Tag Archive for: treasuryXL

Treasurer Test: The advantages of using the Big 5 model

| 20-06-2019 | by Kendra Keydeniers | Treasurer Test |

In the upcoming weeks we will take a deeper dive into the Big 5 model. What are the advantages? Why did we select this model for the Treasurer Test? The subjects are shown in below summary, starting the first blog with an introduction:

  • Introduction
  • Why a personality assessment in the Treasurer Test?
  • What do we see in the peer group?
  • The traits measured
  • A connection between traits and skills?

Treasurer Test & Big 5: Introduction

The roots of the Treasurer Test lie in the desire to improve selection. A proper recruitment decision is based upon many variables. Often these variables are not objectively measurable: very often apples and oranges are compared. Research shows that knowledge, skills and personality are sound predictors of job success, can be measured objectively and compared to peer groups. This is to inform you about the Big 5 typology that measures personality.

OCEAN

A personality can be defined as a relatively stable set of traits resulting in consistent behavior in various situations and different from behavior of others in the same situation. In the typology there are five clusters of traits defined. Very often the acronym OCEAN (or CANOE) is used to remember the names of each cluster. Below we will describe them and include an example of a trait, projected on potential tasks of a treasurer:

  1. Openness for new experiences. Being innovative, having original ideas can be relevant for treasurers in a build-up situation.
  2. Conscientiousness: goal oriented, organized. A treasurer who is methodical plans, creates a structure and shows predictable behavior.
  3. Extraversion: energy focused externally or internally. A convincing treasurer will focus on influencing others, making sure they will align with the goals of the CFO and/or the treasury team.
  4. Agreeableness: focus on others (also altruism). A treasury manager who scores high on empathy will easily sense the emotions and feelings of his team.
  5. Neuroticism: emotional stability. If a treasury interim director is unfazed, he will not be affected by the crisis situation he might have to act in.

Self-assessment

As this is an introduction, we will not create a comprehensive overview but do want to stress the following; Big 5 does not put people in blue or red boxes but makes sound comparisons with peer groups according to statistically sound gauss curves. This is also the reason academic institutes like to use the model. The traits and scores are without value. High or low scores are only relevant if a specific behavior is desired. Big 5 works with a self-assessment, which is the best method to measure but will never result in an absolute truth.

Next

In the following articles we will elaborate on relevant Big 5 questions like “why Big 5 and not another typology?”, “what are the traits measured and why are these relevant” and “what do we see in the Big 5 results of the peer group?”. We are open for questions and input and will continue to provide further information.

On behalf of Team Treasurer Test,

Kendra Keydeniers
Community & Partner Manager at treasuryXL

 

 

 

Treasurer Test: The first results analysis and observations

| 14-06-2019 | by Kendra Keydeniers |

Do people with many years of treasury experience have more relevant knowledge than those with less experience?

Are treasurers introvert people?

Are detail-oriented treasurers more knowledgeable?

Recently 100 test candidates completed the Treasurer Test, 75 of them working as corporate treasurers, 25 are working in positions related to the corporate treasury field. We asked all of them to take the test in order to build a strong and focused assessment tool. As an added result, we now have an extremely interesting dataset. It is our intention to share our analysis and observations about this dataset with you. Currently we are communicating with data and other scientist in order to present sound research.

Analysis & Observations

What do we have? We have demographic information, the results on Treasury Technical Questions and Personality Profiles (Big5 theory). Therefore, let’s elaborate on the combination peer group – knowledge a bit to give you an idea about where we are working on.

The technical questions are divided in four groups:

  1. Corporate Finance
  2. Risk Management
  3. Cash Management
  4. Treasury Miscellaneous.

The testees are divided in four different experienced peer groups:

  1. No Experience
  2. 0-2 years
  3. 3-8 years
  4. 9 + years

The first quick analysis shows that there is a direct correlation between experience and knowledge in Risk Management: more experience equals more knowledge. Interesting enough, this correlation completely lacks in Corporate Finance, even testees without treasury experience do not score significantly less in this category. Furthermore, there is an indication that the knowledge level in the categories Cash Management and Treasury Miscellaneous is more or less the same for all groups. There is only a significantly difference between the corporate treasury experienced people compared to the Non-Treasurers.

