"Professionals worldwide are opting to work in smaller groups in which the members have complementary skillsets. This is something they can do with a group like The Finance Team,” says Grant Robson, MD of The Finance Team, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
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In the coming weeks and months, we will be chatting to all the Indaba partners, asking them why they are joining the event and what their most important message for finance professionals is.
Do you want to hear more about how The Finance Team can help you meet your staffing requirements? Do you want to be informed about the latest and greatest in finance? Then don't miss the Finance Indaba Africa 2016.
Why will you be present at the Finance Indaba?
"About five years ago, I first met CFO SA owners Alex van Groningen and Melle Eijckelhoff. CFO had just come into SA and we enjoyed a number of interactions and obviously shared a common client base. I have been watching how the magazine and community has been growing with interest. The Indaba is something that really speaks to the core of our target market, so it makes sense for us to be involved."
What will you be talking about?
"We're going to be showcasing our core function, which is the provision of part-time and interim financial executives to the corporate market."
What are the challenges you can help finance professionals/firms with in 2016?
"These days, great people are hard to find. We've got a permanent pool of excellent financial executives who are exclusively contracted to our consultancy. CFO's looking for part time and interim solutions are typically under extreme pressure and tight deadlines are can't afford to make costly mistakes when it comes to the typical recruitment process. With The Finance Team, they know that their need is initially assessed by Chartered Accountants and they are provided with a solution that is tried and tested through our exclusively contracted Associates. We provide solutions, not CVs and placement risk."
What is behind the growing trend of companies hiring executives on a part-time or interim basis?
"There are a number of reasons, but primarily, professionals worldwide are opting to work in smaller niche groups in which the members have complementary skill sets. This is something they can do within a group like The Finance Team. According to an article published in The Harvard Business Review on "The Rise of the SuperTemp", 16 million Americans are working independently today on either a part-time or interim basis and this figure is expected to rise to twenty million over the next two years. This is not just an American phenomenon. In Europe, where onerous Labour laws are probably more challenging than here in South Africa, part-time and interim employment is even better established than in the United States. It won't be long before South African employers start moving in the same direction."
What are the selection criteria for your executives?
"Nobody comes on board with less than 15 years' experience. Our entry-level associates have a minimum of a Bachelor's Degrees in accounting. While qualifications are important, it is really experience that gets the job done. We have a very onerous selection criteria that we adhere to strictly. We contract with individuals who like the flexibility that our model provides. We don't contract with individuals who are in-between and looking for full-time jobs. We do our utmost to retain our Associates and as a result understand their strengths and weaknesses as well as personality profiles which becomes critical during the deployment phase of our engagements. Most recruitment companies suffer from a high turnover of people and this exposes their brand to risk, as their service delivery can be affected negatively as a result.
