FD's Diary - Paternity leave

The FD faces up to the big issue that is bound to dominate the coming month

October 31 ' It's alright coming in on Sunday to look at your desk and emails. The other part is coming in to hear what people have to tell you which was so bad they wouldn't even commit it to writing.

My big concern was whether the team got on in my absence.

And they did, by and large. It's still clear that AJ has an issue with #3 at the moment ' so we're doing a planning session for the month end accounts to clear who, precisely will do what. This is important. Next month I might be on paternity leave when the need to do the accounts arises so this month is a dummy run.

Paternity leave, you might say, for a director? Well, yes. But we actually do 2 weeks here for all new fathers as a matter of course ' and more if there are problems (we had a chap about a year ago whose wife had twins with all sorts of complications and he had six weeks at our discretion). So, I might be away for a bit. Although it has to be said my last experience of this was when we had a new baby and a toddler. This time the age gap is big enough to mean that this is not an issue. So I might extend the leave a bit by making it part time over a longer period. It that's a privilege of rank, so was working yesterday. I can live with it.

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October 30 ' Yes, it's Sunday. Yes, I'm in the office. No, I shouldn't be. But you know how it is when you get back from holiday. What seem like 3,000 emails needing deleting in your inbox and a pile of stuff on your desk which you're sure has nothing to do with you ' but which you presumably manage each normal week without noticing it.

So that's why I'm here. I want to start tomorrow without all that in the way. And if I stay long enough I just might.

PS ' The holiday was brilliant and the team here were right ' my wife did enjoy the day out being spoiled. And we didn't need to go to any maternity units.

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October 21 ' Sometimes, just sometimes I have to presume I get something right.

The team (excluding #4, who's at university, but apparently with her knowledge) came to see me this morning. I thought something furtive had been going on yesterday after they had enquired where I'm going on holiday next week, but I know better than to enquire into some things.

On this occasion I was right ' I am not the only person using the internet at work. They'd decided to buy my wife a beautician's session at a very nice hotel near the cottage where we're going to be staying. As #3 put it, anyone can buy a baby-grow, but it's more important (apparently) that a women feel's she's looking good when giving birth and for the first pictures with a new baby. So they're giving the baby present now when it will be appreciated. I would never have though of this, but since #3 has done the baby lark, I have a strong suspicion she's right. I'm also certain Mrs FD will be really touched by this.

They tried to deflate the situation by saying Mrs FD would also need some time away from me ' but they actually gave me a rather nice bottle of wine as well ' knowing Mrs FD can't touch the stuff right now so it's all for me!

I don't think I'm the emotional type ' but I was deeply touched by this ' and the fact that afterwards #3 and AJ stayed to say that although they don't think I planned the current changes to make life easier over the next few months, they've committed to working together to make sure it is. I was also touched by this ' as it's clear that #3 did initially open up some harsh reactions in AJ by being appointed her boss in some situations. The practical manifestation is they're going to vet the job advert responses which are now coming in and arrange first interviews without me being involved. I wholeheartedly endorse that.

I don't think I planned the changes for this reason ' but who knows what was deep in my mind? But I can tell you, I'm going away in a better frame of mind than I expected. If Ops remains a little off, I can put up with it if I'm working with this team. I could have kissed them today. Actually, and against all my instincts about what is proper at work ' I did kiss them today. It only seemed right in the circumstances.

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October 20 ' I usually frown on people using the net at work. But I did yesterday. I decided there was no way my wife could waddle through half term alone ' so I booked a week away in a cottage all of forty miles from home (in case of emergencies) and if anything nearer a hospital with a maternity unit in terms of travelling time than we are at home, as far as I can work out. Amazing what you have to think of at this stage!

I think my frustration is showing at work and I need to get my head round it.

Mind you, I have got one really useful project going. If the new person is going to deal with credit control effectively they'll need to have something to work on ' and much of that is on our heads. So I rang #4 at university to see if she wanted to do a term time project. She knows most customers and so I've asked her to rate them from 1 to 4, which we can code in our sales ledger. One means that the account is completely managed by a sales contact ' we have to refer it to them. 2 means they're a good payer ' no problems expected. 3 means we should expect to statement and maybe chase. 4 are the people who'll always need chasing.

The reason is simple. I want sales to be told they're responsible for the accounts they think are theirs ' and to actively manage them ' because they don't always do so. I don't want category 2 payers to be hassled by anyone unless it's necessary. And 3 and 4 need the flags to start the process early enough ' which we're not doing right now.

With this simple information I think we can begin to tighten things and as far as I can see we can automate a lot of the early stage stuff too. It will also make me feel good. We'll be making progress whilst I'm away without the existing team left behind having to do more ' and #4 sounded keen. I think second year blues have hit ' and she's asking why she's making herself skint for this course. If this helps keep hr at it, all to the good.

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October 17 ' Spent some time with a wise friend yesterday. I told him about my stress with Ops on Friday.

He did suggest that falling out with my most important work colleague one moth before being due to take some paternity leave might not be wise.

He even suggested that this might be the reason why I was stressed. 'What,' I said 'me, stressed?'

Well alright, he might have a point. Perhaps I am being ambitious ' but the changes in the department are going ahead, and the ad for the new team member is out locally. I still prefer that option to agencies in the first instance. And I'll play it calm for now, focussing on getting people ready for me being a bit distracted (if not just dead beat) in a few weeks time.

Sometimes it's good to talk.

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October 14 ' Relative calm in the office this morning. Even harmony, I'd say. After the last couple of days this is good news.

But then I had lunch, as usual, with Ops and recounted the tale to him. He was surprisingly unsympathetic. In fact I'd go so far as to suggest he said it was my own fault for being over ambitious and for wanting to rock the boat. If I did, what should I expect?

