations typically focus on how technology can enhance month-end closing, improve planning agility and support management decisions. While these advancements are essential, the human element in the fast-paced changes businesses face is frequently overlooked.

Having worked in finance for over 20 years in various companies, transforming teams locally and internationally, and leading distributed departments on a global scale, I can confidently state that people are the most powerful agents of success.

FP&A People at the Centre

In the fast-paced shift toward automation, FP&A leaders must focus on developing their teams. While today’s workforce is overwhelmed, exhausted, and they are searching for meaning, the new generation challenges leaders who resist change, being often unfairly labelled as unwilling to work. People have evolved, and our approach to leading them must evolve, too.

Many FP&A leaders are not prepared for this transition. They often lack guidance because they have had to navigate their careers independently. This was my experience as well. After experiencing burnout many years ago, I had an "a-ha" moment and realised that my development and sustainability depended on how I managed myself and the people I led. So, I consciously chose to dive into human behaviour to learn about myself, leadership, and the secrets of a high-performing team to achieve a different level of success. After eight years of studies and testing many theories, I have made great progress. Having undergone the transformation process, I have created a methodology to change FP&A teams. Everything starts with the mindset.

Embracing an Agile Mindset in FP&A

When we discuss agility in FP&A, the conversation often gravitates towards implementing agile methodologies to enhance the team’s efficiency or better handle forecast volatility. However, there's a deeper, more transformative aspect to agility: embracing the behaviour that an agile person embodies towards their work.

Having spent 12 years in a company renowned for its agile practitioners, some of whom co-authored the Agile Manifesto, I witnessed agile methodologies permeating not just the development of teams but every corner of the organisation. This immersion taught me invaluable lessons, especially since I started my journey as a "traditional" finance professional: rigid, rule-bound, and siloed in my world of numbers.

An agile mindset values flexibility, collaboration, and the ability to adapt quickly to change. Rather than following a rigid, inflexible plan, an agile mindset favours incremental delivery, continuous learning, and quick responses to evolving needs. It's a way of thinking and working that seeks efficiency, innovation, and rapid responses in dynamic environments.

Adopting agile practices in FP&A requires shifting from a fixed to a growth mindset, as Carol Dweck discusses in her book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success"¹. It also involves integrating agile principles into the FP&A team’s workflows. Various changes may be necessary depending on the team's maturity, but the most significant shift is moving from rigid adherence to the established processes to embracing flexibility and openness to change.

Leaders must champion this transition by valuing the learning process over immediate results. This concept can be challenging for traditionally results-driven finance professionals, but this is the only way forward in today’s volatile environment and fast-paced world.

“To navigate this new world, we must step back and think strategically about how to bring ourselves and our teams into this new era.”

How to Drive a Strategic People Transformation

We cannot underestimate the size of the change ahead, especially for leaders like me who come from older generations and have been operating in the same way for decades. But it is no longer an option; we need to face it head-on.

• People Come First

If you want to drive change at a profound level, you need to understand people’s motivation. In "Drive," Daniel Pink provides the three key elements of intrinsic motivation: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose².

Hence, the transformation journey must start by providing people with what they see as valuable. I like running workshops where we go through their biography, understand their profiles as people and professionals, map their successes and failures to learn from past experiences, help them understand where they excel and where they can improve, and what value they bring to the team. It is an immersive journey that helps them see who they are now and allows us to start drawing the picture of what they need to be in the future.

• Form a Coalition Team to Support the Change

To make the change stick, we need effective leadership that will provide direction, resolve conflicts, and continually empower each member to shine. Working with middle managers or natural leaders of the team to understand their roles, check if they feel empowered to drive the change, and ensure they are prepared to be the leaders the company expects them to be is essential to getting your coalition team working smoothly.

• A Shared Mission to Drive Change

Having a clear vision of what the future should be for the FP&A team, tied to the company’s strategy and the definition of goals and objectives, ensures everyone is navigating toward the same destination. An interactive session with the whole team, where people can add suggestions and challenges they might encounter, will make them feel ownership of the plan, driving accountability for its implementation.

• Translate Goals and Objectives into Skills and Competencies to Develop

Lack of guidance on moving from the current to the desired state is where I see the largest gaps in developing high-performing teams. Translating our goals into capabilities can help us develop a competency model based on internal needs and open to external best practices.

• Connect Inner and Outer Goals

Using the teams and company’s goals and objectives, we need to help people connect the dots between the company and their career strategies. By creating personal development plans, we can help them connect their career aspirations, areas of improvement, and expansion of their impact to the experiences arising from the company’s needs. Possessing their plans, they can become the protagonists of their journeys.

Conclusion

In an era dominated by technological advancements, it's vital to remember that people are the most significant drivers of success in FP&A. While automation and digital tools enhance efficiency, they cannot replace people’s creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence. To harness the power of technology effectively, FP&A leaders must invest in their teams, fostering an environment of continuous learning and personal growth. Emphasising intrinsic motivation, autonomy, mastery, and purpose creates a culture that empowers employees to take ownership of their roles and contribute meaningfully to the organisation's strategic goals.

Adopting an agile mindset is key to this transformation, which requires moving from traditional practices to a more flexible, collaborative, and adaptive approach. By connecting personal and organisational objectives, FP&A leaders can help individuals align their growth with the company’s success, fostering a sense of purpose and direction. Ultimately, balancing technological advancements with a strong, people-centric approach ensures that FP&A teams can navigate rapid changes and drive sustainable success.

References

1. Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House, 2006.
2. Pink, Daniel H. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.