Based upon these observations, we will ask the scientists and industry experts to work on the following hypothesizes (and on others of course):

  • Cash Management and Treasury Miscellaneous tasks are relatively easy to learn and/or a substantial part of the tasks of a young treasurer
  • The complexity of Risk Management is not easy to understand quickly and takes time to comprehend
  • Corporate Treasury is such a small part of the tasks of a treasurer that knowledge is not part of his/her working knowledge.

Given that we just started, we are very much open for your questions and suggestions. What questions do you want to get answered based upon the dataset? Thanks in advance for your input.

On behalf of Team Treasurer Test,

Kendra Keydeniers
Community & Partner Manager at treasuryXL

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New generation treasurer studies at the Vrije Universiteit

| 13-06-2019 | by Pieter de Kiewit |

 

Research in our candidate files, filled with treasury experts and managers, shows that only a small fraction of the population completed a job specific education. Over time I see the level of impact and complexity of corporate treasury rising and an increase in treasury students. As a member of the so-called Curatorium (management board) of the post graduate program “Treasury Management & Corporate Finance”, I consider it my task to let you know about this education. A task I am of course happy to pick up.

 

 

You can get a first overview on the partner page of the Vrije Universiteit on our site and their own Treasury Management and Corporate Finance program page. In the next months we will post blogs with profiles of Register Treasurer (RT) graduates with their motives, experiences and career paths. This will give you better insight in the type of treasurers that are “RT material”. Furthermore we will invite graduates to share thesis and other research summaries that will give you a sample of the level of what you can expect.

Originally the program was in Dutch and aimed at a relatively narrow candidates working in a corporate environment. An important change is that the program now is in English. The student population is a mixture of consultants, bankers, interim managers and experts working in corporate and non-profit environments. As the value of the student peer group has huge impact on the program, this diversity brings a lot extra.

Our continued information flow will hopefully help aspiring students and their managers making a sound decision. The program is not for everybody, we hope to see you soon and find out if you have what it takes.

PS The next information session is at June 26, 2019.


Read stories from graduates who participated the Register Treasurer (RT) program. How does their treasury career look like now?

 

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

 

For what audience is the Treasurer Test developed?

| 06-06-2019 | by treasuryXL |

The Treasurer Test has been developed with three different audiences in mind:

  1. Actual Treasurers; those who are already active treasurers
  2. Pre Treasurers; those who have the ambition to become one and
  3. Non Treasurers; those who will not but deal with the function.

Their goals might overlap but there are differences. In this blog we will elaborate.

Actual Treasurer
Taking the test, already being a treasurer, can be useful in many situations. First, wanting to show your hiring manager you are fully capable and have the right personality for the position you want to step into. This is an obvious one. Second, planning your career. The result report will show the candidates treasury knowledge gaps and personality, helping in education and coaching plans. Third and last, as a treasury team you want to be ready for the future of your organisation and prepare. In order to achieve this, you want to know your current status in order to build a development plan with a focus both on skills as well as on personalities.

Pre Treasurer
Aspiring treasurers might have the aforementioned goals and some extra. They might not have done the job, but know a lot and want to prove this. Automatically, the Test will show where development might be started best and if the potential is enough to pick up the position. Taking the Test will also lead to insight what the job is about. It is not intended, but might lead to a candidate treasurer steering his career in another direction. Finally, we are talking with educators to deploy the test at the start and at the end of a program in order to objectively measure progress of students.

Non Treasurer
In finding staff or helping them in development, HR, recruiters and educators will play an important role. It is not to be expected that these specialist benefit from taking the Test. They should know about the Big5 typology and understand how the Test measurers skills.
On the other hand, CFOs, CFO team members, auditors, bankers and other financial specialist and their organisations will benefit from them taking the Test. Many of them consider themselves (unjust) knowledgeable in corporate treasury. Insight in their actual knowledge level is a good starting point. If the non-treasurer knows a lot and can prove this with the Test results, treasury specialists will better accept input. If not, the non-treasurer will better appreciate the expertise of the specialist and put treasury higher on the priority list.

Are you interested how the Treasurer Test can help you? Contact Kendra Keydeniers, Community & Partner Manager.

You can find more relevant information here.

