Today's Boardroom Issue 3

ISSUE 3 • WWW.TODAYSBOARDROOM.CO.UK

HUMAN Human RESOURCES
Resources
30 theCsuite
obile employees are key to
companies’ international
growth, either by acting
as the spearhead to setting up
operations in new countries, or by
helping transfer skills and innovation.
From supporting global business
expansion to growing a diverse and
inclusive workforce with global
competencies at all levels, talent
mobility has a crucial role to play.
63% of global mobility specialist
respondents to BGRS’ 2017 Talent
Mobility Trends Survey said employee
mobility was now high on their
organisation’s senior leadership agenda.
This might come as no surprise
considering the number of expatriate
and globally mobile employees is
set to surpass one million by 2021,
thanks largely to growth in new smaller
and medium-sized multinationals,
according to a study by market
research company Finnacord, a
division of Aon Inpoint, entitled
Global Multinationals and Corporate
Transferees: A Worldwide Review.
The success or failure of these
companies will largely rest on the
competitiveness and sustainability
of their talent mobility programmes,
so it pays for senior leadership
to lend their support.
As a starting point, we provide
an overview of who globally mobile
employees are these days, plus a step
by step guide to best strategies to
attract and retain a mobile workforce.
According to BGRS, international
assignments are seen as a significant
draw and are often considered a
pathway to career enhancement
for current employees.
For this reason, international
companies are now increasingly
aligning mobility to their talent agenda
in a bid to take a more strategic and
effective approach to attracting,
developing and retaining key talent.
There is also a gradual yet
noticeable shift in the demographic
profile of globally mobile employees.
The traditional profile of the white,
middle-aged, married male is still
very much in play, but it’s increasingly
making way for Millennials.
Soon to represent the largest
segment of the workforce,
Millennials come with a unique set
of expectations that will have a
bearing on attraction, engagement
and retention for companies. BGRS
reports that Millennials are often
drawn to opportunities that include
an international experience.
A small number of companies
included in BGRS’ 2016 report
highlighted the role of global mobility as
a strategic driver of their talent agenda.
They’re sending more Millennials
on international assignment to help
ensure a pipeline of future leaders
with global management experience.
This helps contain assignment
costs too. For example, premiums for
insurance-based products will generally
be lower for younger individuals, plus
it’s less likely that they will be taking
a family with them: another cost
containment aspect – from both an
overall programme perspective but
also because assignment failure is less
likely when a family isn’t being moved
to another country with the employee.
Companies that understand how
mobile employees can be a key asset
are fine-tuning their strategies to
coordinate activities and select the
most suitable approach. Here’s how:
Building the foundations:
n Your unique workforce: A good
starting point is carrying out
an analysis based on a detailed
employee population census.
This will allow companies to
assess where they are located,
their status and expectations,
and to integrate this information
into their overall strategy.
n The environment: Conducting
a geographic and industry
benchmark will shed light on
the employee benefits market,
identify best practice, and assess
how an individual company
performs against competitors.
n Flexibility: Based on previous
analysis, it is possible to identify
solutions based on a company’s
specific requirements by
selecting benefits to match the
needs of different groups of
employees in the same plan.
Global design:
n Governance: Define the balance
between flexibility and cost
control and central coordination
to enhance company operations.
n Measurement: Set up centralised
monitoring, measurement and
reporting systems to assess
effectiveness and return on
investment in mobility plans.
n Support and assistance: Assess
the need for centralised support
in managing different regulatory
systems, across countries or even
within the same country across
industry sectors or regions.
n Business Travel Accident (BTA)
cover: Globally mobile employees
are exposed to several risks when
travelling for their international
assignments. Therefore, medical
and travel insurance services like
emergency medical expenses
and transportation, repatriation,
loss of luggage - just to name
n
some - should be included in
their benefits package.
Pooling: Integrating the
organisation’s expatriate benefits
into a global portfolio will allow
for reduced costs and enhanced
profitability of benefits solutions.
Employee value proposition:
n A multinational plan will ensure
portability of coverage, thereby
eliminating any constraints
when relocating, and enhancing
protection of the employees who
may, for instance, be ensured access
to facilities and care not available
in their host or home country.
n Part of the return on costs
is based on the workforce’s
understanding of their benefits,
which can be measured based
on engagement and retention.
n Finally, it pays for organisations
to detail each employee’s benefits
in an individual statement, thus
providing competitive advantage
with clear messages to explain
to employees the value of
the benefits provided.
HUMAN Human RESOURCES
Resources
If you are interested in know more,
we invite you to read our special
newsletter on Global Mobility or to
contact us at marketing@geb.com
theCsuite 31
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Why global mobility
deserves a senior leadership focus
By Pasquale Gorrasi,
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Employee Benefits
M
The changing face of globally
mobile employees
Best global mobility
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Contents
Financial Planning
4 The ebb and flow of global trade risk
John Nicholas, Coface
6 Implemented pension consulting – address the
problems of DB schemes without the hassle
Andrew Grime, Aon Hewitt
8 How Document Management can
help Credit Management
Howard Frear, EASY SOFTWARE UK
11 In search of Supply Chain Resilience
Howard Kerr, BSI
Information Technology
15 Are we really approaching the postapp
era? And if so, what’s next?
Sudarshan Dharmapuri, IMImobile
18 The evolution of the CIO/CFO relationship:
shaking hands or butting heads?
Robert Gothan, Accountagility
Business Travel
21 Extravagance or efficient planning?
Private aviation charter for business travel
Chris Tofts, 365 Aviation
Fleet Management
24 ‘Grey fleet’ drivers failing to carry out safety checks
ACFO
Human Resources
28 Why HR departments should take a
leaf out of the NBA’s book
Nick Gold, Speakers Corner
32 Advertisers’ Index
theCsuite 3

Financial Planning
The ebb and flow
of global trade risk
The tentative economic recovery in
early 2017 has since gathered pace
in Europe but other regions have
faltered, notably the US and China.
Coface’s John Nicholas considers the
latest fluctuations in established and
emerging markets and assesses the
resilience of the major trade sectors
I
f 2017 has had an economic theme it has been
one of recovery but while the overall message is
positive, there are telling exceptions. Countries
such as the UK and USA, which had seemed to be ahead
of the pack have encountered difficulties, while some
emerging markets have received sharp reminders of
the long-term structural challenges they face.
We have adjusted our country and sector risk assessments
to reflect the positive momentum of Europe and a partial
recovery in Russia. However, we expressed concerns
about the United States and China where growth has
stalled. We also noted the long-term deterioration in
the Middle East and Africa, primarily because of the
fall in oil and commodities prices since 2014/15 but
also because of the political turmoil of recent years.
In general, political risk continues to have a strong
influence. The UK is one example where political uncertainty
(in the wake of the inconclusive election result and the
faltering start to Brexit negotiations) is starting to affect
business confidence. However, our most recent index of
political risk 1 shows emerging economies are far more
susceptible to political upheavals, conflict, terrorism
and social unrest. The UK is ranked as low risk (27%
risk), compared with South Africa (relatively high risk at
58%), Mexico (very high at 70%) and Libya (100%).
These assessments of country and sector trade risk
in established and emerging markets take into account
macroeconomic, financial and political data, as well as
claims and underwriting data. For country assessments, we
uss an eight-level ranking from ‘very low’ to ‘extreme’ risk
to reflect the probability of company default. In ascending
order of risk, these are: A1, A2, A3, A4, B, C, D and E.
Established markets
USA (A2)
Despite higher than expected growth figures in August, the
US economy was sending mixed signals, even before the
economic consequences of Hurricane Irma. For example,
construction spending continues to fall, while payment
defaults on car loans are on the increase. Subdued wage
growth and a widely expected hike in interest rates later in
the year are also likely to curb consumer spending power.
Politically, President Trump has been basking
in the latest growth figures but he still faces a
challenge to get his agenda of corporate tax-cutting/
infrastructure spending through Congress and even if
successful, the impact is unlikely to be felt quickly.
Overall, Coface expects modest growth in 2017 and
2018 and a fall in corporate insolvencies. With respect
to sector payment risks, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
continue to be low risk while metals, paper, retail and
textiles are considered high risk. We have upgraded the US
energy sector which has been boosted by the relaxation
of regulations by the Trump administration but this is
still considered a high risk area for payment defaults.
Eurozone
The election results in the Netherlands and France have
provided a political confidence boost, while economic
growth has exceeded expectations and business confidence
is growing. The European Central Bank has reported an
increase in loan applications from businesses, particularly
in Spain, which suggests relaxed financing conditions
are encouraging investment. Business insolvencies
should continue to fall in most EU countries.
The positive economic indicators have prompted
us to upgrade Spain (to A2) and Portugal (to A3) while
Germany (A1) and France (A2) are unchanged.
In terms of sector risk, the automotive sector is considered
low risk while Agrofood has been upgraded to medium
risk. Energy, paper, metals and textiles remain high risk.
Emerging markets
Russia (upgraded to B)
The economy is showing signs of a tentative recovery from
recession and the prices of commodities is not expected to
fall significantly. At the same time, concerns remain about
the level of political risk and corporate transparency.
?? theCsuite

