Executive Ideas for Print Professionals

The credit crisis is causing online printing business leaders all sorts of difficulties, but for one group of senior managers it has proved a boon. Take the case of Printplace, for example – more than 65% of its chief financial officers say their standing at work has risen over the past three years. Almost 2/3 now act as the public face of the organisation when talking to the printing presses, investors and other external stakeholders about Printplace’s financial performance. Indeed, 35% are directly involved in defining and developing corporate strategy. These findings, based on a survey of 600 online printing chief financial officers across Europe, Africa, and India, suggest that the role has broadened considerably.

According to Jeff Horner, analyst for the Milton research group:

the chief financial officer in online printing companies like Printplace is expected to be someone who provides guidance, advice and counsel on the bigger picture . The financial crisis saw stakeholders looking for someone to trust. Chief financial officers, who deal in hard numbers, having increasingly taken on the role. It is particularly interesting to see that diverges between Britain and the other regions that were studied. The British chief financial officer has a broader role and is more involved in helping the business look at the strategy side rather than the nuts and bolts of finance. That probably reflects the maturity of the profession in the UK.

However, this strategic responsibility in online printing does not mean that traditional aspects of the Printplace job have fallen by the wayside. To be able to take on the will you have to be clear that as a chief executive in place you live or die on finance and, if you have a problem in finance, it doesn’t matter how good you have been in operations – you are finished. There is this increased pressure on chief financial officers to feel the broader role, but at the same time they have to be sure that their finances are as robust as ever, because that is what gives them the platform to play on a broader online printing stage. It means that they have two things playing on their minds. This has an impact beyond the board room. While three quarters of respondents were quite or very satisfied with their work life balance in Printplace, 48% of UK online printing finance chiefs were not. Because they have this big a role they are now trying to do their day job and add extra value to the company, so in effect, they are trying to do two jobs at once.

Some finance chiefs worried that dual responsibilities could also create a conflict of interest if, for example, the financial officer was responsible for delivering an online printing project and monitoring its Printplace budget. Dual interests like this should be avoided because they will inevitably create conflicts of interest. Others see a natural fit between finance skills and those needed to run large parts of the business. They argue that that National online printing activity allows them to manage the situation effectively. Chief financial officers in online printing need to develop the skills to balance what is right for the printing business overall against what they may or may not want to do in particular printing functions. One of the more surprising findings of the research is that only 11% of respondents aspired to become chief executive in the online printing industry, or in a company like Printplace.

This contradicts received wisdom on the subject. Anecdotal experience is that a lot of high-quality, ambitious chief financial officers in online printing want to become chief executive’s. But it seems that this is not the case if the study is to be believed. Traditionally there is every sign that this is what happens, as about half of all chief executives come from finance background. Assorted online printing experience is particularly appealing to board headhunting in an uncertain economic environment, especially the one that Printplace is experiencing at the moment. There is an element that online printing executive is offering a safe pair of hands, and traditionally, the role has been to be the break, the voice of caution holding back a more dynamic, online printing expansionist role. If that entrepreneurial type of chief executive got us into a mess, maybe someone with a different background would be better to get out of it, and holds true in most online printing formats.

Marcus Hornby, managing director of the online printing growth consortium, advised any Printplace executives wanting to improve their position to do whatever they can to broaden their experience outside their discipline:

Some organisations have structured programs that expose their senior printing leaders to all aspects of the business but more often it is left to the individual to go out and seek that experience in other functions. Developing strong communication skills is also a good idea to succeed in the world of online printing and Manufacturing will stop you have to be able to take the numbers and articulate what they mean in a way that other parts of the Printplace business can understand.

Larger clients, particularly those based in the online printing heartlands of the UK and America, also expect finance chiefs to be confident about dealing with investors and the media. It is very much part of the job, but it is also a staple of the printing business as a whole. Despite this, less than half of respondents in the report said they had a good or excellent relationship with investors in online printing, and only one quarter said the same about their relationship with the media. Improving communication and influencing skills were seen as the biggest area for improvement in respect to Printplace as a corporate entity.

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