One of the most exciting aspects of the FP&A industry is that it’s constantly evolving. As we wander through this jungle of data, trying to find our way home, there are a million paths that we can take – each of which delivers different aspects of what can make our businesses tick. There is a wealth of information, resources, events, and thought leadership out there that aims to help you make the most of these developments along your planning and analytics journey.
However, none of this can come to bear unless it trickles down throughout the organisation to help the people who are actually doing the work.
A common roadblock
One of the most common mistakes that we see companies making is not leveraging the FP&A knowledge that they have accumulated in their organisation. Often, there are just a few people (one of whom may be you – reading this blog) who are passionate about the space and see value in learning about the cutting-edge trends and movements in the industry. But if that expertise doesn’t escape that small microcosm, then you’re leaving a lot of value on the table.
Planning and analytics is unique because it involves literally everyone throughout the company. As you build datasets from the ground up, every action and decision has a tangible impact on the results that you look at when they are finally aggregated. This means that the quality of your data is not only determined by those few people who are pursuing FP&A excellence directly but by everybody who interacts with any part of the value chain.
Thus success is dictated by the general FP&A expertise throughout the organisation, and not just within the few whose job it is to look after.
Training your staff
The solution to this problem is a self-explanatory one. Train your staff. If you can build a regular process for educating your teams about the power of FP&A, its methodology, and its best practices – that will have a direct impact on the quality of the data that your company collects and processes. By empowering everyone to buy into this mission, you can save yourself plenty of headaches and arrive at better decisions time after time, without having to reinvent the wheel.
Of course, this requires time and resources – which can be hard to come by when things are as busy as they are – but it’s an investment well worth making. FP&A excellence can help to drive the company in the right direction from a strategic perspective which can make or break the organisation. The companies that are going to stand the test of time are the ones who recognise the long-term impact of this sort of training and can implement it effectively.
This sort of initiative creates a data-first culture that allows for more robust and objective decision-making across every level of the organisation. The value of this will continue to compound over time as the field develops and more data is brought to bear on business success.
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If you’re looking for a technological partner to walk the FP&A journey with you, be sure to get in touch with us here at Apliqo, and let’s see how we can help.
