Treasury Talent

Become a treasury influencer

Published: Nov 2024

Alongside the usual set of financial and technical skills, other attributes such as stakeholder management, emotional intelligence and effective communication are becoming increasingly important for treasury professionals everywhere – so how can developing soft skills help treasurers gain influence and progress their careers?

Three wooden blocks with health, happiness and success

The role of the treasurer within the organisation continues to be something of a moving target. François-Dominique Doll, Deloitte Global Treasury Advisory Southeast Asia Leader, says the role of the treasurer “is undergoing significant transformation”, and that traditional finance and business skills alone are no longer enough to meet the demands of a modern treasury function.

Citing the Deloitte Global Treasury Survey 2022, he says the survey shows there is an increasing focus on soft skills such as stakeholder, emotional intelligence (EQ) and digital capabilities, “driven in part by the pandemic’s impact on remote work, heightened liquidity management and the need for scenario planning.”

As treasury teams become more integrated with other business units, Doll observes that treasurers are expected to manage diverse teams, collaborate across departments and align closely with broader business strategies.

“Therefore, treasurers today must not only possess technical expertise but also demonstrate strong leadership, communication and influencing skills to navigate complex stakeholder relationships,” he says. “These skills, while not always inherent, can be cultivated through continuous learning, leadership training and practical experience in digital environments.”

Building out the treasury skillset

Sander van Tol, Partner at independent consulting firm Zanders, agrees that with the expanding remit of the treasury function – and the increased impact of treasury technology on operational treasury processes – “it is essential for treasurers to continuously develop their own skills and competencies.” In particular, given the changing nature of the treasurer’s role, “there is more emphasis now on stakeholder management, influencing skills and EQ – rather than pure technical and/or financial skills.”

But as van Tol observes, the extent to which the skillset of the traditional treasurer is developing depends on a number of factors. These may include the size and service delivery model of the organisation and the maturity of the treasury function, as well as “the more strategic HR view on the treasury function.”

When looking at the required skills and competences within treasury, he points out that unlike more general finance functions such as accounting and control, treasury is regarded as a specialist finance function within a multinational company (MNC). Nevertheless, “Treasury is a very diverse function, working with both internal and external stakeholders. So treasurers need to be able to have strategic as well as technical and operational conversations.”

What is EQ?

Emotional intelligence – also known as emotional quotient (EQ) – is the ability to recognise, understand and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the ability to understand the emotions of others.

The theory of emotional intelligence was proposed in 1990 by psychologists Peter Salovey and John D Mayer. According to psychologist and author Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence has five key components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.

In the context of the workplace, EQ can be an important attribute, both for team players and at a leadership level. People with emotional intelligence will be better placed to build positive relationships, coach teams, resolve conflicts and promote a positive working environment.

They may also have an advantage where career progression is concerned. Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, has previously argued that research shows emotional intelligence to be “the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.” According to Bradberry, only 36% of people are emotionally intelligent – but 90% of top performers have high emotional intelligence.

Raising the profile of treasury

For modern treasury professionals, navigating these conversations effectively is not only crucial to furthering specific treasury goals – it can also help to raise the profile of treasury within the organisation more generally, as well as helping treasurers progress their own careers. In the ACT’s Business of Treasury 2024 survey, for example, ‘leadership and strategic skills’ were identified as a barrier to career progression by 45% of respondents.

At a recent Future Treasury and Finance Leaders Forum hosted by Treasury Today in Singapore, attendees discussed different strategies that treasury professionals can employ to communicate effectively with stakeholders. These included anticipating stakeholders’ concerns, rehearsing messages ahead of important discussions, and speaking to different stakeholders individually in order to gain buy-in ahead of a group call.

That said, treasury professionals are likely to focus on building different skills at different stages of their careers. For example, van Tol explains that treasury practitioners in the early stages of their careers tend to focus more on hard skills, such as specific treasury content and knowledge development, as well as on technology-related training. “When they progress through their careers, other competences become more important like project management, negotiation skills, etc,” he adds.

Cutting through complexity

A key aspect of stakeholder management is the ability to explain treasury topics to others within the organisation who are not experts in the field. “One of the best qualities a treasury professional can have, in my opinion, is that they can simplify the complex topics we deal with within treasury,” observes George Dessing, Executive Vice President, Treasury & Risk at information, software solutions and services provider Wolters Kluwer.

