“We have changed the way we talk about business processes and value”.

I had a fascinating conversation with Michael van der Ploeg, who has a rare role as both VP of Global Business Services AND Corporate Controller at Amway, a business that operates in over 80 countries globally.

Michael talked to me about his career through Finance and into leading a multi-function GBS.

His tenure at Amway started with 3 key objectives, 3 big challenges in anyone’s book!

• Set up a new FP&A organization to enable better decisions across the business
• Create a new multi-function Shared Services/GBS capability from scratch 
• Implement a new global ERP system

Most people would tremble at the prospect of just one of these missions 😉 

Michael describes working with colleagues and stakeholders globally to create an integrated, collaborative operating model focussed on “end to end” business processes.

He shares some unique insights and food for thought in this discussion on GBS. He talks about the need to develop and nurture the personal mindset, skills and habits required to drive stakeholder engagement and better business outcomes;

• The need to translate the different perspectives across the business and to find and create common interest to pursue, that are both strategic and deliver something good for the business in the short term.
• Combining a deep understanding of the mechanics of the business processes and culture (‘Inside-Out’ thinking) with the ability to talk the language of stakeholders across the business and define together ‘what good looks like’ in their eyes (‘Outside-In’ thinking).
• Developing a ‘Think like a CFO’ culture in GBS to focus on real return on investment, P&L impact, working capital and cash flow. It keeps us accountable because we will continuously reason in financial terms with the enterprise and between ourselves.
• Using ‘Outside-In’ and ‘Think like a CFO’ to ensure that we are not seen as looking to solve our own internal GBS problems, rather focussed on our stakeholders and THEIR business problems.
• Numerous initiatives have benefitted from this approach, including ‘Touchless Accounts Payable’, the ‘end-to-end’ Source to Pay process, accelerated supplier credits & refunds, enhanced collaboration with our tax and treasury functions and a new e-commerce solution, driving P&L and Working Capital impact as well as time to market.
• It is all about Trust. We also need to focus on ‘table stakes’ internal efficiencies as we drive broader impact with our stakeholders. It demonstrates execution focus, business value and facilitates buy-in.
• Ultimately, engaging all stakeholders across the “end to end” process cycles, with their different perspectives, ideas and priorities, enables us to sustain process transformation and achieve value over a longer period.
• “Think like a CFO” is about business outcomes, not just internal efficiencies, and enhances stakeholder engagement and customer experience. 

“We have changed the way we talk about business processes and value”.

It’s not just talk. Michael and the Amway GBS team are delivering results!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us Michael.

You can access the recording of my 15 minute conversation with Michael below . . . 

If you would like some information on the approach to develop and enable this end-to-end process oriented GBS capability, you can get it here . . .  

If you would like access to the recording of the related discussion on “Customer Experience” and “Failure Demand” in GBS and Service Delivery, which was live this week, you can access it here . .  

Thanks for reading (and watching) . . .