Companies and CFOs of big firms find themselves increasingly caught in a whirlwind, where urgent matters get priority and other important issues get shelved, Rowan de Klerk on Wednesday explained to the founders of the networking platform CFO South Africa. De Klerk is the CEO of FD Centre, an innovative company that places respected, experienced Finance Directors with smaller organisations and in the CFO offices of larger companies.
"We know the CFOs of today are stretched and they are operating in an increasingly complex world. They can't be specialists in everything," said de Klerk. Based on a concept developed by their British parent company, FD Centre finds independent contractors to address the need for professionals in companies that only can or want to employ them for a limited number of days in the week - often using people between 45 and 60 years old. "Our guys have been around the block and might not want to work for 5 days a week anymore, but they are still keen to add value," added Grant Robson, Regional Director of the firm in Gauteng.
This week Alex van Groningen and Melle Eijckelhoff of CFO SA are meeting with a range of business leaders in the financial world and adjacent South African industries. Their fast-growing CFO SA community is quickly becoming an indispensable network for modern finance professionals.
In a frank conversation De Klerk and Robson elaborated on the roles of CFOs and CEOs at smaller firms and presented their business case to Van Groningen and Eijckelhoff. "If corporates knew about us, they would use us more and never go back to the more traditional firms," De Klerk said. Check back soon on this website for a full account of FD Centre's story.
From left to right in the picture: Rowan de Klerk (FD Centre) and Melle Eijckelhoff (CFO SA).
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