I admit to more than surprise at this. It was almost a shock. It made me look at him in a new light. He's not ambitious. He's been doing this job for years. He doesn't make change. Most of what has happened here over the last couple of years has been driven by me if truth be told. And he's happy to let me look at the issues I've taken on because he really isn't bothered about them.

I've seen myself as being in a partnership here. First of all it was a partnership with him as the senior partner. Quickly it became equals. For the first time I'm wondering if it is that any more.

This will take some reflection. Can I achieve what I want if he's not behind it? That will keep me pre-occupied whilst working on the nursery over the weekend. I'll finish it eventually, probably just after the new arrival.

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October 13 ' One of the problems in working in an open office is having time for quiet conversations.

We get round this in part by having several very informal 'break out' spaces around the site. I also make a habit of wandering out of the office very obviously every now and again to have a coffee so people can find me so we can go to one of these areas for a chat. My belief that life is not an organisation chart has been confirmed as a result.

#3 was discomforted by my helping on the management accounts. AJ was discomforted by #3's attitude when asking for information. Feathers needed to be smoothed.

#3 needed to be told that asking for help is not a problem. I spent some time on this. I made clear that just because you're responsible for something (and I want her to be responsible for producing the numerical reporting element of the management accounts) does not mean you can't ask for input. I think the message got through. Then I had to gently persuade her asking anyone is better than directing them. In all cases, I reckon it's best if you flatter them in the process. The fact is AJ did not supply what was needed because #3 exposed a previous unknown weakness, and instead of giving input to resolve it she embarrassed her instead.

To her credit #3 saw this. And asked what to do about it. I suggested she ask AJ to draft the ad for the new appointment and to be on the interview panel, at least at stage 1. AJ has done much more credit control whilst here than #3 has of late. So AJ knows what is needed. I reckoned if #3 asked for her input on this AJ would believe she was being respected after all.

Looks like the trick worked. AJ actually did, without prompting, exactly what I hoped for. She had a stab, got stuck, went back to #3 and they worked on it together.

It reminds me that business is easy. It's people who make things hard.

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October 11 ' Time for a rude awakening yesterday.

It might be fun to dream up new schemes of work, delegation and so on, but the reality was that the management accounts weren't getting done by the weekend because #3 was getting bogged down.

And she was asking (or shall I say demanding?) things from AJ in ways AJ was not used to, and things were, I thought, getting a little stressed.

So I had to intervene and play a part in getting things out.

It's a shame life doesn't work like it looks on an organisation chart, but I also have to face the reality that we haven't got a new person yet, so in truth little has changed. And it looks as though I might have to do a lot more managing of the process of change than I thought. Which might be difficult as both #3 and AJ can be a bit headstrong. I'm going to have to keep things calm whilst they learn new ways of working, both technically and at a personal level.

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October 6 - Having spent a day reading what the IT system can do it has occurred to me that we don't report often enough.

Why do we only circulate debtors for action once a month?

Why is it that sales are only analysed retrospectively? And monthly. We could do that weekly. And we could analyse the order book too.

Are we doing enough to link the order book to stock holding?

Our use of sub contractors does seem to be erratic - and does happen when we have in house staff available on occasion.

Our work is seasonal to some extent. Whilst we need a core fleet of vehicles, do we need them all, all the time, or could we short term hire if we planned enough?

Even as I write this I realise that most of what I am writing is future orientated.

It's scary stuff when an accountant begins to look beyond the comfort zone of what has happened to what might happen, not just in comforting outline in a cash flow, but in nitty-gritty operational detail.

I like to think I'm a bit progressive (even if it makes most people laugh when I suggest it) but a shift in reporting emphasis this way will really mean a change in mind set.

And I'm not sure how to do it.

Still, I shouldn't be bored.

One thing is for sure though. With the reality of having a new child looming up (due day 23 November) I'm not changing lots before then. That would be unfair to the others in the team.

But it doesn't stop the research.

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October 5 ' Have you ever looked at what the accounting software you have can do? I mean, not can it do double entry and so on (which most of the world can't now). I mean, if you rummage around all the options in it, how much is there that it is capable of managing for you that you don't use?

I've been doing a bit of work on this today and I have to say some of it's a bit of a revelation. Some of it might also just save time. I thought I should do this before thinking about change. And I think I'm right. In fact, I might have to do a bit more. It looks like I'm just playing whilst doing it, I suspect. But I don't care if I can get some quick wins as a result.

* * *

October 3 ' Got #5 on board at last. Given the choice of working for grumpy old me or #3 she seemed more than happy with the change.

#3's been thinking, though. Or she's been reading comments on this site (I often wonder how much they know). Either way she wanted to discuss her cash KPI today. She reckons the KPI can't be cash flow. Her logic is that this makes no sense. All we can compare it with is budget, and she's got no control of sales or capital spend or even when we pay creditors (we usually pay on the nail 30 days, but there are always reasons for varying it on occasion in some cases eg to get a deal, which we are inclined to do for early settlement ' which some people are happy to do).

So, she wanted a KPI based on debtor days. Now I quite like that. We should know what expected debtor days are on each account. And we should therefore be able to work out anticipated debtor days on any sales ledger spread. So we should know whether she's beating it, or not, on average. The fact that we don't know how to do this is a minor issue. But it gave us plenty to think about. And it also lead to lots of discussion about how we chase debt, get out 'stop lists', statements and all sorts of things, and even getting more contracts on to direct debit, about which neither sales nor we have been very good for some time.

I have a feeling debtor days can't be her only KPI. There are other important issues as well. But they're a good one, and will give incentive to manage her new employee.

* * *

In September the FD declared he was bored. the result was a massive shake up in his responsibilities, and those of his staff.

For previous installments of the FD's Diary, see:
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October.