Good business partnering means learning how to distil information, says Diageo's first graduate scheme participant.
By Tim Cooper, editor, e-magazines, CIMA.
Passed finalist Lucie Milburn's job at global drinks business Diageo has brought new meaning to the phrase 'in at the deep end.' Since joining in September 2005, as the first member of the company's new university graduate finance scheme, she has worked in several highly responsible tasks.
Lucie (pictured left), who is now commercial finance analyst at the company's Shieldhall production site in Scotland, said that the brightest highlight to date was an exciting business partnering role on a global inventory project. Although she was based in Edinburgh, the company whisked her off to Amsterdam to meet with people from Diageo supply centres across the world.
She said: 'It was nice to be able to see it from start to finish, delivering the targets at the year end. And it gave me invaluable exposure to parts of the business around the world.'
Amsterdam was the central point for people coming from many different supply centres, including from Latin America, North America, Asia, and Africa. They were all trained and set their objectives there.
How useful were Lucie's CIMA studies in communicating with people from other countries when she got there? 'CIMA has generally given me a toolkit, a means of presenting information and understanding pressures across the world,' she said.
'For example, you have to deal with exchange rates and interest rates. But it has also put me in the right mindset for appreciating other areas of the business, and given me the tools to present my experiences in a way that can be understood. The inventory project came at the perfect time because I was doing the Strategic level, so that, and going into TOPCIMA, ran parallel with what I was trying to achieve in my role.'
It also helped that there are several CIMA students and members in Diageo businesses around the world, including in Amsterdam, and they were able to share experiences.
Exciting scheme
People on Diageo's new finance graduate scheme are expected to complete the CIMA qualification before they leave it. The scheme is part of a drive by Diageo's finance function to develop a talent pool which will support the growth of its Scottish operations.
This will include the building of a new distillery to meet a rising global demand for whisky. The aim is to put the finance team at the heart of this investment plan with a business partnering approach.
How did it feel to Lucie to be the first ever graduate on this scheme?
'I felt quite proud and privileged to have been chosen because it was a tough recruitment process,' said Lucie. 'It was exciting because Diageo and Stuart Lorimer, the finance director for Scotland, had high ambitions for the scheme.
'He wanted us to take on real roles and responsibilities from the start while finishing our CIMA qualifications. It's not about placements. There were a lot of expectations but that's a good position for me. I like to have that challenge so that I can deliver and succeed.'
Coping strategies
As for many students, mixing study and work has been incredibly hard. 'You don't appreciate the demands of the day job and studying until you're in the middle of it,' said Lucie. 'Certainly, at the Strategic level, when you're trying to step up learning capacity - at the same time I went into my second role in Diageo and expectations rose there as well.'
Coping strategies become all important. 'The most important thing I learnt was that you must have time for you. Otherwise, you don't give so effectively in your day job because you need that rest. You need to take a step back and reflect on what you've learnt.'
She loves going to the gym and her workout sessions took on ever greater importance. 'At the start, I thought I can't afford an hour at the gym, it's not productive time. But towards the end, it wasn't just something I wanted - it was giving my body a break. I found that after the gym I was taking more in.'
Lucie even bought a house in February last year. 'I don't know how I fitted it all it. When did I eat and sleep? It's crazy!'
Tools for partnering
The finance team's business partnering model proved to be the right one and it has become central to the business. Lucie said that CIMA gives you the right tools to be a good business partner, by enabling you to analyse information and present it in a way that can be understood by non finance colleagues and senior management.
She said that in particular her TOPCIMA case study gave her a breadth and depth of understanding about how to filter information, summarise and report it. This gives management the high level information and action points they need to make the right decisions without getting bogged down with the numbers.
This was also helpful in another role, which involved supporting a bottling plant to optimise performance. She put together weekly and monthly KPI packs - like a balanced scorecard but going down to line level. These included measures of efficiency, labour use, and yield to help managers meet their targets.
Feel good factor
It's been an intense two and a half years but Lucie has stepped up to the challenge admirably. She carried nine exemptions from her CIMA accredited accounting and finance degree but still did very well to finish her exams in September 2007 having only sat the first one in May 2006. Not surprisingly she says it feels good to have achieved so much and 'proud that I did it in that length of time.'
Lucie is now set to leave the scheme and Diageo is looking for more recruits to the scheme. Whoever it chooses will have a tough act to follow.
Related links
Diageo case study
Improving decision making report
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