Financial Planning
We have upgraded our assessments of the Russian
automotive and IT sectors (to high risk and medium risk
respectively). Six more sectors are also rated high risk:
retail, textiles, paper, wood, metal and transport.
Central and Eastern Europe
Growth in CEE economies is expected to recover following
a slowdown in 2016 and the region represents a very
promising export market. We forecast that the average
GDP growth rate will increase to 3.4% in 2017 and 3.3%
in 2018 while corporate insolvencies in the region will
decrease by 3.9% in 2017 and by 2.3% in 2018.
Meanwhile, the automotive sector emerged as the
strongest sector in our annual Top 500 ranking of the
biggest companies in the region 2 with a combined turnover
of EUR 128 billion. This sector is considered low risk
across the region, as is the pharmaceutical industry.
The energy and metals sectors have been upgraded to
medium risk, while only construction and transport are
considered high risk. However, the rebound in investments
should be particularly beneficial for these sectors.
Polish companies performed best in the Top
500 ranking and Poland (rated A3) also recorded
the lowest insolvency rate in the region.
China (B)
Various indicators, from industrial production to retail
sales suggest that the Chinese economy is cooling,
while levels of debt are a growing concern despite the
Government’s tighter monetary policy. Our latest corporate
payment survey of 1,000 Chinese companies 3 revealed
that 15% had experienced an increased proportion of
ultra-late overdue payments (over 150 days) in 2016,
compared with less than 10% the previous year.
Risk is considered very high in the construction sector,
while the automotive sector has been downgraded to high
risk. Seven other sectors are also assessed as high risk:
chemicals, IT, energy, metal, paper, wood and textiles. Only
pharmaceuticals and retail are currently considered low risk.
exposed long-term weaknesses including labour regulations,
heavy taxes, general education levels, bureaucracy and weak
infrastructure. Following two years of negative growth, the
region should emerge from recession in 2017 but we expect
growth to be lacklustre at just 1.2%. There has also been a
significant increase in conflict and political risk in the region,
from cartel wars in Mexico to unrest in Brazil and Venezuela.
We have downgraded its country risk assessment
for El Salvador (C) but others are unchanged. All
sectors are categorised as high risk with the exception
of paper and pharmaceuticals (medium risk).
In summary, the global recovery has gathered pace and
the latest country assessments have more positives than
negatives. This is particularly true for companies with
interests in the Eurozone and Central and Eastern Europe
where there have been several sector risk upgrades. However,
the recovery in several emerging countries could yet be
stymied by structural weaknesses and it remains to be seen
whether the administrations in the United States and China
will be successful in addressing their own long-term economic
challenges such as taxation and the banking system.
Overall, the mood is one of cautious optimism but there are
still high risk sectors in every region and it is still essential that
CFOs keep a close eye on the ebb and flow of trade risk.
References
1 The rise and rise of political risks, Coface, 27/3/17
2 Coface CEE Top 500 Ranking, Coface, 7/9/17
3 Asia corporate payment survey 2016, Coface, 11/7/17
India (A4)
Real GDP should grow in 2017, supported by strong
performance in the services sector, after a slight
slowdown at the end of FY 2016/17. While reforms
to boost India’s manufacturing sector, attract FDI and
reduce constraints are starting to bear fruit, Prime
Minister Modi’s efforts to clean up the banking system
will take time and could affect the supply of credit.
We have upgraded India’s agro food sector (to medium
risk) after another year of normal rains and a rebound
in the growth rate. Pharmaceuticals are categorised
as low risk but the outlook for the metals sector is
much poorer (very high risk). Chemicals, construction,
energy and textiles are in the high risk category.
Central and South America
The long-lasting boom in commodities had supported robust
growth in Latin America but when prices fell in 2014, it
Author information
John Nicholas is the Risk Underwriting Director at Coface
in the UK & Ireland, part of the Coface Group, a global
leader in credit management solutions. Coface’s credit
insurance, business information and collection services
enable companies to protect themselves against the risk of
financial default by their domestic and overseas clients.
Coface’s economic publications and quarterly
assessments of country and sector risk are available at
http://www.cofaceuk.com/Economic-studies. Its annual
Country Risk Conference brings together economists, policy
experts, researchers and business leaders to review major
economic trends and the outlook for the world economy. To
express your interest in attending this free event, please
email crc_uk@coface.com
theCsuite 5

Financial Planning
Implemented pension consulting – address the
problems of DB schemes without the hassle
By Andrew Grime,
Principal Consultant, Aon Hewitt
Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes can place a huge
financial strain on UK businesses. Getting to grips
with the issues and then addressing the underlying
problems can require a significant time commitment
both from sponsoring employers and trustee boards. But
addressing these issues efficiently can lead to a beneficial
impact on the financial position of the pension scheme,
company profitability and also can significantly reduce risk.
Companies and trustees should therefore consider how
some of the time intensive pension projects and lower
level pension decisions can be delegated to others to
free-up time to focus on pension strategy or other areas
of the business. For larger organisations this might mean
seeking greater support from pension managers, HR
functions, or other subcommittees within the business.
However, it is often the case that these resources are
already over-utilised or simply don’t exist, leaving many
companies unable to capitalise on market opportunities.
To help schemes in this situation, there is a new way
of working which enables companies and trustees
to better focus their time on setting wider pension
strategy; and once agreed, using external consultants
to execute and reduce the burden on internal resource.
This approach is known as Implemented Consulting.
Under Implemented Consulting, external consultants
are tasked to deliver on agreed actions, make lower
level decisions on the client’s behalf (within agreed
parameters) in order to limit the need for ongoing
involvement from company and trustee representatives.
Case study 1 - Implemented Consulting in action –
£3M P&L improvement through just one meeting
Aon was recently appointed to conduct a pension increase
exchange (PIE) exercise. This is an offer to enable current
retirees to reshape their pensions on terms that effectively
brings forward pension income but which reduce the overall
costs to the company. Running these types of projects can be
hugely beneficial both for members looking to enjoy a higher
income in the earlier years of retirement and indeed to the
Company in reducing any funding deficit, improving reported
profit, improving the balance sheet and removing risk.
However, these projects can be time intensive.
This was a real problem to the Company and Trustee
representatives who had a number of pressing business
matters to attend to. To address this problem it was
agreed Aon would use the Implemented Consulting
framework; running the whole project for the company
and trustees once the high level parameters had been
agreed upfront, and being empowered to take lower level
decisions over the course of the project to make this
happen. On the client’s behalf Aon performed the detailed
design of the offer, prepared member communications,
agreed the accounting approach with the auditor, project
managed the exercise and liaised with other third parties
including administrators, the IFA and the legal advisers.
6 theCsuite

