Jan-Paul Drost is the Head of Commercial FP&A at AkzoNobel in Amsterdam. He has worked in the business in various roles for over 20 years and achieved his Certified Management Accountant qualification from Institute of Management Accountants.

What excites you about working for AkzoNobel?

What really excites me is it’s a very diverse and evolving company. With diversity, I mean the people who work there, the different cultures and the different backgrounds, etc.; it creates an enormous sense of a melting pot - in a positive way. But I also mean it as a business and a company itself.

The company has evolved from a holding structure company with multiple industries into a paints and coatings company. But, even within that painting and coatings company, we have all kinds of different business types. We have retail business, wholesalers, B2B [business to business] business, ecommerce business, so it’s not one thing.

You work with different cultures from all over the world and you learn things from all these people. One moment, you’re busy with a business case and retail, the next moment you’re talking about something on a B2B level, which makes it very interesting. It’s never a dull moment in that sense.

I’ve been here for over 20 years and I’m even surprised myself on how long it’s been. I’ve always received the opportunities to grow and develop myself in a role, and I’ve always said: “I’m not married to AkzoNobel, I’m married to my wife, very happily.”  

I have talked with outside parties on different options, but then - in the same period - AkzoNobel came up with a better opportunity within the company and then I went for that.

So, the diversity, the constant transitioning, and the chances the company has given me to grow and develop myself.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your current role?

I think there are two elements. One is helping the business with improvements, with strategy and to really get the most out of it, from the role as a financial, but also as FP&A.

I really believe that FP&A should be a supporting function, which adds value, and also makes reports and supporting documents, which help the business come to the right conclusions; we should not just make PowerPoint analysis for management.

The second thing, which I think is almost even more rewarding, is developing people. You’re only as good as your whole team, and I feel enormously proud when I see people I’ve worked with over the years - who have been in my team, or who I’ve coached as a mentor to grow in their roles - make the next steps in their career and develop into mature financials. I think that is sometimes even more rewarding than supporting the business in growing.

What would you say are the current recruitment challenges that you face, if any?

Like all of us, we always struggle to find and to keep the right level of skilled staff. I am a firm believer of internal recruitment and I also believe that, especially for internal recruitment, the way you are and the way you operate as a manager is very important.

For me, that’s the principle of trust to engage and empower your team. I’m not the type of manager who will, for example, follow up on progress on a project on a daily basis. However, if there’s a problem or someone gets stuck on something, I do expect the person not to wait with rage until the next project meeting, but to come forward openly.

So far, especially in my current role, I have been relatively lucky that, when I have had vacancies, some candidates stepped forward to say: “I really want to join your team.” The way you are as a manager plays a very important role for internal recruitment.

In terms of external recruitment, we struggle with all the same things as everyone else. A job advert just about explains, as clear as possible, what the job is, how interesting it is and what the chances are to develop yourself within AkzoNobel - and then you are hoping to encounter the right person.

You’ve had a nice variety of roles during your career at AkzoNobel. How do you look back at this?

20 years is a long time. My original background is in both Legal and Finance, and I’ve been lucky enough to work in many different fields of the Finance function. I really believe that makes you an all-round financial, who can add value to the business.

I started in Internal Audit. That was a very solid basis of learning the basic processes throughout the company. If you look back at all the projects I’ve done over the years, that has really helped me as a manager, and helped me in the field of motivating and influencing people. But, also, doing multiple things at the same time and ensuring that you have good time management.

As an Accounting Manager, I really learnt the details of the financial systems, especially going through multiple European implementations. As Finance Director for different businesses, I enjoyed working with the business to create and execute the right strategy. I believe that, as a Finance Director, you cannot just do your job behind your desk; you need to also know your customers and your suppliers.

My Legal background also helped me with working on contracts and discussing disputes. Also, the Integrated Business Planning trainings I did have, over the years, allowed me to actively link Finance to the Supply function.

Now, I’m a firm believer that we, as Finance professionals and FP&A especially special - as I’ve already said - should do more than just analyse and make nice PowerPoints; it’s vital that FP&A really understands the business. The reports we make should be useful, not only for the Finance community, but for all managers in the communities.

Also, advice should be based on the full knowledge base, and aligned and discussed with the business Finance Directors; it should not be in a separate silo based purely on spreadsheets. It’s a combination of those things, which help to evolve you as a manager.

What would you say is the secret to building a strong network?

It sounds very stupid, but it’s simple: talk with people, be nice, be open, be welcoming and helpful to others. It’s all about people relations.

A good network has similarities to a friendship. You could say there are business friends; it’s almost like business friendship and business friends.

How will digital transformation change the role of Finance, in your opinion?

I am a firm believer in the big advantages of the use of digital information. Digitalisation will allow us to make faster, more in-depth analysis. We currently see that already with the use of Power BI and SAP Analytical Cloud for things like margin management.

It allows us to go deeper, and it could do more detailed analysis on the customer and product levels. It does highlight, however, the importance of correct master data. I still believe that the human element in these analyses still needs to play a very important role.

Digitalisation and AI (artificial intelligence) can absolutely help in preparing and taking away lots of work, but - in the end - there are always other factors that need to be taken into account to make the picture complete - and the financial still comes into play to leave the final added value.

I really believe in digitalisation; it makes this function much more powerful, and we can help the business with even more information - but I don’t see it as a replacement of the financials in the organisation.

Why would you say the Netherlands is a good place to live and why?

I think having had the chance to live in different countries, I can honestly say that the Netherlands is a great place to live. First of all, general quality of life. The social system is well organised, and, on the people side, people are generally open for newcomers. And the level of English in the Netherlands is, of course, very high.

Often, in the office, the Dutch speak or write in English amongst themselves - because they’re just used to talking English the whole day in meetings - without noticing they were talking English to each other, so that makes it a very easy place for someone outside to join and get started.

What is the best compliment that you’ve ever received?

Apart from what we discussed on people wanting to join your team, a compliment I got not that long ago, which really stuck in my mind, was from an HR Director, who said to me: “Jan-Paul, you are the type of Finance Director most Sales people fear, because you know their customers and their business just as well as they do.” I found that very nice, because it fits into my belief that, as a Finance Director of a business, you do need to understand the business you’re running.

As I said before, you can’t be a Finance Director just off a spreadsheet, so that compliment actually confirmed to me that I did that job in the way I believe it should be done.

Thank you to Jan-Paul for speaking to our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands, led by Hannah Mallia and David Harper.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.