Soft skills are career positive for finance professionals

Historically, there’s been a perception of the finance profession that the focus is on data – a safe pair of hands performing the calculations and coming up with projections, while an enigmatic CEO turns those figures into a compelling story for customers and shareholders. Increasingly, though, finance professionals are being called upon to present and create a narrative around those all-important numbers, and are brushing up their skills accordingly.

‘Hierarchy in many businesses has become a bit flatter, so rather than finance professionals being shut away doing calculations, they’ll now often have to present them as well,’ explains Shaun Thomson, from sales training company Sandler Training. ‘Company finance people have to be able to come back and translate the technical stuff into a common language for business owners. It’s not good enough for business leaders to say “I’ll leave that to my financial advisers” anymore – they have to understand what they’re saying.’ Mike Sergeant, a former BBC correspondent and founder of Sergeant Leadership Communications, agrees, ‘The numbers only ever tell part of the story. The spreadsheet gives us the dots, but we always need to join them into a picture and apply some paint.’ Every pitch, presentation and speech is a mixture of excitement and reassurance. Those in finance need to reassure with their analysis, numbers and professional qualities, but they also need to motivate teams, excite clients and ‘sometimes inspire people about big ideas.’

Looking to the future, increased automation and use of artificial intelligence means that more value will be placed on how professionals present, communicate and interpret – after all, the ‘robots’ will be the ones processing the numbers. Adrian O’Connor, founding director of recruiter Global Accounting Network, says: ‘Amid the rise of automation, the innately “human” ability to communicate with various stakeholders is becoming increasingly important for accountants – particularly those at senior level. As process-led tasks are increasingly being delegated to technology, senior finance professionals have the capacity to take on a larger chunk of C-suite responsibility.’

According to research from Hays, however, only 35% of accountancy and finance professionals are taking proactive steps to develop their communication skills, even though another of its surveys revealed that employers rate communication as the most important skill in an organisation’s future success.

Karen Young, a director at Hays Senior Finance, points out that in an increasingly turbulent political and economic environment, where scrutiny of business performance has arguably never been higher, soft skills such as effective communication can help finance professionals to stand out from the crowd. ‘With competition for the best candidates so high, the deciding factor can often come down to skills like communication and negotiation, and of course cultural fit still plays a part,’ she says.

One of the challenges for those in finance, however, is that much of their career may have been focused on the technical aspects of business accounting, and this is where they feel safest. ‘In personality profiling, accountants tend to score highly on compliance but low on influence,’ explains Carl Reader, an entrepreneur who runs a chain of chartered accountancy firms. ‘So presenting may be outside their comfort zone. They need the training and the exposure – the content is easy to learn but it’s about how to deliver it in the right way.’

Richard Stonier, co-founder of Tally Online Accountancy, argues that being able to communicate well can add value to the service you already provide, and keep your profile high either internally or with customers. ‘Your clients or colleagues are coming to you for your financial skills, but they could have gone to somewhere or someone else,’ he says. ‘They like interacting with you, but you need to build that relationship.’

Can good communication actually be taught, or is it something that comes naturally? ‘Soft skills do come more naturally to some than to others, but the principles of skills like effective communication can also be taught,’ says Paul Russell, director and cofounder of Luxury Academy, a training provider for senior executives. ‘Say, for example, a finance professional wanted to learn how to be a better presenter, they might undertake a presentation skills course to teach them how to gain the attention of an audience and how to structure a session, as well as helping them to develop a presenting style that works for them. When it comes to continuing professional development, most professionals wouldn’t think twice about updating their technical skills, so the same should be true for soft skills.’

While there are plenty of training courses available that can teach the art of storytelling, or how to manage difficult conversations, sometimes the best approach is to build your own communication skills in a ‘safe space’.

‘You don’t have to wait for the pressure of a big presentation,’ says Thomson from Sandler Training. ‘You can practise in an everyday situation such as a team meeting, trying out the principles of good communication in a softer environment.’ He adds that there are a few fundamental things we can all do to communicate better. ‘We communicate better with people who we like and like us, so think about how you match and mirror people’s actions. Some talk slowly, some quickly, so pick up on someone’s style and match it,’ he explains.