Financial Planning
The offer was a huge success – there was a circa £3M
gain to the P&L net of fees with the time involvement
for the Trustees and Company limited to just one
meeting. The costs of the exercise were paid for from
scheme assets – the Company therefore bore no direct
fees. As an added benefit, the bulk of the exercise was
executed over a four month timeframe – quicker than
it might have under a traditional advisory approach.
“The key aims were delivering the outcome required,
meeting the timetable, achieving the company’s accounting
requirements, all with very limited time input form
the company. All these aims were met and from the
company perspective the project ran seamlessly with
involvement limited to a few key decisions.” Company FD
Following the success of this exercise targeting
current retirees, the Company and Trustees requested
Aon used the Implemented Consulting framework to
embed this option in the standard retirement process so
that future retirees could benefit from the option. This
again helps to reduce any funding deficit and improve
reported profitability whilst reducing long-term risk.
Developing and delivering a full pensions strategy
There is clearly a wide range of complex considerations in
developing and delivering a strategy for a DB scheme. Every
scheme’s circumstances are different, and for many, this
means a bespoke approach is required. However, there is
also significant common ground between most schemes:
n The aim is often to ultimately be fully funded, to be
self-sufficient or to eventually buy-out (possibly
moving from one to the next over time).
n Investment strategy must be optimised, reflecting asset
size and governance budget, so that schemes achieve
the best returns within a given level of risk. In turn this
reduces the reliance on cash funding from the sponsor.
n They appreciate the need to take advantage of emerging
opportunities and to follow best practice – although for
some the challenge of making this happen is a barrier.
These commonalities have enabled the development
of 360 degree strategies by external consultants, so that
organisations can efficiently execute a long-term plan.
Case study 2 - Implemented Consulting
in action – strategy execution
In a recent case, Aon used the Implemented Consulting
approach to support a scheme that had been struggling
to make progress against its long- term objectives for
a number of years. They had an aim – but no real way of
executing against it, or monitoring any progress they
made. The more traditional advice process the scheme had
previously adopted relied heavily on ongoing engagement
throughout each and every work stream, which, as well as
being a burden on senior management time, meant that it
was difficult to progress actions. As the scheme continued
to mature, they were also keen to simplify the way the
pension scheme was run and valued the expertise and
clarity that Implemented Consulting offered. To date, the
Implemented Consulting approach has enabled them to:
n Reduce costs and governance requirements, by
running the scheme in a very focused way
n Enhance pensions strategy through various tools,
including fiduciary investment management,
and the benefit of holistic planning around risk
management and liability settlement.
n Deliver a better outcome for the Company and the
pension scheme members by putting in place an
effective, delegated governance framework (including
documenting objectives and key parameters and
constraints) to enable quick execution against
opportunities that the company and trustees may not
have previously been quick enough to respond to.
All of this is underpinned with a more directive advice
process that has been developed to focus trustee and
company time on those decisions that matter.
A growing trend
This governance approach is nothing new. It’s been tried
and tested for execution of pensions investment strategy
over the last 5 to 10 years in the UK and in turn, leading
to trustees and companies now looking for the delegated
model to be widened into traditional pensions advice.
The future
Implemented Consulting will not be right for all schemes.
However, for those with limited internal resources it can
significantly reduce the amount of management time spent on
pensions, whilst still delivering high value results. In a world
where time is an increasingly precious commodity and DB
pensions continue to become a legacy issue, this framework
is likely to become the way in which many organisations
will want to approach their DB arrangements.
Further information
For more information contact
Andrew.Grime@aonhewitt.com or call +44 (0)113 291 5078
theCsuite 7

Financial Planning
How Document Management
can help Credit Management
EASY SOFTWARE UK’s
Howard Frear spells out
the main plus-points of a
more digital approach to the
vital process of enterprise
credit management
T
he business problem of
Credit Management can
be summed up simply; it’s
the need to get money in to help
firms trade and operate, plus help
others work with them in turn.
Simple and fundamental: it’s
what business is about. However,
while we have been doing this
since the Agricultural Revolution,
modern enterprises struggle
to do this right, even today.
Credit Management would be a
complex process even if you didn’t
rely on paper. And it’s made even
harder in the worst case, thanks to
the persistence of fraud and error.
Today, it’s not a peasant farmer light
on his grain that is the sole concern
– today’s CFO needs to worry about
a range of other inefficiencies. These
range from professional fraudsters to
the contingent that refuses to pay you
or supply you in the agreed way and
against the agreed t&cs. There’s also
the issue of slow payers, despite all
the legislation to help curb the issue.
Given the complexity all this
entails, the task has to be to keep
debtor days – the days you are out of
pocket – to the minimum and if you
could also gain some way of getting
deep visibility into your day to day
cash flow situation, all the better.
The digital finance lifecycle
The problem is that there are lots
of touchpoints in a big company
(or charity or public sector/HS
organisation) finance process that can
be a problem to keep on top of. What’s
needed is a way to get a complete
view of the on-going credit situation
so as to ensure the internal orderto-cash
process runs smoothly.
Experts agree that use of DM
(document management) is one of
the best ways to help the CFO get a
handle on all of this. Perhaps a better
term than DM is digital finance, as
this actually gets closer to what
you’re getting by going digital.
How should digital finance work?
Well, it starts with when you first
engage a new customer. There’s a great
deal of necessary due diligence and
credit scoring that needs to take place,
a lot of consulting with third party
specialist finance checkers like Dun
& Bradstreet, for example, and a lot
of transactions and correspondence
start to immediately build up.
Time was that correspondence got
physically filed in the new supplier
folder, but we don’t want to manage
documents in that manner anymore,
given the need for speed and integration
of vital business information with
other business information systems,
such as ERP. The more extensive,
detailed and transparent this process
is, the more efficient you will operate,
and that means the more digital/
zero human touch, the better.
An electronic history of previous
transactions with suppliers is, for
instance, going to make it easier to
search for serial fraudsters or bad
payers. Even something as simple as
a postcode for an accommodation
address could help identify a
known fraudster, for example.
All supplier quotes should be digitally
stored in a digital finance-powered
Credit Management environment, as
8 theCsuite

Financial Planning
that means they’d always be accessible,
along with useful customer order
(PO) and confirmation details to keep
the relationship’s progress clear.
That’s on the long-term supplier
relationship side. On a day-to-day basis,
using a fully paperless credit approach
can also help enormously with items
coming in and out of your warehouse
every day. Goods supplied with full
delivery documentation captured
inbound to confirm acceptance against
orders is a great way to block stock
fraud and fully close the delivery
transaction loop, for example. It also
gives firms the option of being able
to check on any delivery issues, as
the outcome of every delivery will
now always be properly recorded.
That’s for items coming in. For items
going out, organisations will want the
same processes and checks. Every
sales invoice raised should be tied
to the internal finance system, with
the quote and terms linked as stored
documents. Completed electronically
like this, that means companies can
log in a delivery receipt, even move
to full supplier portal integration,
with sign-on acting as proof of
receipt by the customer or partner.
Works at both ends of the
business spectrum
The above is clearly an efficient,
friction-free process. What
happens when things go wrong?
Again, digital finance can help. For
example, chasing debt can become
a process fully regulated by your
business rules, and all interactions
can be recorded electronically.
As the aim is to keep the amount
of time you are in debit to anyone to
a minimum, in communications about
debts copy in both the service/goods
user, purchasing person or team if used
(quoting the original order) and the
finance team at the customer (the team
in Accounts Payable). Also, clear single
line invoices are superior to complex
multiline versions – which may be
easier to produce, but they are harder
to automate at the customer end for
swift payment and they also act as yet
another way to reduce debtor days.
Also, you never want to have to
repeat sending invoices. This can cause
bottlenecks at the customer which
may feed into a drawn out duplicate
checking process – or worse, result
in you receiving duplicate payments,
which means unwelcome refund work
and uncertainty as you work to keep
your accounts as correct as possible.
Getting credit management legal
Finally, if things ever go legal due to
a credit dispute, having a complete
digital transaction history makes it far
easier to fight cases of non-payment.
However it goes without saying,
that’s absolutely the last resort.
Most customers will want to pay
on time to not adversely affect
their credit history. Fraudulent and
repeat bad payers can be quickly
identified using electronic systems.
A last word. Digital finance as
discussed here may sound as purely for
bigger organisations. In fact, however,
digital, DM-empowered embedded
credit management works well at the
high value, low volume end (e.g. big
engineering or construction projects)
as at the low value, high volume
end (consumer goods, say). They’re
both ends of the same spectrum – a
spectrum marked by the need to
keep money and goods flowing at
the pace the process demands.
In conclusion, having a top-end,
seamless, digital credit management
function is increasingly a differentiator.
You are offering yourself as a
premier solution provider if you can
demonstrate you are on top of this,
and senior management in particular
will feel reassured seeing this level of
professionalism in a new supplier.
For all these reasons, digital finance
credit management is the way to go,
as it helps you operate better, be a
better supplier and partner, and is
the real basis for friction-free, 21st
century operational performance.
Author information
The author is Sales and Marketing
Director at EASY SOFTWARE UK
(www.easysoftware.co.uk) a supplier
of award-winning digital finance
solutions for today’s enterprise
theCsuite 9

