intelligent-enterprise-tesco

intelligent-enterprise-tesco

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  economia AUGUST 20124041August 2012 economia This is what our customers want and therefore it is a central part of this year’s business plan. How would you describe the optimal finance department? As part of the wider UK finance organisation we have a slogan of being More than just a finance team. Prince Charles, I think, said in an article recently that accountants should, “count what counts and measure what matters”. I agree these are vital roles. Also, building on this, a truly optimal finance department leads the business and helps it to make better decisions through coaching and supplying insight. There needs to be a strong base of financial control. We talk a lot about that. We can’t move onto leading unless we have a strong financial bedrock. How can the finance department support the model of a continually expanding organisation? Primarily it’s about flexibility. It’s about being clear on the priorities of the business and aligning to them. It’s important too that we help the business My job, at its core, is not just about controlling costs; it’s about working with the business to best balance our cost base with the customer service we offer. It’s about making sure we use our money optimally to give our customers the best shopping trip we possibly can. Given Tesco is the UK market leader, how does it maintain its focus on customers? The UK grocery market is fiercely competitive, which is great for customers. In this context, Tesco takes its position as the market leader seriously. What we need to do is be the leader in the industry for doing the right thing for our customers. And when we do the right things for our customers then we do the right things for our shareholders. This is really the focus of our recently launched “Building a better Tesco” strategy – making things better for our customers, staff and ultimately shareholders. Not any one of these to the exclusion of the others. As part of this six-step strategy, we’re investing about £200m into our stores – enabling more staff hours particularly in large stores and particularly in fresh food. the INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE series • supported by Supporting role For Simon Fuller, finance director of retail operations for Tesco, creating an optimised finance department is about supporting staff, customers and shareholder interests alike. He tells Adrian Holliday about his strategy What steps have you taken to optimise Tesco’s finance department? For me it’s about three key things. The first is supporting the development of people and ensuring that as a leader in the business I help people do the right things for their internal stakeholders and, most importantly, our external customers and shareholders. So the team all have the opportunity to develop in their jobs and progress into bigger and more influential roles. I’ve been in Tesco for almost four years now and one of my proudest achievements is seeing people move on to have a big impact in other parts of the business. Secondly, ensuring finance has a voice in the organisation – and ensuring it has credibility. It’s not just about keeping the score – it’s understanding the business at the shopfloor. It’s about spending time out in shops and depots with staff and customers and living, breathing the operation. This type of experience makes us much more effective business partners. Thirdly, I’d say, it’s about cross- functionality. Finance uniquely touches all areas of the business so we have an opportunity to leverage that strength. I consider an important part of my role is to enable my team to work effectively across all areas of the business. This is what really unlocks value. How about overcoming complexity? What is your programme for streamlining the workings of a large retail business? Much of life’s complexity is self-created. So my way of approaching challenges is to try to boil them down to their simplest building blocks. I frequently urge my team to condense the things we do into a few bullet points. There are very few problems that can’t be summarised in this big picture way. In practice, working in a large business also often means looking for themes. For example, this year Tesco has a programme to refresh many hundreds of stores in the UK. When looking at the performance of these refitted stores we need to draw broad-based, as well as individual store, conclusions. So we may have all the data we need at a micro level, but we also want to look at things in a macro way: what have we learned? What works best? What do our customers like? to strike the right balance between moving into new areas and maintaining a focus on the core of what we do. Being connected is an important role for the finance team to help optimise the use of resources – it’s important to invest in new areas, but be conscious of returns and know where our priority areas lie and where investment will have the biggest impact. Underpinning all of this, finance needs to have an independent voice, driven more by facts than emotions. What would you describe as the high point of your career? A lot of things came together for me at Tesco when I became the Logistics and Supply Chain Finance Director in 2010. I’d increased my understanding of the business, built a strong internal network and completed an excellent leadership development programme. The support I received at this time was first-class and meant that I moved into my new role with both confidence and determination. I found the job to be both a varied and interesting one. I find understanding the process that takes a product from our supplier, to a depot, to a store and ultimately into a customer’s hand is absolutely fascinating. This is the great thing about working for Tesco – you really can personally relate to the whole experience. What does the ACA mean to you? I still remember clearly the day I qualified back in 2001 and the impact it had on me. I don’t mean to sound rehearsed here, but it’s about much more than the three letters on a business card. For me the ACA stands for professionalism and quality. It’s great to be part of an organisation that has that credibility and is seen as a leader in the things it does, backed up by the proportion of ACA members in very senior corporate positions. It’s a highly respected, coveted, qualification. Intelligent enterprise This is the latest is the Intelligent Enterprise series, sponsored by Genpact. To see previous articles in the series, featuring interviews with senior finance figures from SAB Miller and AstraZeneca, go to genpact.com/ home/the-intelligent-enterprise