‘Also make sure your words, tone and body language are congruent. If your body language says you’re bored, but the words are trying to convey something else, the message is not going to land.’

Wendy Robertson, currently running Thrive Partners, is a former financial director who advises that being aware of your audience, their level of knowledge and their expectations is key. ‘It’s sometimes knowing what type of tone of voice is relevant – a peer discussion might not be the same as a formal presentation or external conference, for example,’ she says.

It’s also worth bearing in mind any visuals that will accompany what you’re trying to say. ‘We have access now to more tools that can help to make your message visually, such as dashboards that can show key information and display this prominently rather than a digest on a few sheets of paper in a monthly meeting.’ Thrive is a coaching service where executives can book in for targeted or tactical advice sessions via online chat, telephone or video.

Young at Hays adds that ‘it’s important to be aware sometimes of the difference in communication styles between different generations. For example, millennials are more confident using technology to communicate, while employees of previous generations tend to prefer more traditional means such as phone or face-to-face conversations.’

The former finance professional turned writer Howard Lewis runs OFFLINE, a series of networking dinners where phones must be switched off and conversations happen face-to-face. He offers five reasons for building your personal communication skills.

1. Don’t assume that as a finance professional you don’t need to communicate. Good communication skills are vital for everybody. Whatever your discipline, your ability to interact with colleagues and counterparts is an essential component of a successful business life.
2. Don’t obsess over the need to be corporate and serious in presentations. You should be engaging in a conversation, not delivering a mini lecture.
3. With automation and artificial intelligence on the rise, your future value will be determined by the way you articulate and interpret messages for your audience.
4. Nobody is an expert on day one. The key to communicating well is to practise whenever you can.
5. Communication is not a soft skill or luxury item. Senior executives are in the people business, regardless of sector.

Harriet Heneghan, an executive coach at Black Isle Group, suggests that videoing yourself speaking can help if there is an important presentation coming up. ‘We work with clients who see themselves on video talking about a new strategy but realise they’re delivering it with no passion, or their voice is flat,’ she says.

She also warns against using figures or data as a crutch, even if this is where finance professionals feel most comfortable. ‘There can be a temptation to hide behind the data, but you need to act like a salesperson both for yourself and for your message,’ she adds. ‘You need to show that you’re confident, and that comes from your tone of voice. Similarly, if you’re showing a lot of data to like-minded professionals, they may also get distracted by it and miss your visual cues.’

As aspects of finance and accounting roles become swallowed by technology, building communication skills will be just one more string that finance professionals will need to add to their bow. Carl Reader concludes, ‘In the past, the focus for the finance department was producing and presenting information contained in an annual report or other document. Developing strong communication skills means you’re on a more equal level to the CEO or other executives. You can influence their decisions more, but with that strong grounding of data.’

Kelly Feehan, services director at CABA, an organisation that supports accountancy students and chartered accountants, believes there are simple techniques that can be applied in the workplace to help boost communication confidence. Here she lists three ‘hacks’ to help you communicate effectively.

Eye-to-eye contact
Looking directly at people when you speak creates a connection, and means you’re more likely to hold their attention. Try putting this into practice and when you’re making a critical point, hold the gaze of the person you need to convince.

Learn to listen
Knowing what your audience wants to hear about (be it part of a presentation, a developmental conversation or how you can help a business) helps you tailor what you’re saying and how you’re saying it.

Avoid information overload
When communicating, have a maximum of three key messages or main argument points you want to get across, otherwise you’re asking your audience to concentrate on too many moving parts. Be disciplined and stick to a simple yet effective plan and this will help improve not just the content, but how you deliver it too. Remember, it’s not all about the numbers. Convey the most pertinent information and leave the detail for questions later or an appendix in the presentation.

• Soft skills are career positive for finance professionals
  Business & Management Faculty - extract from the Communication skills special report, March 2018

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