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Financial Planning
In search of
Supply Chain Resilience
By Howard Kerr, Chief Executive at BSI
I
n a global economy, supply chain disruption incidents
often have repercussions that can be felt on the
other side of the world. Reliance on extended
supply chains, contract manufacturers and worldwide
operations can lead to adverse impacts, including business
interruption, damaged reputation and impaired performance.
The potential for supply chain interruptions is significant,
ranging from natural catastrophes such as earthquakes
and floods, to man-made acts such as strikes affecting
transportation infrastructure (ports, airports etc.), political
instabilities, currency fluctuations or cyber-attacks.
Past examples have been well documented in the media.
Take the aftermath of the great Tōhoku earthquake and
resulting tsunami in Japan in 2011, which exposed many
companies’ complex supply chain connections, or the
catastrophic floods in Thailand later that same year. The
dramatic downstream impact of these incidents on major
industries such as hard disk drive production and automotive
manufacture revealed to many businesses the pitfalls of
vulnerable supply chains and aggregated supplier risk.
The supply chain is a weak spot for many organizations,
according to BSI’s recently launched Organizational Resilience
Index 1 . The index asked more than 1,250 senior leaders of
organizations across the globe to rate their businesses on
48 aspects of resilience, covering 16 core elements across
four categories: Leadership, People, Process and Product.
Respondents rated Supply Chain as the most in need of
improvement. And it was in those sectors where the supply
chain is most complex and critical to business success
– Automotive, Manufacturing and Aerospace – where
improvement is needed most. This is not surprising in today’s
new normal of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and
ambiguity), in which every link in the chain is another potential
source of disruption. Respondents highlighted supply chain
security as a particular weakness, and also showed concern
about the extent to which suppliers are balancing social
and environmental concerns against commercial goals.
business risks’, all have the potential to result specifically in
supply chain risk. Despite this, it is noticeable that ‘supply
chain disruption’ is significant enough in itself to be mentioned
as a separate category in the study – remaining in the top 10
threats for the third year running. More than a third (34%)
of organizations report supply chain losses of at least €1m
a year, while 9% report at least €1m of losses from a single
incident. Many of our clients tell us that the supply chain is a
top concern for their business. Whilst cyber-attacks or data
breaches remain high on the boardroom agenda, organizations
recognize the potential impact of a supply chain incident but
believe they are less prepared for such a business disruption.
A Supply Chain Resilience culture
To counter such risks, an effective Supply Chain Resilience
strategy is required, bringing together various business
functions, as well as senior management to identify exposures
and establish a mitigation plan. This plan should not only
ensure business continuity in the event of an incident, but also
pro-actively instil resilience throughout the supply chain.
The role of the executive board is vital in bringing
together the necessary business functions, including
operations, procurement, finance and business continuity,
to establish a risk management culture. Leadership input
can significantly influence good practice and build an
organizational culture that encourages resilience.
From this foundation, focus must shift to supply
chain continuity, prioritizing of resources for supplier
risk management, determining tiers of high and low risk
suppliers and, as a final step, integrating risk management
processes into daily procurement activities.
Screening the supply chain
While adverse events are often unpredictable, supply chain
risk can usually be identified and mitigated in advance
of such an event. For example, in 2011, many automotive
The threat landscape
Supply chain threats are changing, and today many global risks
present potential disruption for businesses sourcing products
and services from overseas. According to recent research 2
by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), in association with
BSI, the most serious threats range from cyber-attack and
data breach, feared by over 80% of businesses, to adverse
weather, terrorism and even new laws and regulations.
While the study regards all these threats as ‘general
theCsuite 11

Financial Planning
manufacturers’ assembly operations were disrupted
because of a fire at a single supplier’s factory in
Germany. The auto manufacturers had failed to identify
the supplier as the sole source of a resin needed to
coat brake linings. As a result, this single event halted
car production as a whole for several manufacturers,
an outcome that could potentially have been prevented
through more proactive supplier oversight. This
highlighted a need for companies to invest more heavily
to improve their understanding and visibility of supply
chain risks in order to build Supply Chain Resilience.
Since then, much of the work undertaken by companies
in addressing supply chain risk has been to improve
understanding of their supply and value chains, where
detailed information is often lacking. Embedding country
risk intelligence in the supply chain framework helps identify
areas of prioritization, so that organizations can address
numerous compliance areas in a targeted and effective
way. Through this country risk intelligence, companies
can be informed about the inherent risks of a supplier
operating in a single country, in order to proactively prepare
policies and procedures to meet regulatory, responsible
sourcing, business continuity and security requirements.
BSI’s Supply Chain Risk Exposure Evaluation Network
(SCREEN), a web-based, comprehensive global ssupply
chain intelligence system, can be used to quantify the risk of
supply chain incidents in over 200 countries. It offers supply
chain security, corporate social responsibility (human rights
and environmental), and business continuity intelligence
and analysis to measure country-level risk factors through
BSI’s proprietary country-level supply chain risk ratings.
Building and preparing a business continuity plan
Business continuity management (BCM) can support
organizations in properly assessing the potential impact
of a variety of risk outcomes, including ‘black swan’ events
that are not widely anticipated. The potential impact
(if not the event itself), of both natural and man-made
disruptions is predictable and can be mitigated before
such events have a chance to impact on the supply chain
or bottom line severely. By incorporating alternative
suppliers for vital products or services into their risk
management strategy, organizations can avoid business
interruptions due to a disruption to a single source supplier.
Despite growing fears over the resilience of their
organizations, the Horizon Scan Report 3 records
a fall in firms’ use of long-term trend analysis to
assess and understand threats. Of those carrying
out trend analysis, around a third do not use the results to
inform their business continuity management programmes.
And, with the top four threats identified by the Report all
causing an increased level of concern among businesses
surveyed, it is worrying that 14% of respondents expect
to experience business continuity budget cuts, making
them less likely to be able to respond effectively.
Proactively identifying business continuity risks, rather
than waiting until it is too late, will help improve supply
chain visibility and resilience. Corporations that implement
a holistic risk-based business continuity plan will be more
resilient in the face of supply chain disruptions. Additionally,
the BCM standard ISO 22301 is among a number of respected
standards – including ISO 27001 for information security
and ISO 28000 for supply chain security – that has long
helped businesses manage and protect valuable assets,
and give confidence to stakeholders. They can be used
separately or together to establish greater Supply Chain
Resilience – and Organizational Resilience. The requirements
of the standards are fully scalable, making them just as
easy for SMEs as large organizations to implement.
Risk vs opportunity
In recent years we’ve seen a major shift with organizations
focusing less on business continuity plans - and more on
an Organizational Resilience approach. This is reflected
most simply in new job titles and functions where
‘Resilience’ is becoming prominent. Some businesses
recognize that having a dedicated Organizational Resilience
champion, gives them greater visibility and control
over the full chain, which is best business practice.
Organizational Resilience requires strength on all fronts:
businesses are only as resilient as their weakest link. While
executives might feel reassured that they are performing
well in most areas, a truly resilient organization will be
doing well in all. Resilient organizations have a high level of
supply chain traceability and visibility, which enables them
to pinpoint problems, implement improvements and ensure
their supply chain aligns with their corporate values.
Ultimately, organizations must recognize that, while
there is risk, and plenty of it, there is also opportunity.
Taking advantage of this means that leaders can steer
their businesses to not just survive, but thrive.
1. www.bsigroup.com/organizational-resilience
2. https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/about-bsi/media-centre/
3. https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/about-bsi/media-centre/
press-releases/2017/february/Cyber-attacks-and-data-breachesremain-top-of-the-agenda-for-business-continuity-concerns/
press-releases/2017/february/Cyber-attacks-and-data-breachesremain-top-of-the-agenda-for-business-continuity-concerns/
12 theCsuite

