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Malta Business Review
CORPORATE INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
CORPORATE INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
Malta Business Review
Francesca Lagerberg, Grant Thornton’s Global Leader – tax services and Regional Leader Europe, was
recently in Malta attending Grant Thornton’s European congress, wherein over 44 countries came
together with the board of the CIS. Francesca tells the Editor why this is a chance to share best practice,
to talk about the things that Grant Thornton is doing and overview overall collaboration.
An Instinct for Growth
by Martin Vella
MBR: What excited you about the
opportunity to join Grant Thornton and
what made you feel, it will be the right fit
for you?
FL: I joined Grant Thornton as a direct entry
partner about a decade ago. Previously, I
worked as a freelancer and also worked
for a publishing company. I was looking for
something that was entrepreneurial, that
actually cared about its clients, that did work
a little bit differently. And then I met Grant
Thornton. I thought ‘yeah’ they might actually
have some of these factors going on and I
can genuinely say that the last ten years that
I have been here, I think there’s something
about a distinctiveness the way it operates,
the fact that it cares about its clients, it put
itself in shoes of its clients and it really treats
its people well, and that’s why I stayed. I have
never stayed anywhere as long as I stayed
with Grant Thornton and I am really proud of
committing to that.
MBR: My second question is, Grant
Thornton is widely recognised as being a
leader in diversity and inclusion. How are
your personally engaged with these efforts?
an attitude to be interested in
clients and to bring their very
best is something quite innate
FL: I run a programme called ‘The Woman
in Business’ programme. What we do each
year is we have a survey that we conduct with
three and a half thousand businesses around
the world. It helps us to collate information
about core issues happening in the diversity
and inclusion arena. What we also do is, we
carry an annual report to put out on Women’s
International Day, so in that time, in March, we
also keep track of how many female leaders
are based on public documentations. So we
put those three things together, we announce
a press release each year; we disseminate
information as a full report. Unfortunately,
the actual end result is really a bit depressing,
because the trend over the last fourteen
years has not really seen a significant shift.
Therefore, all of the things that we try and do
off the back of that report is really encourage
businesses that should be spending more
time on diversity and inclusion, and making
it part of their go to market, because actually
otherwise they are missing out on the great
opportunity.
MBR: So in that context how do you define
your role and do all your areas of focus
interrelate?
FL: Yeah, well I am! I have the regional
responsibility for helping our member firms
grow in Europe, and I also look after risk and
quality on a global level as well. So the way
they interact is as I said on the global teamso
we are the headquarters of the global
organisation and we get involved in everything
that has to do with the worldwide operation.
This accessible organisation depends on the
great work of how our member firms interact
with the glue that tries to hold all those
different firms together, provide support, yet
also share the best practise for those excellent
firms as well.
MBR: What has been the key to Grant
Thornton’s strength and leadership in the
industry and how do you define the Grant
Thornton difference?
FL: I think a different changing factor is that
we try to step into the shoes of our clients and
bring out a full potential of our people whilst
also being very truth to the fact that we have
believed that we should make a difference in
the communities that we are in so that we
are not just being responsible, but also that
we are playing a part in the community and
trying to encourage a vibrant economy. So
that I think, makes us very different in that we
have really got a strong social commitment
to our people and obviously commitment to
our clients to help them succeed and be their
best that they can be. The reason I think Grant
Thornton is different is; it’s big enough to be
able to service anything around the world but
it’s not so big that a client is a little minnow in
a very, very big pool.
MBR: Let’s talk about skill sets, how do
businesses need to think about how they
access different skill sets and what is the
significance?
FL: Well, I think there’s something around
diversity of skill sets in an organisation that
is vital because in professional services you
are dealing with a range of clients, very
different people, doing very different things,
the challenges that they are facing and so you
need to have people who are able to cope with
that variety. You can teach people a lot; you
can encourage and train, and do incredible
learning with individuals, but an attitude to
be interested in clients and to bring their very
best is something quite innate, especially in
individuals. I think the skill set that you need
is somebody who’s willing to listen more than
just talk and not just bringing ready-made
solutions, but actually try to get to the heart of
what the issues are to help people and really
see what the client is looking for, and also that
people have the skills that people want to do
business with you because you know it’s a lot
about people, the whole thing that we’re in
the client relationship is about if they trust
you, do they believe you, to give great advice,
have you got an intellectual ability to help
provide them with that advice and then when
you deliver. The capability to deliver is huge,
it’s so easy to say it but to actually delivering
and delivering above expectations.
