Senior Finance Managers advice

twopointfour1980

Hi everyone. 

I'm a senior finance manager currently working within the public sector after moving from industry after 25 years and I am having a hard time coming to terms with the softer approach to the trade as well as the lack of resource to be able to carry out detailed finance work as I've once been used to. On top of this, there is little in the way of flexible working which with a young family (and a partner who works) I am finding to be difficult. I worked from home during COVID and found myself to be quite productive and enjoyed it alongside the occasional visit to the office.

I made to move to the public sector in order to try and do something of more value than just chasing profit - i.e. to add value to something with a more meaningful bottom line but I struggle with the lack of resource and the idea that it's 'okay to just be okay and do enough to get through'. I blame a previous life in industry for this this really.
On top of this, moving in to this sector has meant a steep learning curve and I'm finding that I'm not as decisive and knowledgable as i used to be in my old sector and so I don't think I offer the same level of leadership as I once did.

It's put everything in doubt really. On the one hand I'm not sure the public sector job I'm in is for me in terms of feeling unfulfilled from a depth of accountancy perspective and on the other hand I want something more meaningful that just chasing profit  and ideally i would like something flexible enough where i could work from home and have more time with my family.

My partner works as well and with no family near us, when the kids are ill, it falls on one of us to be at home and help care for them which puts a strain on both our jobs. My partners work is physial and cannot be done from home whereas my trade can.

Not much to ask then!!

Part vent and part request for any insight for anyone else in a similar position that has found a good balance in their work at a senior level

Thanks

strawb_shortcake

I'm a CS not finance but work very closely with them.

Of all the functions I work with, finance seem most constrained with flexible working as they seem to be the only ones with real deadlines, and are either working to meet the deadlines or chasing others for information. The rest of us have a lot more control about setting the pace and timescales of our work.

As a whole the hybrid working seems to be quite hit and miss depending on your department, we are woefully bad at getting people into the office, other areas seem much better. 

I think whichever way you jump in or out of the public sector has its challenges, but I have no experience of working in the private sector 

Hope it gets easier for you soon

tacpot12

Analysing your post, you have the following problems: 

• Lack of resources 
• Lower standards ("Good enough is ok") / Shallowness of the approach to accountancy
• Minimal opportunity for flexible working
• Not feeling the benefit of delivering a more meaningful bottom line
• Not able to be as decisive or knowledgable as you were in the past

I wanted to list them out because some are connected and some are independent. 

I think the lack of resources will be common across all public sector jobs. There is just not the investment being made to allow anything other than the bare minium to be done. While this is dispiriting, I think you also need to address the stewardship angle of your role, and consider whether they are doing too little, and make the business case for doing more. If they don't have the right financial controls in place, this needs to go higher.

I also think the lower standards and shallowness in approach are linked to this lack of resources, but also to a lack of leadership/innovation. Is there a way you and/or other senior colleagues can find a way for them to up their game, without it actually costing more? You will need to sell the benefit of doing more as clearly they are overwhelmed and are struggling with the idea of doing a better job. One ideal to sell it to junior colleagues is that it makes their CV look better if they have done more.  

I think the minimal opportunities for flexible working is employer-specific, but in a senior role, you would always be expected to have extensive contact with junior colleagues to oversee their work and mentor them. Some of this can be done remotely, but other times there is just no substitute for being there. I feel that this comes with the territory of being a senior manager. 

Not feeling the benefit of delivering a more meaningful bottom line is in part related to the way that accountancy is disconnected from front-line work of most organisations. Accountants are always rewarded better if the organisation is more reliant on their skills, and in organisations that do the bare minimum of accounting necessary to get by, the accountants are always going to be somewhat under-regarded and feel under-fulfilled. I think the answer here is to get out more into the organisation, to see the bottom line more vividly. If your organisation has a business-partner model in finance, see if you can buddy up to one or more of the business parnters, to get more of a feeling for what the organisation is doing day-to-day, and how your accountancy skills and knowledge might make more of a difference.

Another idea would be to reduce your hours (which might help with childcare also), and look for a Trustee role with a local charity, who would certainly value your accounting knowledge.

I can understand how the feeling that you can't be as decisive as you once were (because you are less knowledgeable about your new responsibilities) would be a concern for you, but it is actually a sensible and logical response to the situation you find yourself in. I think you have to share with colleauges why you can't be as decisive as they might want you to be, and get their support and input to decisions that perhaps should be solely in your domain. Often managers are regarded more favourably if they share their vulnerabilties (which we all have) with their team. But clearly you also have to ensure that a decision is made, and you have take responsibility for any decisions that are taken. I think this uncomfortableness will ease as you become more knowledgeable. Clearly you need to continue to stretch yourself and your professional development into public sector finance.

I think it is reasonable to change employers once you have been their long enough to fully explore the role if you find that it is not for you, but you don't want to make a habit of this, so you need to consider the chance of finding a new employer who would provide the ability to work flexibly, and hopefully, do accounting at more of the depth you are comfortable with. 

Good luck 

penners324

Bit worrying that accounting standards in the civil service are low.

gwynlas

Maybe you need to go back to your job description and the personal specification atttached as well as jds for those you manage and explore the areas where you beleive they do not fit. Do you or your colleagues have unmet training needs Are supervisory needs met or not. With 25 years in the prvate sector you probably had far more autonomy than you do now and possibly worked to a higher level than you were recompensed for. Having worked in local government and the  NHS I know flexible working is simply a matter of negotiation so you need to make a case for it.

twopointfour1980

Thank you so much everyone for the responses. I've taken some time to think about the things said in responses as it is a big move.

I've had some reasonably upfront discussions with my manager about professional satisfaction within the finance team. It's fair to say that in meeting with my team, time and resource is the major factor to the department moving forwards - there simply is no downtime to strategise a lot of the time. 

It was interesting to see the issues broken down a little more. It makes me think about how much of the issue is me and how much is the job. 

I'm thinking about leaving to pursue a contractor route which would give me depth of satisfaction in work plus perhaps more flexibility with how I balance with my personal life.

I'll write more back in a bit because I think there is more to say on this.

Thank you