My day with the public sector CFO of the Year
My day with the public sector CFO of the Year
A Victoria university student shares his experience of a full day shadowing with Paul Helm, CFO of NZ Transport Agency
I have recently accomplished my first shadowing of a top level executive manager and decided to share what I have learnt with others. My day started at 8.30am in the NZTA building in Wellington and Paul certainly didn’t waste any time. Straight from the beginning, he explained his two fundamental beliefs:
1. A smart CFO never says “no” to any project, but merely describes the consequences of any action. This is particularly important in a publicly-owned corporation, which manages the taxpayers’ money, but also applies in any other privately owned companies as well. The idea is that the decision making body (government, CEO, shareholders etc.) makes an informed decision based on CFO’s input, it is not for the CFO to allocate the money (as I have falsely believed).
2. Paul’s business plan throughout the years has always been the same: Customer-driven and fiscally responsible. Both parts are equally important and will not work without the each other. Delivering excellent services that put us in huge debt is just as irresponsible as focusing solely on the financials of a project.
A CFO’s
day seems to be filled with meetings with various
stakeholders – be it his team members, managers from
different departments seeking consultation on NZTA projects,
a friendly visit from an overseeing auditor, or just an
informal coffee with the general manager. The highlight of
my day was to witness how Paul has taught his people how to
think and operate independently, be responsible for your own
work and never micro manage.
This experience has given me
a great insight into the everyday life of a CFO. I’m very
grateful such shadowing exists (a big thanks goes to the CPA
Australia for organising this) and would certainly like to
encourage others to pursue similar goals and undertake any
practical challenges to broaden their views.
David
Rektorys,
Victoria University
student