MBR: How are such events held in Malta so
important and what is your opinion about
organisation of these events?
FL: Sure! In terms of importance I think it’s
fantastic that Grant Thornton have got a
range of individuals coming together, faceto-face,
networking, talking about topical
issues. I must congratulate the Maltese firm,
we are the headquarters of
the global organisation and we
get involved in everything that
has to do with the worldwide
operation
who have organised these things incredibly.
I mean if you look here, although this event
is a combination of the international and
the Maltese firm, tonight you will have 50 of
us walking around the streets in Malta and
sharing that experience. There’s something
there around people seeing what’s going
on locally, that they don’t just sit in a hotel,
but they actually get to experience some of
the local cuisine, the local culture, they get
to meet the people and that’s really a part
about that cultural intelligence. With 44
different countries present here, who came
together with the board of the CIS- wherein
more than 90 participants from 44 European
states united in one big family. Many of them
have never been to Malta before, and it’s
really important that we understand what’s
different and what’s the same, and then when
people are interacting on client’s issues or just
generally around global strategic issues.
MBR: So how do you ensure effective
communication with George Vella (Partner)
and working with the business function
leaders and engaging them. Can you explain
a bit?
FL: Yes of course. I mean there’s a lot of
ways doing that. Some of that is the simple
stuff, keeping regular contact and opening
the communication channel, maintaining
the flow, and being there through email
or telephone calls or meetings. This week
in particular we have got our European
countries all meeting in Malta. We have got
over 44 countries that are coming together
across Europe, with the board of the CIS. This
is a chance for us to share best practice, to talk
about the things that we are doing together
and look at how we are collaborating. Coming
face-to-face is a really important part of what
we do, but in between those face-to-face
meetings, we send out lease letters, we have
regular calls, we run webinars and we just try
and stay as connected as we can, using both
technology and good old fashioned speaking
to each other.
MBR: What are the commercial benefits of
diverse thinking, especially when it comes
to thinking at a leadership level?
FL: I think it’s a huge fundament diversity of
thinking. If you go back to the financial crisis
a lot of the research suggests that there
was a group thing that was taking place at
that time, because a lot of decision making
was happening with just one type of person
and one type of upbringing, one type of
environment. I think when it comes to dealing
with issues like risk, it’s just a want to have only
a range ideas being heard. We did just a little
bit of research about a year and a half ago, we
looked at the Indian stock exchange, the US
stock exchange and the UK stock exchange,
and we looked at the composition people
on the senior boards, and we looked at how
they performed at the same levels of market,
whether they outperform the market. We
used a mechanism that had been used by a
very well know university in order to do that
and make sure that we were not making
subject of opinions and we were able to show
that if we have got a diversity of grouping
at that senior board level, you significantly
outperform the market over a period of time.
I think something like that has to do with
bringing different thoughts in to the room
and being constructively challenging, and also
ensuring that you just don’t keep doing the
same old stuff. There’s something about the
volatility of the world that we walk in to today
that having that combination of different
thinking is you probably going to get a better
answer. You do not always get a better answer,
but you probably get a better answer if you
have a range of thinking in different cultures
and different insight. MBR
EDITOR’S
Note
Francesca has worked in tax for more
than 20 years and is the global leader for
tax services. Her main focus is helping
the Grant Thornton member firms to
grow their tax practices and attract,
retain and develop talent in the entire
global organisation by encouraging
a consistently inspiring culture. She
is actively involved in the UK's Tax
Professionals Forum, chaired by the
Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury
and is an advocate for Speakers' Trust
charity, which encourages public speaking skills. Francesca writes
about tax matters for the professional and worldwide press and
is a regular commentator on radio and TV. She is also actively
involved in lobbying for better, clearer and more proportionate
tax legislation. Francesca is a past chair of the Tax Faculty of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a
past council member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. She is
involved in committees with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs in
the UK and the Confederation of British Industry.
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