Public Sector Business Partnering
Business partnering is the future of accountants in the public sector.
This webinar series is for every accountant in the public sector that is aspiring to play a more effective role in the performance of their organisation whatever their role or level. It will explore the fundamental concepts of business partnering with reference to the public sector.
As the need for transactionally based accounting services decreases with each technological advancement, the future of accountants in the public sector is at stake unless they transform. A key aspect of this transformation is the increased “partnering” of the accounting function with the rest of the organisation in order to add tangible value. This means moving beyond merely providing accounting and reporting services. The focus is management and how effectively accountants can engage across the whole business to influence and have impact through proactive contribution to decision making.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon satisfactory completion of this webinar series you will be able to:
- Describe what is business partnering
- Explain customer expectations in the Public Sector
- Explain the concept of gap analysis and how it can apply to developing Business Partnering
- Perform your own gap analysis
- Be able to pragmatically prioritise one’s gaps
- Develop a process and initiatives to close the gaps
- Demonstrate progress towards bridging gaps
- Be able to identify processes that need to be challenged
- Develop the confidence to re-engineer processes to increase productivity
- Unlearn and re-learn to generate value
- Be able to differentiate between reports and insights
- Recognise the need to be proactive rather than reactive
- Demonstrate the use of big data and analytics in providing perspective and insight
- Develop robust integrated strategic models for an organisation
- Articulate an integrated reporting view of the organisations
- Develop corporate performance management (CPM) processes linked to strategy
- Be able to understand and demonstrate a wider information management role
- Identify all relevant data sources across the organisation
- Play a role in the data strategy of the organisation
- Recognise the organisation’s position in a turbulent environment
- Deliver a reliable dynamic forecasting process to the organisation
- Develop a dynamic performance management framework.
- Describe the “roadblocks” that prevent you from developing effective working relationships
- Explain how these “roadblocks” are affecting your working relationships
- Identify strategies you can use to develop the emotional maturity needed to improve these working relationships
- Describe formal and informal negotiation processes and examine how those processes differ
- Identify strategies you can use to persuade and influence others in the negotiation process including how to counter inherent power imbalances.
Webinar 1: Business partnering, customer expectations and gap analysis - Ken McCarthy, Lynley Engelbrecht, Aubrey JoachimM
Webinar 2: Strategies to close the gap - Aubrey Joachim
Webinar 3: “Getting rid of the weeds” - Aubrey Joachim
Webinar 4: Historical vs proactive forward looking reporting and analysis - Aubrey Joachim
Webinar 5: Budget process linkages to strategic or business planning processes - Aubrey Joachim
Webinar 6: Ease of access to relevant, timely, and consistent information - Aubrey Joachim
Webinar 7: Forecast timeliness, accuracy and usefulness - Aubrey Joachim
Webinar 8: Building Trust, Empathy and Communication - Bill Butler
Webinar 9: Power, Influencing, and Negotiation - Bill Butler
Benefit:
As the job market hots up and lots of movement takes place, more and more people must deal with changes in personnel which bring new personalities and different working styles to the team. This series will help you as a manager to transform a group of individuals into a cohesive unit who are fully committed to the team’s success and vision. Underpinning the series is the need for managers to take ownership for building and maintaining a high-performance culture based on shared guiding principles.
Further Session Information
Webinar 1: Business partnering, customer expectations and gap analysis - Ken McCarthy, Lynley Engelbrecht, Aubrey Joachim
This session will examine ‘what is Business Partnering?’ and discuss customer expectations of accountants in the public sector. It will also introduce the “BP skills and Traits Matrix” and discuss the concept of gap analysis and how it can apply to developing Business Partnering
Webinar 2: Strategies to close the gap - Aubrey Joachim
Business partnering requires more than just finance and accounting technical expertise. It is more a shift in attitudes and mind-set and developing a set of skills and traits that enable finance professionals to collaborate and add value to their organisations.
This session will examine the gaps identified from the “BP Skills and Traits Matrix” and suggest pragmatic approaches that can be undertaken by individuals in collaboration with their superiors to close the gaps.
Webinar 3: “Getting rid of the weeds” - Aubrey Joachim
Traditional finance stereotyping tends to distract the finance function from performing a value adding partnering role. Established views on entrenched processes need to be challenged in order to release time and effort towards more value generating pursuits.
This session will examine the finance ‘value chain’ to demonstrate the required shift to become efficient in order that it is effective in adding value.
Webinar 4: Historical vs proactive forward looking reporting and analysis - Aubrey Joachim
Finance must provide management with reliable and relevant decision support. Finance must therefore shift its efforts from a historical view to predictive and forward looking view based on sound analysis and judgment.
This session will introduce the fundamentals of big data and analytics that will provide finance professionals the platform to provide dynamic and predictive insights.
Webinar 5: Budget process linkages to strategic or business planning processes - Aubrey Joachim
The key to strategy execution is the tight linkage between strategy, planning, budgeting and forecasting. Unless the linkage is maintained a successful outcome is unlikely. Traditionally finance professionals have not been deeply involved in strategy.
This session will demonstrate how finance can play a more influential role across this space.
Webinar 6: Ease of access to relevant, timely, and consistent information - Aubrey Joachim
Finance plays a pivotal role in information management beyond just financial data. They therefore must recognise their role and influence in harnessing organisation wide data as well as transforming such data into valued information to drive organisational performance.
This session will examine opportunities to play such a role of organisation wide data and knowledge office role.
Webinar 7: Forecast timeliness, accuracy and usefulness - Aubrey Joachim
Today we are in a VUCA world - volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. In such a context organisations need to be ever alert to changing circumstances if they are to remain relevant and successful. Managers must be kept aware of future positions and expectations. We are in the age of dynamism and therefore finance must provide timely and reliable forecasts that managers can use to take organisations forward.
This session will consider the opportunities for finance to combine their knowledge of the business and various internal and external factors to provide more reliable and timely forecast.
Webinar 8: Building Trust, Empathy and Communication. - Bill Butler
Interpersonal savvy is needed to build trust, empathy and communication with business partners.
This session will examine the “roadblocks” that prevent you from developing effective working relationships, explain how you handle these “roadblocks” determines the success or failure of those relationships; and look at strategies you can use to develop the emotional maturity needed to work effectively with other people.
Webinar 9: Power, Influencing, and Negotiation - Bill Butler
Successful business partnering often requires negotiating differing priorities with others in order to meet mutual goals. Successful negotiation requires the ability persuade and influence others in order to achieve the outcome you desire. Your ability to influence can be hampered by power imbalances inherent in the workplace.
This session will discuss formal and informal negotiation processes, examine how those processes differ and introduce strategies to persuade and influence the outcome of each. It will also discuss strategies to deal with power imbalances inherent in the hierarchical structure of the workplace.
Ken McCarthy - Wellington Public Sector Special Interest Group
Lynley Engelbrecht - Wellington Public Sector Special Interest Group
Aubrey Joachim FCMA CGMA MBA – Leading Edge Change
Bill Butler B.Com, C.A, Dip. Soc. Sci. (Psychol.) – Academy of Training
EVENT DETAILS
Topic: Business Mindset, People & Leadership, Reporting
Sub-Topic: Business Reporting, Personal Effectiveness, Solve Problems
Format: Recorded Webinar
Proficiency Level: Intermediate, Advanced
CPD: Upto 4.5 hours