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theCsuite 13

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Information Technology
Are we really approaching the
post-app era? And if so, what’s next?
Sudarshan Dharmapuri, SVP of Product
Management at IMImobile, takes a
look at the future of the mobile app
landscape as install rates plunge
G
artner has called this “the post-app era”. Nearly
all the metrics around mobile app installs and
app engagement are heading south. Installs are
down 38% year-on-year, and app opens down 29%. The
average Android app loses 77% of its users within three
days, and 23% of users abandon apps after a single use.
But if you’re one of the many companies that’s poured
a ton of cash and resources into mobile apps, and are
no longer seeing the sort of usage figures needed to
justify that investment, it’s not time to panic yet.
The big secret about the post-app era is … it’s
still all about mobile apps. Just not necessarily only
the bloated, expensive, proprietary native apps
that brands have been building up to now.
Apps are more important than ever
Whether your customers are business users or consumers,
everyone wants the same thing: their problems solved
and questions answered, and quickly. Today that means
delivering digital customer experiences that are consistent
and efficient across multiple devices and channels.
Many brands, from banks to retailers, today ask customers
to install and log in to their proprietary apps to perform
certain tasks as an alternative to phoning or emailing. But
it’s not necessarily the customer service boon it seems, as
it can be a high-effort channel for the customer. Having to
install, update, open, and remember passwords for dozens
of apps (not to mention websites) is a bit of a pain, as well
as a drain on your customers’ phone memory and battery.
And yet, increasingly, customer interactions are carried
out online or on mobile devices, and these need some place
to happen. The most popular on-demand, media and social
apps – think Uber, Deliveroo, Google Maps, Facebook
Messenger, YouTube – count for the majority of users’
time. Standalone enterprise apps cannot compete.
The answer is to reach your customers inside the apps
they are already using – or move your app strategy into
spaces where your customers are already interacting.
For example, if your target is business customers, you might
have more luck reaching them through Slack or Skype for
Business than any of the app stores. For consumers it might
be Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, good old SMS, up-andcoming
RCS, or even Snapchat. But how do you do this?
Conversational micro apps
In reality, when customers are using your enterprise
app, it’s likely most of them only care about 20%
of the functionality in it. You’ll probably find these
same functions are used 80% of the time.
What you really need to do is give your customers
the ability to have those most useful and most pressing
interactions with you more easily. To do that, you could
consider building conversational micro apps.
Micro apps are stripped-down apps that can be deployed
practically anywhere: in any browser on any device, and
inside third-party mobile and desktop messaging apps.
Rather than relying solely on heavy-duty native apps
with multiple functions and menu levels, companies are
instead beginning to deploy nimble, lightweight micro apps
on messaging channels such as Facebook Messenger that
offer a set of simple functions at a time, in a conversational
context that makes it easy for users to interact.
For example, a bank might build a balance-checking
micro app within a third-party app such as Facebook
Messenger, using templates provided by the platform,
and adding on customer ID verification through
integration into back-end systems via APIs. Or balances
could be accessed through Amazon Alexa by a simple
voice command – with biometric voice recognition
(in the near future) taking care of verification.
So, what’s the difference between conversational micro
apps and chatbots? Chatbots are designed to mimic natural
human-to-human interaction – “chatter” – and tend to be
single-channel. Conversational micro apps, on the other hand,
are channel-agnostic, and may well be designed to orchestrate
customer journeys across multiple messaging channels. For
example, an outbound SMS fraud alert may route the user to
a micro app on Facebook Messenger. A crucial element here
theCsuite 15

Information Technology
is that the contextual history can follow the user, allowing
them to move seamlessly between channels and devices.
Additionally, while chatbots are usually developed
to answer routine queries with interactions initiated by
the customer, conversational micro apps can facilitate
proactive end-to-end customer journeys across channels
by processing back-end application events. They can
also seamlessly hand the conversation over to a live
human agent when additional support is required.
Finally, when it comes to extending your app strategy and
app reach, as micro apps can be accessed through already
popular channels such as Facebook Messenger, Twitter DMs,
WeChat, they can also act as a mechanism for customers to
discover, download or use your existing enterprise apps.
Proprietary mobile apps vs conversational micro apps
Must be installed and frequently updated, and passwords
remembered
Accessed from inside popular messaging apps your
customers are already logged in to without separate
installations
Reactive – consumers use them only when they need to
Can also be proactive, based on business or consumer
triggers
Lots of functionality to be navigated - most of it never used
Simple user interface. Customer just asks a question, taps
icons, or chooses quick answers
Time-consuming to build and code, have to be rebuilt for
different platforms, require constant maintenance
Low or no-code using APIs and third-party tools; can be
embedded in many environments
Updates required to take advantage of new functionality,
limiting frequency of roll-outs
Good for continuous optimisation. Updates can be deployed
as and when needed without action by the end user
You have to push for installs then to get customers to use
the app
Easily extend your reach as messaging apps already have
billions of users
Large, unwieldy single apps trying to cater for everything a
customer might want to do
Each micro app has a single or small set of functions,
allowing easier development and deployment
Have to be re-installed when consumers move on to the next
device
Future-proof – even if devices change, consumers will likely
be using Messenger, WhatsApp and Slack for years to come
The future is still digital, still mobile, and still apps
Analysis we carried out on the install rates of some
of the large consumer businesses in UK shows that
branded corporate apps typically have a penetration
level of 30%. However, messaging apps show far higher
penetration levels, of typically up to 60%-70%.
Native apps – especially media and on-demand apps –
are definitely not dying, and when used effectively, with
for example in-app push notifications, are still of value
to the customer. But even the best enterprise apps will
fail to get the same kind of usage that some media and
on-demand apps will. So, the new mobile strategy is to
be where your customers are already spending time.
Conversational micro apps are a great additional
opportunity for brands to engage customers on their
preferred channels and in a more natural way, without
major investment. They also extend reach – for example,
one of our financial services clients has a fantastic mobile
app, but it’s used by only 25% of their customer base. With
so many customers already having popular messaging apps
installed, and of course SMS, their reach has been extended
to the rest of their base with little effort/expense.
As a bonus, doing it this way is much cheaper,
far more flexible, and you can still use the
back-end stack you’ve already built.
IMImobile has recently published an eGuide to
conversational micro apps. To download a free copy,
visit imimobile.com.
Author information
Sudarshan Dharmapuri has been with IMImobile since
2008 and is responsible for product strategy, roadmap
definition and product delivery. He has over 18 years
of experience in bringing new technology products to
market. Prior to joining IMImobile, Sudarshan held product
management and engineering positions at Siebel Systems
and Oracle in Silicon Valley. He holds a MBA from the Haas
School of Business, U.C. Berkeley and an MS degree with
specialisation in computer science.
16 theCsuite

