Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°98 - July/Aug/Sep 2017 - 14

LE MAGAZINE DU TRESORIER / TREASURER MAGAZINE

N°98

- JULY /

AUG / SEP 2017

Mentoring, the way to success?
One other way of developing talent could come from mentoring. If our specialists accept to share
their skills, experience and tips with younger treasurers, it should help creating a promising next
generation on a fertile ground. Ideally, one "mentor" should attributed or allocated to a "mentee"
to informally transfer part of his/her knowledge. Through face-to-face meetings, discussions and
talks. The treasury associations could, for example, organize formal processes and defined structures to "educate" these young "protégés". But such a mentoring structure requires dedication
and generosity from mentors. Older treasurers should give back to the treasury community what
they have received years ago. It should be seen as a normal transfer of expertise or as a legacy
to the next gen. it will enhance younger's motivation. They could help the talents to emerge and
become the future treasury stars, tomorrow.
Today, these types of support aren't formalized and highly depend on volunteering and relationships developed with elders. It is in my opinion one of the duty of our associations to set up
more organized structures to welcome and to accompany younger treasurers in their early career
stages.

And then how do you keep them once you've got them?
Retention is just as challenging. Once in the profession, initiatives such as those of the EACT Summit in March 2017 together with the election of a number of talented thirty-year-olds gives them
greater involvement and can motivate them to stay in the profession. The quality of conferences
could also be a motivating factor. It is up to our Associations to find ways of doing more. We need
to expand the talent pools built up in this way to extract tomorrow's talent from them. Magazines,
newsletters, websites, conferences, training courses, etc. are a set of tools that can be brought
to bear and fine-tuned to make the job more attractive and sexy than it might appear to be. The
profession is very sexy for those who know a bit about it. The problem is more with the image and
perception rather than the content. That's reassuring, surely?
Some treasurers, by extending their work into insurance, pension fund management, taxes, risk management (ERM), etc. have shown their staff how great a
variety the job can offer and how attractive it can be. Good for them!

A young finance professional is not

A generation "Y" person is looking for a better work/life balance, but still wants
to work. The job's variety and career progression should be good motivators.
Repetition is often what "tires" them. It is a fact that they tire more quickly than
their elders, and millennials are worse still. To keep them, you have to give them
variety. No easy thing!

this point, and work on it daily in your

a money-grabbing footballer driven
only by Dollars. If you understand
department with your team (and this
requires some effort) you will retain
them, or at least some of the best of
them.

Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°98 - July/Aug/Sep 2017

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