How CFOs can influence decisions beyond finance

My Role: Helping make things better

My role at Hinkler has always been much broader than finance. The title might be CFO, but the mid-size of the business has required me to be involved in almost every aspect of its corporate life.

Over the years, I have had responsibility for shipping, HR, IT and operations, as well as serving on the boards of various companies associated with Hinkler. I have also been heavily involved in our international operations across the UK, the US and Asia.

As a group, we have grown almost threefold over the past decade and, as we have expanded, some of my responsibilities have shifted to specialist teams — but my role remains incredibly diverse.

There really is no “standard” day. One day might include reviewing the financial performance of part of the business and analysing what the numbers are telling us. Another might be focused on negotiating contracts. Virtually every contract the business enters into — whether it is with customers, suppliers or service providers — passes across my desk in some form.

People are also a significant focus of my role. We take the support and management of employees very seriously, so a lot of my time can be spent working through organisational structures, supporting team members or looking at how we can help people perform better. That can ebb and flow, but it is an important piece.

Increasingly, my focus has been on helping drive change across the business. Hinkler has evolved dramatically during my time here, and there has been no shortage of transformational projects. In the past few years, we have sold our UK business, which I led the charge of from a commercial and negotiations perspective.

We have also acquired businesses in both the US and Australia, completed a major corporate restructure, implemented new ERP systems and transitioned parts of the business to new operating models.

Those sorts of projects are what I enjoy most. I have never been particularly happy when there is not something challenging going on.

Each initiative is about improving the business, and that is what makes the role rewarding. It is much more motivating to spend your day helping to make something better, rather than simply solving problems — although that is always part of any senior role.

Game changers: Diverse activities

I started my career in merchant banking. It was a lucrative career path, but I found that it was not rewarding or fulfilling enough for me. It was quite repetitive and I did not feel like I was adding much value.

I wanted something broader and more diverse, so I went back to university and completed a commercial law course before moving to KPMG in Sydney. When I look back on my career, that was the biggest turning point.

At the time, a lot of people thought I was making the wrong choice, but I knew I wanted to be motivated by diversity of activity and give myself the best opportunity to build a broad career.

At KPMG, I worked in corporate taxation and management consulting, although by the end of my time there the vast majority of my work was in consulting. It gave me exposure to a much wider range of legal, commercial and strategic issues that I would not have encountered otherwise. The training was exceptional and the experience helped build the foundations for everything that followed.

After KPMG, I moved to the UK for two and a half years. I was originally going to transfer with KPMG, but before starting I explored other opportunities and ended up taking a consulting role with what is now AstraZeneca. Upon my return to Australia in 1999, I joined Fairfax Media as strategy manager.

 

"I have never been particularly happy when there is not something challenging going on. Each initiative is about improving the business, and that is what makes the role rewarding. It is much more motivating to spend your day helping to make something better, rather than simply solving problems."

 

That proved to be another formative experience. I arrived at a time when the media industry was going through enormous disruption. Fairfax was right in the middle of the transition to digital publishing, and I had a front-row seat to the impact technology could have on an established business.

Watching the evolution of Fairfax taught me a great deal about the importance of change and adaptation. It showed me how quickly industries can be transformed and not to underestimate the significance of technological change. Those lessons have stayed with me throughout my career.

Those experiences were also a major reason that Hinkler appealed to me when the opportunity arose. I could see that the business understood that it needed to evolve if it was going to remain successful. The company I joined more than a decade ago is very different from the business we are today.

In many respects, we are no longer just a publishing business — we have expanded into new categories, new markets and new channels, and I have been fortunate to play a role in helping drive that evolution.

My Challenges: Sustainable business models 

One of the biggest challenges for any business is making sure it continues to evolve. That is something I have been conscious of throughout my career.

When I was working as strategy manager at Fairfax, I was in the middle of the evolution of what people referred to as the “rivers of gold” businesses — real estate, employment and motor-classified advertising. It was a period when the extent of technological disruption was becoming impossible to ignore.

That experience has proven valuable in my time at Hinkler, because the business has had to transform significantly. If you look at our product portfolio today, it is very different from when I joined. In fact, part of our corporate restructuring involved moving away from the “Hinkler Books” identity because it no longer reflected what the business had become.

I think my breadth of experience in management consulting put me in a fairly unique position to support those changes and move into a group of aligned segments. There are not too many local businesses left in Australia that are taking on the global markets and succeeding.

A lot of the work we have undertaken in recent years has been about building a strategically sustainable business model. This has involved acquisitions, restructuring, technology investments and expanding into new product categories and channels.

Consumer behaviour also has changed significantly, particularly through the growth of online retail, and we needed to respond to that.

One example is our recent acquisition of the business Journey of Something, which specialises in premium craft, puzzles and games. Historically, much of Hinkler’s product range sat at a lower pricepoint and was sold primarily through traditional retail channels. Journey of Something gave us access to a higher-pricepoint product range that was already performing strongly online.

It allowed us not only to diversify our products but also to diversify our channels. The acquisition also reflected a broader strategy of ensuring we are participating in the right segments and adapting to the ways consumers choose to shop.

The challenge is never about finding a short-term opportunity. The challenge is finding a position in the market that you can sustain over time. This requires the right products, strong customer relationships and a willingness to continue adapting as markets change.

More than anything, though, success comes down to people. One thing Hinkler does extremely well is set high expectations and have those expectations owned by employees. The bar is high, but it is not imposed — it is embraced. That is very difficult to create because culture takes time. Every new starter has to become part of that culture and contributes to it.

In larger organisations, processes often drive performance. In a mid-sized business, people and culture are critical. Markets change and business models evolve, but culture is what allows you to adapt successfully. Maintaining that culture while continuing to grow and transform the business is one of the most important challenges we face.

1. Seek out what genuinely interests and motivates you: One of the reasons I left banking early in my career was because, despite the financial rewards, I was not satisfied. I knew I needed a career that offered more diversity and broader challenges. Looking back, that decision shaped everything that followed.
2. Do not narrow the view of what your role can become: If you do that, there is a good chance you will narrow your opportunities as well. Throughout my career, I have always been interested in understanding different parts of the business and developing a breadth of knowledge. That is one of the reasons I have pursued studies in accounting, law, marketing and business, and it is also one of the reasons I have enjoyed a role that extends far beyond finance.
3. Be prepared to invest in your career: Opportunities do not simply arrive because you want them to. You need to actively seek them out, put in the work and be prepared to develop the skills to take advantage of them when they arise. I have certainly been fortunate that opportunities have come my way throughout my career, but I do not think that happens without hard work. If you are prepared to be proactive and invest in yourself, the rewards do come.
4. Do not be afraid of a challenge: The professional projects I have enjoyed most have been the ones that involved change, complexity and improvement. Those are often the experiences that teach you the most and have the biggest impact on both your career and the businesses you are helping build. I have always found challenges more enlivening than concerning. It makes you sit up and take notice, and if the goal is improving the business, it is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

 

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Photography: Jarrod Barnes}