Information Technology
The evolution of the CIO/CFO relationship:
shaking hands or butting heads?
By Robert Gothan, CEO and
founder of Accountagility
T
he look and feel of the
boardroom has changed
dramatically over the past 10
years. With job titles like CHRO, CMO
and CSO now commonplace, the sheer
number of C-level individuals present
has made it increasingly difficult to
demonstrate the unique value that each
of these roles brings to the business.
The arrival of these positions has
also created new challenges for the
CFO. After decades of working across
departments ranging from IT to HR,
modern CFOs had finally begun to
focus exclusively on finance again –
but the new look of the boardroom
means that this too is now changing.
CFOs are increasingly finding
themselves competing for resources
and attention with other C-suite
executives, most notably the CIO, as
both of these individuals need to tap
into the important business insights
that the firm’s data can provide. After
all, this information is essential when
it comes to making recommendations
to support the firm’s growth and add
strategic value to the business.
In the past, the analysis of this data
used to sit firmly with the CIO, but
the overlap with these roles in recent
years has begun to muddy the waters.
As a result, these two roles are now
faced with a choice; they can either
form a partnership to leverage this
information for the benefit of the wider
business, or they can continue to lock
horns over who will be responsible
for making executive decisions.
Growing frustrations
Frustration with the IT function is
not uncommon, but it is especially
noticeable within the financial
services sector. Project delays,
insufficient resources and endless
restrictions can lead to ongoing
tension between the CFO and CIO.
A further spoke in the wheel comes
from the budgetary freedom awarded
to CIOs, whether perceived or real.
The increase of so-called ‘vanity
projects’ which use up capital and
resource on highly technical projects,
yet provide questionable value to
the business, has left some CFOs
feeling resentment and frustration.
Another common complaint is that
IT departments fail to make the needs
of the finance function a priority in
many cases. As a result, finance staff
are often forced to rely on ineffective
tools, which not only puts additional
pressure on internal resource, but
also heightens corporate risk.
Increasing collaboration
In a majority of organisations, the
responsibilities assigned to both the
CFO and CIO are designed to keep
business operations running efficiently,
whilst also shaping the company’s
future growth strategy. As such, in order
to understand each other better, these
individuals should start by considering
what their roles have in common, rather
than focusing on their differences.
A report from EY, ‘The CFO Agenda’,
showed a clear desire for these two
roles to collaborate on a day-to-day
18 theCsuite

Information Technology
basis. In fact, more than 6 out of 10
CFOs (61%) said that they have already
seen increased levels of collaboration
in the past three years – often as a
direct result of involving themselves in
the IT agenda and adding value to the
CIO by managing costs and profitability
across the business. Whilst this
relationship is still by no means perfect,
findings like these demonstrate a
willingness to work together for
the greater good of the business.
The convergence of technology and
investment strategy has increased this
need for collaboration even further.
Now more than ever, any disconnect
between these two roles will be to the
detriment of the business, and could
jeopardise technological advancements.
As CFOs mainly contribute to IT
from a cost point of view, rather than
one of strategy, a better working
relationship between these two
roles will be essential if businesses
want to keep their competitive
edge in today’s digital economy.
Building communication
There are many reasons why a CFO and
CIO may find it difficult to communicate
effectively, however; in some cases it
is just a question of language. After
all, whilst the CFO talks in finance
terms, the CIO is more accustomed
to the vocabulary of technology.
Of course, there are bound to be
personality differences to contend with
too. CIOs, for example, can be bigpicture
thinkers, focusing on new ideas,
whereas CFOs usually value detailed
plans, logic and a focus on creating
results. Whilst these generalisations
do not hold true for all cases, it is still
important for CIOs and CFOs to be
aware of their differences and potential
barriers to effective communication.
In order to sidestep potential
pitfalls like these, many CFOs are
implementing a ‘Business Partnering’
approach, whereby they provide
regular commercial and economic
insights for the business to input into
wider strategies. The current sociopolitical
climate, for example, provides
ample opportunity for today’s CFOs
to provide the board with guidance
on how to plan, budget and forecast
for any volatility on the horizon.
This approach will help the
CFO and CIO to speak the same
language, and thus help to diminish
any lingering friction between their
respective departments. Ultimately,
the relationship between these
two roles can – and will – directly
affect a company’s success, so it is
vital that these two individuals are
able to come together to provide
high level, macroeconomic ideas
to move the business forward.
The power of partnership
In today’s business world, technology
is crucial not only to operational
excellence, but also to a company’s
overall success. As a result, CFOs
are becoming increasingly aware of
the strategic value that IT has to an
organisation and are increasingly
seeing it as a vital tool that will
enable the business to achieve
its broader efficiency goals.
To make the CFO/CIO partnership
a successful one, both of these
individuals must therefore work as
peers and take joint responsibility for
driving innovation in an organisation,
using IT as the engine. Although this
relationship that has historically
focused on cost, bold investment
decisions on IT spending must now be
made jointly by these two boardroom
heavyweights. For this reason, the CFO’s
involvement in the IT agenda will need
to increase going forward, so that the
CFO and CIO can work together to bring
data-driven decisions into the core of
the organisation’s future strategy.
Author information
Robert Gothan, CEO at
Accountagility, empathises with
both sides to this debate. In his
early years, his previous roles
include CFO of a Lloyds’ Broker &
finance controller of a managing
agency in the Lloyds market. As
a finance process problem-solver,
he has advised organisations on
many areas within the finance
function including treasury,
tax, planning, group accounting,
reporting and expenses. However,
becoming frustrated at the lack
of technology available to support
the demanding requirements of the
finance function, in 2008 Robert
began designing software to solve
these challenges. This became the
ORYX Suite, a robust yet userfriendly
platform which can provide
the complete “end-to-end” process
automation experience, but in a
finance-friendly way. So from CFO to
IT entrepreneur, Robert understands
more than anyone, the importance
of CFO and CIO business partnering
to jointly drive the business to
success.
theCsuite 19

Business Travel
Extravagance or efficient planning?
Private aviation charter for business travel
By Chris Tofts,
CEO 365 Aviation
P
rivate jet travel has, for a
long time, been regarded
as the sole domain of the
super-rich or cosseted stars who
couldn’t bring themselves to travel on
commercial flights. But over the past
decade that image has slowly been
changing thanks to a forward-thinking
industry which recognized that private
jet travel was poorly understood and
many potential clients were missing
out on the advantages it has to offer.
Back in the early noughties,
before the global financial crisis, big
corporations were comfortable owning
their own aircraft. But General Motors,
Ford and Chrysler flying their senior
executives in on company private jets
to ask for a government bail out in
2008 was a PR own goal which caused
a hugely negative public reaction to
the idea of corporate private aviation.
Warren Buffet’s NetJets arguably
led the renaissance of the industry.
His team foresaw that private jets
could be presented as more affordable
and accessible through fractional
ownership. Others followed suit
offering “flying time” by pre-purchasing
a number of hours’ flying credit, which
proved popular in the US where internal
commercial flights are relatively
expensive compared with the multitude
of low cost European airlines.
Suddenly business travel by private
jet became affordable and accessible.
We use the term ‘affordable’ loosely
because on the face of it private
jet travel remains the preserve of
the well off.However, corporations
are using private charter for senior
executives and recognizing that
the benefits it offers far outweigh
the perceived high cost.
365 Aviation recently commissioned
a piece of independent research
that explored the lost time spent
travelling to, from and within airports.
The research partner, Censuswide,
polled over 2,000 HNW individuals
and found that, on average, travelers
spend over three and a half hours in
airports pre- and post-flight. Add on
the average time travelling to and
from the airport (2.76 hours) and
that’s a staggering 6.3 hours of wasted
time per trip. And that’s before the
flight itself, let alone any delays.
According to the Financial Times,
the average C-Suite Executive’s
hourly pay is £1,000, so when one
takes into account lost productivity,
suddenly private jet travel doesn’t
seem like an extravagance at all,
more like efficient planning.
Co-founder, Colin Baker, a finance
professional who launched 365 Aviation
partially based on his observance of
theCsuite 21

