The judging panel of the annual CFO Awards received yet another high-quality injection with the addition of Herman Bosman, CEO of RMI and RMB Holdings.
The judges for the CFO Awards are extremely experienced in the field of business and finance and are highly regarded by the CFO community. The panel consist of industry leaders working for South Africa's leading universities, banks, advisory, IT and law firms, as well as former CFO Awards winners.
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"It is an interesting panel to be part of and an interesting exercise to find out what makes CFOs tick," says Herman, when asked why he has agreed to join the panel. "The role the CFO plays in an organisation is multi-faceted, ranging from governance and controls through to capital structure and strategy. The partnership with the CEO is also important. CFOs are vital parts of every successful company, but they are often unsung heroes. The CFO Awards are a way to recognise their important role."
"The simple reality is that when things are going good, the light typically shines on the CEO. When things go wrong, the eyes are on the CFO, who should have been the financial gatekeeper. It is an asymmetrical profile. The duality of the partnership with the CEO is also interesting: on the one hand the CFO needs to keep enough independence from the CEO and on the other hand they should form a partnership."
What will Herman specifically look for when judging the CFOs who will be nominated for the 2019 CFO Awards?
"At the level of the CFO, you should be able to assume technical, basic competence around finance, capital structure and treasury.
The few things I will look for are:
1. Judgement
Judgement is one those things you cannot teach. It’s the decision that somebody takes when the facts are not all clear. CFOs are typically quite technical and like to make decisions based on facts, but often you need to make a decision when not all the facts are known. Then you need to brave and trust your conviction. Whether it is gut feel, commercial sense, personality or decisiveness, these all define judgement. And that is often the difference between failure and success.
2. Commercial application
The numbers don’t exist in a vacuum. How you apply them in a commercial business is crucial.
3. EQ or interpersonal skills
This includes the external facing role of the CFO. This does depend on the role the CFO plays in a particular business and if it is listed or not."
