Recap & Recording: XLcompass – Building Successful Treasury Teams

By treasuryXL & Partners

17/08/2026

A successful treasury team needs more than technical knowledge: clear roles, complementary personalities, structured hiring, open communication, and the curiosity to work with new technology.

RECORDING

Treasury teams are moving beyond operational execution. They are expected to support company strategy, communicate with senior management, and respond to rapid changes in technology and the business environment. That raises a practical question: what makes a treasury team successful, and how can leaders build teams that are ready for what comes next?

The discussion brought together four different perspectives on the subject:

The audience also took part in polls about team stability, current team performance, and the challenges involved in building and developing treasury teams.

Key Takeaways

Orsolya Kozák

  1. Soft skills and role fit matter as much as technical knowledge. Treasury expertise can often be developed through experience and training. Flexibility, communication, curiosity, and the ability to work with others can be harder to build, so leaders should place people where their strengths fit the role.

    “But, what is super important, for me at least, the soft skills.”

  2. Leaders should listen before changing responsibilities. Front office, middle office, and back office roles call for different preferences and strengths. Honest conversations can help leaders adjust responsibilities, support work-life balance, and involve people in change without forcing them into work that does not suit them.

    “And you can do that with talking and listening.”

Theo Wasserberg

  1. Systems can make a treasury team less dependent on individual people. If a process stops whenever one person is away, the team has a weakness in its process design and knowledge sharing. Clear workflows and suitable technology can reduce single points of failure and help the team manage growth.

    “I think a lot of technology is about systemizing processes and structuring them in a way that mean that you can manage them for the long term, that you don’t have points of failure.”

  2. Curiosity matters more than being a technical specialist. Treasury professionals can start by testing tools, asking how a process could improve, and learning through small experiments. They also need to understand and explain their processes so that technology can be applied in useful places.

    “The mindset that you need to achieve this stuff is much more about curiosity and a kind of constant learning approach.”

Kim Vercoulen

  1. Build the team around the gaps you have. Different treasury roles need different combinations of technical skills and personal qualities. Leaders should define what the role requires and consider which strengths are missing from the existing team instead of searching for one person who can do everything.

    “So, to really think of, okay, what am I looking for for this specific, vacancy, for this specific function?”

  2. Use a structured hiring process to reduce bias. Hiring managers can agree with HR on the must-have skills, the qualities that can be learned, and the traits needed for the role. Asking consistent questions makes it easier to compare candidates on evidence rather than on whether someone feels familiar.

    “And if you do that, you’re just probably looking for someone that feels right for you, and that’s mostly people that are alike.”

Building teams that can work through change

The poll results showed that many teams are functioning but still have room to improve. The largest group rated their team between 4 and 6 out of 10, meaning the team works but has clear areas for development. A smaller group rated their team between 7 and 8, while 4% described their team as highly effective, connected, and ready for change. Eight percent placed their team in the early development stage, with a score between 1 and 3.

The audience identified finding people with the right skills and personality as the main challenge when building a treasury team. Resistance to change and new technology was another common concern.

Theo made a useful distinction between scepticism and resistance. A sceptic asks hard questions and tests whether a solution can deal with difficult cases. That input can improve an implementation. A resistor rejects the idea without engaging with the reason for the change, often returning to the argument that the existing approach is the way things have always been done.

Leaders need room for healthy challenge, while also addressing resistance directly. Technology projects depend on people who are willing to learn and adapt. At the same time, the people who want to use AI and new tools are also looking for employers who will give them the opportunity to do so.

One mistake leaders should avoid

The panellists closed by sharing one mistake that treasury leaders should avoid when building or changing a team.

Orsolya pointed to a lack of open-mindedness. Leaders need to stay open to the people around them, the changing treasury environment, and new ways of organising work.

Kim returned to the need for a structured recruitment process and a close partnership between treasury and HR. The aim is to choose the best person for the specific role, rather than relying on instinct alone.

Theo encouraged treasury leaders to treat AI as a people question as well as a technology question. Teams need opportunities to test tools and learn how they can be used. Organisations that want ambitious treasury professionals also need to create an environment where new technology is welcomed.

Conclusion

The session showed that successful treasury teams are built through a combination of clear roles, complementary strengths, reliable processes, and open communication. Technical knowledge remains important, but it is only part of the picture.

Leaders also need to understand what each person does well, where the team has gaps, and how technology can reduce dependence on manual work or individual memory. Hiring with structure, listening to the team, and giving people space to learn can make treasury more stable and better prepared for change.

Question to ponder: Does your treasury team have the right mix of skills, personalities, and working practices for the next stage of its development?

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