The simple step to improving cross-functional relationships

Something actually quite strange, but common, are Finance areas taking ownership of profitability for an organisation.  You will hear comments like “March should be a big month, which will make Jim (CFO) happy”, and you’ll hear Jim saying things like “my money” and “that’s good for my bottom line”.

We see the exact same thing when HR departments take ownership of culture or employee engagement.

This comes from a good place, from the natural need we have to contribute using our capability.  As finance people have the knowledge and skill to conduct various levels of detailed analysis, and because producing such analysis is often the gig, they know more than most how the whole show is going in terms of making money.  And HR people working across the business see the differences between areas and often can identify underlying reasons why.

The thing is, achieving profitability is usually the accountability of business unit managers.  And employee engagement is actually an accountability of every manager as their role by definition is accountable for their people’s output, behaviour and collaboration.

What’s going on here is that accountabilities have not been clearly defined.  You can’t have two areas both accountable for the profit of one area. Most Finance areas I know, when we spend the time with the CEO and CFO to really get down to it, are actually accountable for providing information to the business on financial performance, and for raising a flag if they find incidents or trends that might negatively impact profit both now or in the future.

This might seem like a small thing, but it can have a significant positive impact on relationships between the business and the Finance area.  It stops the business areas thinking Finance is trying to tell them what to do.  And, it positions Finance as providing a valuable service to the business by using their knowledge and alternate perspective to send off flares if the plane is looking like crashing into the mountain.

Your people are looking for clarity on what they are there to do, and it cannot be the same as what another area is there to do.   You can set up genuine value-adding relationships through clear accountabilities that provide each area with it’s own unique contribution to the outcome.

All that’s required is your attention and a bit of thought.