Dessing reflects that at the end of the day, “everyone is a treasurer in their own way, whether it’s converting currency for a vacation or by closing a mortgage for the purchase of a house.” As such, he says it is crucial for treasury professionals to ‘know their audience’ when engaging with other parts of the organisation, and to be able to make treasury ‘real’ for them.

He describes Wolters Kluwer is a company in which people are asked to look beyond their own areas, and to collaborate to find new solutions. “I always tell my team: ‘we achieve more by engaging with the organisation than by sitting behind our laptops all day crunching numbers’, and I strongly believe that,” Dessing adds. “We’re stronger together and should always strive to collaborate and share knowledge with the rest of the organisation to support and inspire each other.”

Achieving this requires effective soft skills. Dessing explains that treasurers need to communicate clearly, and may need to defend their viewpoints or convince their colleagues about the value of their ideas. “This, in turn, helps reinforce your soft skills and help you learn from any mistakes you might make along the way.”

He adds that soft skills are best trained through practice, “so collaborating on even small multi-disciplinary projects is a great way to grow both your knowledge and soft skills as a treasury professional.” Where recruitment is concerned, Dessing says he is “always looking for networkers and team players – people who are communicative, stakeholder-sensitive, result-driven and streetwise – and all of this with lots of passion and a smile!”

Stakeholder management in practice

So, what does effective stakeholder management look like in practice? Yvonne Teo, APAC Treasury Director at German chemicals distribution company Brenntag, explains that the treasury team needs to work closely with internal stakeholders including the CFO and controllers. “A lot of the time we need to work closely together, because our remits are somewhat overlapping,” she adds. “Of course, treasury also has a specific focus on cash and FX.”

When it comes to building relationships with stakeholders, she notes the importance of understanding their goals and concerns, “and finding out how we can meet each other halfway.” By doing so, she says both parties will be better placed to support the organisation and optimise its financial health.

According to Teo, effective communication requires frequent touch points and a clear understanding of the goals and benefits of any joint projects. “For a lot of corporates, it’s essential not just to focus on revenue, but to think about how we should repatriate dividends regularly and upstream surplus cash back to our parent company, so that the business can continue to grow through continuous investments.

“That’s why it’s important for treasury to provide advice on clearing certain roadblocks, right from the beginning,” she concludes. “We need to be proactive in anticipating problems and solving them, rather than being in a reactive mode and only handling problems when they come to us.”

Entrepreneurs and ‘intra’preneurs

In an interview with Treasury Today last year, Frances Hinden, EVP Treasury and Corporate Finance at Shell, argued that treasury needs more entrepreneurs: “Recruiting people and persuading them treasury is a great place to work can be difficult,” she said. “Many people interested in finance either want to work for their own company or not work in a central function managing cash. But we need the entrepreneur mindset in corporate treasury just as much as we need them in the country as a whole.”

François-Dominique Doll, Deloitte Global Treasury Advisory Southeast Asia Leader, notes that as organisations restructure and rethink their team roles, the need for entrepreneurial thinking becomes even more critical. “Treasury departments that adopt this mindset can proactively identify opportunities, innovate within their functions, and contribute to long-term business success,” he reflects. “By fostering a combination of technical, digital and soft skills, along with entrepreneurial agility, the treasury function can transition from a reactive role to a more strategic, value-creating one.”

Sander van Tol, Partner at Zanders, says that he likes to refer to treasurers as “Finance and Risk ‘intra’preneurs,” adding that treasurers should be a proactive partner and trusted advisor to the business. As an internal entrepreneur, he says treasurers should be looking for opportunities to leverage their specific knowledge of liquidity, capital and risk. “Treasury should become more embedded with the business, offering insights to support top line growth, cost reduction, efficiency and improved risk management,” he says.

As van Tol explains, this focus on measurable, attributable value-add will lead to the expansion of the treasury financial partner role, “extending beyond ‘traditional’ banking services into a broader array of financial services (and financial services technologies/partners) that the company uses across their business operations.”

All our content is free, just register below

As we move to a new and improved digital platform all users need to create a new account. This is very simple and should only take a moment.

Already have an account? Sign In

Already a member? Sign In

This website uses cookies and asks for your personal data to enhance your browsing experience. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your data is handled in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Ok, I agree Privacy Policy