Business Travel
‘
the average C-Suite
Executive’s hourly pay
is £1,000, so when one
takes into account lost
productivity, suddenly
private jet travel
doesn’t seem like an
extravagance at all
Further information
’
For more information please visit
www.365aviation.com
this lost productivity, said “Many delays
are outside of the travelers’ control,
and if it results in missing meetings
or important family occasions, not to
mention PA’s time spent rescheduling
itineraries, you suddenly realize that it
makes sense to pay a small premium to
minimize these risks. Ever tightening
airport security has exacerbated the
situation to the point that it was no
longer cost effective to spend the best
part of a day trying to get to a one hour
meeting to close a deal. Founding the
business came out of a determination
to prove that private aviation charter
could save time for the people whose
professions demand a great deal of it.”
Today Baker sees many of his clients
using private charter travel to visit
multiple destinations in a short period
of time. He explains, “A private jet can
leave from a closer airport, requiring
just 20 minutes to check in, clear
security and board, allowing passengers
to fly to Milan in the morning, be
in Frankfurt for lunch and back to
London by mid-afternoon. That’s just
not possible if you fly commercial.”
With 136 private airports in the
UK alone, most people can be in the
air within an hour of leaving their
house or office. One Surrey based
film executive will only fly from
Farnborough as he can get there in a
little over 30 minutes from his home
and be in Cannes (for the Film Festival)
in less than three hours door-to-door.
Business also requires flexibility
and when meetings move time or
location, private charter companies can
react quickly saving time and money.
“Efficient private charter companies are
a PA’s best friend” says Rosemary Parr,
founder of the Global PA Association,
which represents tens of thousands
of PAs internationally. “When your
job is to get the company Chairman
from A to B in the most efficient way
possible, charter jet companies are a
God send to a busy executive assistant.
Meetings aren’t always in convenient
locations and schedules can change
at a moment’s notice. A flexible and
knowledgeable charter partner who
can have an aircraft on the tarmac in
a couple of hours is an essential part
of a top flight assistant’s arsenal.”
365 Aviation’s senior charter
manager, Patrick Magan, cites complex
travel requirements as another reason
for choosing private jet charter. This
summer 365 Aviation has seen a
surge in clients travelling with their
dogs, and has supplied specialist
packing to transport couture gowns
to the Cannes Film Festival. “We’ve
transported guns to Scotland for the
start of the grouse shooting season;
jewellery handcuffed to a security
guard to private yachts, and sound
equipment for rock concerts.” he adds.
Yet it’s business travel that continues
to be the bread and butter of the
private charter industry. Whilst the
days of the branded corporate jet
may be over, companies recognize
that it makes commercial sense to fly
private. The charter companies are
adapting too. Patrick and his team
have “branded” private aircraft before,
ensuring that corporate colours,
brochures and merchandise are in
place before clients board the plane.
The commercial airlines have
recognized the threat. RyanAir launched
a private charter offering last year,
adapting one of its Boeing 737s for
business travel for up to 60 passengers.
It claims to offer the most competitive
rate in Europe and is aiming at the group
travel market. At the other end of the
market Four Seasons has launched
a luxuriously appointed branded jet
in partnership with TCS World Travel
catering for 52 passengers with fully
flat beds offering 24-day around the
world experiences that wouldn’t be
feasible on commercial aircraft.
22 theCsuite

WELCOME TO LOUNGE CLASS
Find your space at over 1000 airport
lounges around the world.
Priority Pass is the original airport lounge access program
with a world-leading global network giving you access
to airport lounges just about anywhere.
You’ll always be welcome in a Priority Pass Lounge.
Whatever carrier or class, as a regular business traveler
or member of another airline program – it doesn’t matter.
Check yourself into Lounge Class. Membership starts
from as little as £62 a year.
TRANQUILITY • SERVICE • SPACE • COMFORT
• Complimentary drinks, refreshments and pre-flight
bites including alcohol in most lounges
• Space to work or relax in a place that feels like home
• Free Wi-Fi in most lounges
• The latest magazines and newspapers
• Conference rooms, showers, bed and spa facilities
in selected lounges
WITH YOUR EXCLUSIVE 10% DISCOUNT,
ENJOY
15%
MEMBERSHIP FROM ONLY £62
INTRODUCTORY DISCOUNT
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app – and enjoy instant access to Lounge Class on your very next trip
Join online and enter the offer code CFO1709 at prioritypass.com
to get your exclusive 10% discount, or call +44 20 8865 3119
* Not all lounges are able to process visits using the Digital Membership Card so please check the lounge
details on our website before you visit a lounge and carry your card with you once it’s arrived in the post.
PP17PA003

Fleet Management
‘Grey fleet’ drivers failing
to carry out safety checks
By the ACFO
A
t-work drivers who drive
their own cars for work, the
so-called ‘grey fleet’, do not
always carry out basic safety checks
on their vehicles, according to new
research from Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
The study among more than 2,000
adults in the UK, Ireland, Germany,
France and Spain who drive their own
cars for business found that more than
two in five ‘grey fleet’ drivers (43%) did
not undertake any regular maintenance
checks themselves on their cars.
When asked why they didn’t, a third
(35%) said that they expected ‘the car
to tell them if something was wrong’
and 36% said ‘that’s what services
and MoTs were for’. One in six (17%)
simply expected modern cars to work.
Even more (38%) had never checked
the tyre tread, a third (33%) had not
looked at engine oil levels and almost
half (40%) had never checked if their
brake lights were working. Almost
a third (30%) admitted they had
never even opened the car bonnet.
Moreover, the research revealed that
the personal cars Europeans drive for
work were often less modern. Nearly
half (44%) of the business drivers
questioned were using a vehicle for
business that was more than five years
old, around one in eight (13%) drove
a car that was more than a decade old
and one in 14 ‘grey fleet’ drivers (7%)
is in a vehicle more than 15 years old.
Rob Ingram, director of business
rental for Europe at Enterprise Rent-A-
Car, said: “All over Europe, businesses
allow employees to use their own
cars for work journeys. However, our
research indicates that many drivers
are not always checking their vehicles
before a business trip. It’s very likely
that this is something that companies
are simply not aware of, and equally,
they may not be aware of some of the
implications for the business should
the driver be involved in an accident
due to lack of vehicle maintenance.
“We would advise all European
businesses with employees that drive
their own vehicles for work to ensure
their travel and transport policies cover
areas such as vehicle maintenance and
routine checks for personal vehicles
used for business travel. Developing
travel policy is an area where we often
work with our business customers, not
least because this is our day-to-day
work. At Enterprise, for example, every
daily rental vehicle is put through a
25-point check before each hire and
Enterprise Car Club vehicles in the UK
have an inspection every fortnight.
“It may also make sense to provide
employees with other travel options
when they are planning a trip, such as
pool cars, rental car vehicles, car clubs
24 theCsuite

www.volkswagenleasing.de/internationalfleet
International Fleet
As a European market leader with many years of experience in
implementing fleet solutions, we are a reliable partner and assist our
clients with a diverse range of high quality products and services.
Further information about international fleet solutions can be found at
www.volkswagenleasing.de/internationalfleet

