The EMEA Recruitment podcast was delighted to welcome Stuart Howes, the Head of Group Controlling at On AG, for our latest Finance episode.

“A lot of things can be solved if you just talk to each other.”

Stuart speaks to Paul Toms, Founder & Co-Owner of EMEA Recruitment, from his home in Switzerland, where he’s been connecting more with his family and airing out his collection of trainers since the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world last year.

Stuart found the challenges presented by the pandemic positive in terms of learning to work in a new way. He speaks to Paul about how he’s created a common purpose for his teams throughout his career, which he believes makes it easier to rally people together. Being a manager, Stuart is a firm believer that getting into the work yourself and taking things off your team members’ plates helps build a feeling of unity.

We find out Stuart’s top tip for more junior managers to get buy-in from their teams. He’s learned a lot from the “strong group of managers” that he’s worked with throughout his career. In fact, Stuart’s calm, assured approach is something that he believes all Finance professionals should show to the business when presenting problems. He also believes that we should all be able to laugh at ourselves in the workplace.

For those of you looking to break into or move up in the Finance discipline, Stuart offers some key advice on making yourself stand out on your resume and in interviews.

Looking at the future of Finance, Stuart and Paul discuss the impact of Business Intelligence (BI) and Data on the discipline. Although Stuart is still in the “early stages” of his career, he’s already seen significant change and doesn’t believe the pace of growth will slow down. We find out how he thinks data will impact different roles across Finance in the years to come.

However, he only believes you should be concerned about the changing industry if you want to see Finance in its traditional sense. He explains why he thinks these professionals are missing opportunities.

Stuart puts a lot of emphasis on teamwork throughout the podcast episode, explaining how building a common purpose can improve efficiency. He uses an example of the Great British Cycling Team’s record-breaking performance at the 2012 Olympic Games inspiring him to push people who are specialists in different areas to work together as a team.

You can listen to the full episode below: 

Or at: https://emearecruitment.libsyn.com/emea-recruitment-podcast-84-creating-a-common-purpose-within-your-team-stuart-howes

These timestamps will help you find the part of the episode that is of most interest to you:

01:02: Taking the positives from a challenging year
03:25: Creating a common purpose within a team
06:31: How to get buy-in from your team
09:00: Stuart’s calm and assured approach
14:14: How to stand out in the recruitment process
18:40: Why Data Scientists may take over Finance roles
23:40: The Finance roles of the future
25:44: How to make a team more efficient
30:03: Stuart’s management inspiration
34:00: Stuart’s proudest achievement
38:59: How to reach out to Stuart

If you’d like to start a conversation with Stuart, you can connect with him through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuarthowes/

The EMEA Recruitment podcast is brought to you in partnership with our friends at Operation Smile. Operation Smile’s volunteers help to deliver life-changing surgery to children and adults born with cleft lip and palate. We’re hoping to raise vital funds and awareness for the work they do through our partnership. To read more about this amazing charity, please click here: https://www.emearecruitment.com/pages/operation-smile

The EMEA Recruitment podcast is hosted by Paul Toms, our Founder, and Jenny Callum, our Associate Director.

More information about our services is available through our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/

You can also follow us on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/

If you’d like to connect with Paul, feel free to visit his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/

Or Jenny, here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycallumemea/

We are open to hearing your thoughts on future topics to be featured in the EMEA Recruitment podcast. Please let us know through LinkedIn.