Fleet Management
‘
Companies may wish
to consider if it’s
appropriate to help
with the cost of these
items, not least as
they may be stopped
and fined by the police
on the highway
’
or advice on the availability of public
transport, especially where it may be
difficult to monitor how privatelyowned
vehicles are maintained. These
options can be more cost-effective
than the ‘grey fleet’ and employees
often welcome not having to use
their own vehicle for business.”
The research further revealed that
many ‘grey fleet’ drivers across Europe
were unsure if the car they used for
work contained vital safety equipment.
More than a quarter (28%) didn’t know
if they had a warning triangle, 36%
didn’t know if they had a jack and a third
(33%) were uncertain if their car held
a high-visibility vest or jacket, even
though those and other safety tools
were mandatory in many European
countries. Two thirds of ‘grey fleet’
drivers (66%) didn’t currently know
if their car had a usable spare tyre.
The survey also looked at how ‘grey
fleet’ drivers behaved when they were
preparing for a trip of 100 miles or
more. It revealed that 44% didn’t
check that they had enough fuel and
more than half (51%) didn’t do any
basic safety checks on their vehicle.
In addition, almost two-thirds (61%)
didn’t plan for breaks at least every
two hours, even though driving safety
organisations agreed that regular
breaks on long trips were vital to
maintain driver focus and concentration.
Mr Ingram said: “This research
highlights that many personal
vehicles aren’t always equipped for
business travel and that employees
don’t necessarily have the right
equipment in the car if they break
down. Staff may need a reminder
before they set off on a trip of what
they need to take in their vehicle,
especially if they drive abroad where
the requirements may be different.
“In some cases, companies may
wish to consider if it’s appropriate
to help with the cost of these items,
not least as they may be stopped and
fined by the police on the highway.
Again, this is an area that can be
addressed by a travel policy designed
to cover the ‘grey fleet’.”
26 theCsuite

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Human Resources
Why HR departments should
take a leaf out of the NBA’s book
By Nick Gold, Managing
Director, Speakers Corner
Having run my own business
for the best part of two
decades, I am a firm believer
that the success of any company is not
a cutting-edge business model, nor
is it technology driven, but, success
is dependent on the people who work
within the company. This is not a
revolutionary statement, it is something
which has always been known. However,
I feel that as a whole the recruitment
industry and HR departments need a
reminder of this. For me, this valuable
reminder comes from the National
Basketball Assocation (NBA), stay
with me and I’ll tell you why.
The recruitment business relies
on the turnover of staff, as people
are of course the product of their
industry. This staff turnover does
not factor in that employees bring
something valuable to a business and
it is the people who can define the
success or failure of a company. Just
to give one example of this, I would
say there is no greater team motivator
than knowing your employees are
passionate advocates of the company,
and genuinely happy to work there.
To me, the best way to achieve this
is to recruit carefully and source out
the best dynamic and fresh talent,
whilst also investing in your current
workforce. Set up programmes which
allow both the existing and new staff
to wholly develop as people alongside
your company values. Employees that
positively glow about your business will
not only create a successful culture, but
they will foster a strong belief in the
all-encompassing vision too. These two
facets will see any company succeed,
even in the face of a recruitment drain.
Bearing all this in mind, my question is
then, why is there not more discussion
around the retention of talent? Why
28 theCsuite

Human Resources
are companies allowing a vast turnover
of staff whilst they are neglecting
to develop their talent that already
exists in-house? Today’s employment
conversations seem to focus on
initial recruitment and protectionism
of employee (and employer) rights.
These discussions are vitally missing
how we can move past protectionism
and work on building careers.
HR departments have become
bogged down in fulfilling legislation,
ensuring compliance and implementing
processes to maintain the flow of
employees through a company. But,
despite all this, very little time is
focussed around the preservation
of talent. There are a number of
factors to juggle in this equation.
We have a recruitment industry which
relies on the turnover of companies and
workers to generate income. We have
a millennial workforce coming through
who are typically looking at having
multiple jobs across their careers to
ensure they have work satisfaction and
fulfilment. Finally, we have employers
who understand that the longer an
employee works for them, the more
legislation and protection is needed
for the employee, this means the
employer is more restricted in their
ability to adapt during uncertain times.
All of these factors lend themselves
to an environment where retention
is not in the interests of either the
employee, nor the employer. However,
if we look at case studies of successful
companies who have thrived through
the good and the bad times, then they
will often attribute their sustained
success to their employees being
passionate advocates of the company.
Which brings me back to retaining
talent, and the NBA. The NBA draft is
a process which illustrates the value
of talent retention. The draft works by
30 teams in the NBA taking it in turn to
select players coming out of college to
join their teams. Vast sums of money
are spent on the top talent but, I always
find it fascinating when a team has a
‘high draft pick’ (i.e. one of the first
choices for the top talent), but instead
of seizing this opportunity they offer
it to another team, in exchange for one
of that team’s established players.
My immediate reaction is one of
surprise, after all why would you not
want to get first pick of the next
new exciting players? However, upon
reflection, it is clear that NBA is a
business, with their highest commodity
being talent. And, talent is not only
about the ability to excel in your role,
but it is deeply rooted in your fit for
the team culture and experience of the
game. So, in order to create the best
possible line-up, NBA teams need to
balance fresh new talent with those
who have experience. Knowledge needs
to be equally weighted with potential.
We can see this balancing act play
out during the draft negotiations.
The same rules apply in the
workplace. A team cannot function if
staff are continually substituted, as
there is no one to support the culture
and the vision. While new ideas and
talent are important, we also need to
retain and develop what we do have,
as experience is an invaluable asset.
I fully appreciate the benefits of
careful recruitment and the investment
in this, and I also appreciate the value
of maintaining a flexible workforce
in the current unstable environment.
But, short-term contracts should be
secondary to talent retention. It is to
me, a much more safe, dynamic, and
focussed way to improve a business.
We should follow the NBA’s lead and
invest in the long-term development
of your team, as it will see your
business reap long-term rewards.
‘
We should follow the
NBA’s lead and invest
in the long-term
development of your
team, as it will see
your business reap
long-term rewards
’
theCsuite 29

Advertisers’ Index
Accountagility Ltd 20
AON Hewitt
IFC
BSI Group
OBC
Coface 2
Cayos Travel Visas 13
EASY SOFTWARE UK 13
Fleet Evolution 27
IMImobile Europe Ltd 17
JLT Employee Benefits 30,31
Munters 14
Priority Pass
23, IBC
True Partners Consulting (UK) LLP 10
Volkswagen Financial Services AG 25
32 theCsuite

WELCOME TO LOUNGE CLASS
Find your space at over 1000 airport
lounges around the world.
Priority Pass is the original airport lounge access program
with a world-leading global network giving you access
to airport lounges just about anywhere.
You’ll always be welcome in a Priority Pass Lounge.
Whatever carrier or class, as a regular business traveler
or member of another airline program – it doesn’t matter.
Check yourself into Lounge Class. Membership starts
from as little as £62 a year.
TRANQUILITY • SERVICE • SPACE • COMFORT
• Complimentary drinks, refreshments and pre-flight
bites including alcohol in most lounges
• Space to work or relax in a place that feels like home
• Free Wi-Fi in most lounges
• The latest magazines and newspapers
• Conference rooms, showers, bed and spa facilities
in selected lounges
WITH YOUR EXCLUSIVE 10% DISCOUNT,
ENJOY
15%
MEMBERSHIP FROM ONLY £62
INTRODUCTORY DISCOUNT
Join now to get your Digital Membership Card* via the Priority Pass
app – and enjoy instant access to Lounge Class on your very next trip
Join online and enter the offer code CEO1709 at prioritypass.com
to get your exclusive 10% discount, or call +44 20 8865 3119
* Not all lounges are able to process visits using the Digital Membership Card so please check the lounge
details on our website before you visit a lounge and carry your card with you once it’s arrived in the post.
PP17PA004

“Organizations must recognize
that, while there is risk, and
plenty of it, there is also
opportunity. Taking advantage
of this means that leaders can
steer their businesses to not
just survive, but thrive.”
Howard Kerr, Chief Executive, BSI
Join us to discover how you can make your business more agile,
more dynamic and better prepared for the modern business world
by achieving resilience in three key areas – Information, Supply Chain
and Operations.
25% off our resilience series events with reader code: CSuite25
Call: 0345 080 9000 or visit: bsigroup.com/orevents
Forthcoming events
Operational Resilience,
21 September, London
Information Resilience,
17 October, Manchester
Supply Chain Resilience,
08 November, Birmingham
2017 series of events
Information Supply Chain Operational