Treasurer Test: We achieved an important milestone!

| 29-05-2019 | by Kendra Keydeniers |

This is a shout out to all peer group members of the Treasurer Test: We Are There! Thanks to all of you.
To all aspiring peer group members who intended to do the Test we have to say: thank you for considering but all spots are taken.

We have to admit it has taken much more time than we expected. We learned a lot during this process. All peer group members will be informed about how to download the report shortly and we made all preparations possible. With the data set complete we will now focus on the completion followed by an active market introduction. What have we learned more specifically, also with your input and what is most urgent?

    • The technical questions are too complex. As we work with peer group comparison, the results still hold the value we were looking for. As we do not want to demotivate treasury people, we will sit together with data scientists to work on a statistically sound method to introduce less complex questions.
    • We will sit together with the experts of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Hogeschool Utrecht and others to gradually redesign the content of the question catalogue.
    • The report shows results in (relative) comparison with peer groups, also in absolutes. For example, you could have completed 30 questions, you answered 15 and 10 of these are correct. This deserves a proper reading instruction so readers can find value in the results and prevent misinterpretation.
    • We will keep on enhancing the result report in order to better show the number of questions that has been answered versus the number of questions answered correct. Both compared with the peer group. It is relevant to know if a candidate focuses on a high score and/or on a correct score.
    • The time to complete the Treasurer Test, both the technical part as well as the personality part, is considered long. We will work on expectation management and enhance the user instructions to preserve the quality.
    • Last but certainly not least, we will digest the valuable input of the peer group, in order to improve the Test in many aspects.

We are thrilled that we reached a very important milestone in this exciting project. We will keep you informed and appreciate all input.

On behalf of Team Treasurer Test,

Kendra Keydeniers
Community & Partner Manager at treasuryXL

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What does the hiring manager know about treasury?

| 23-05-2019 | by Pieter de Kiewit |

Among corporate treasurers IPOs are always the icing on the cake and I have followed Adyen going public. Very interesting is that besides the obvious reasons like increased investments, money for the founders and employees dealing with their stock options, the strategic partners and clients play a role. Clients like eBay and Uber apparently work better together with a listed Adyen. Food for thought….

What does the hiring manager know about treasury?

At least half of our recruitment assignments starts with a message from our client like this: “we have this treasurer, I do not understand what he does but he is leaving. Can you help?”. Of course music to our ears, happy to help. In recruitment for permanent positions HR is involved, very often they also contribute in interim assignments. HR not knowing in detail about treasury is understandable. Especially when the candidate we search does not report into a senior treasurer but, for instance, a CFO, we also encounter a lack of knowledge in treasury with the hiring manager. Is this a problem and if so, how can this be solved?

You might have seen we contribute in the build-up of the Treasurer Test. One of the groups of people we asked to do the test are “financials, not being treasurers”. Their measurered lack of knowledge and interest in the field is obvious. This is of course not a surprise. Treasurers are, amongst others, responsible for funding, payments, management of currency and interest risk. Important enough for the continuation of the existence of an organisation. How can we prevent this important job lands with the wrong person? Some ideas:

  • A track record as shown in a cv is of course a first obvious. A candidate might be too positive about accomplishments, this can be screened by checking references. Screening CVs without knowledge about treasury might be daunting. Simply key word comparison will not work;
  • Worldwide there are only a few universities that pay attention to corporate treasury. Measuring knowledge through academic qualifications is smart (Register Treasurer, CTP, ACT are the most obvious). Currently less then 20% of the corporate treasury population holds such a degree;
  • The aforementioned Treasurer Test will be launched shortly presents skill level and personality and compares with peers;
  • Including knowledgeable experts in the recruitment process will help. We of course are available. Alternatively involving a specialized treasury consultant in the screening process might also work.

I hope you will be able to find the right next treasury team member, secure business continuity and feel confident with your recruitment decision with the above list. We are available to brainstorm and support.

Pieter de Kiewit

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

 

Treasurer Test Update: Looking for the very last peers

| 09-05-2019 | by Kendra Keydeniers |

We are happy to say that since our last update, we successfully completed the senior categories of the peer groups. We are literally in the final phase of completing all peer groups. Exciting times ahead!

Are you the lucky one?

Our focus now is to find the very last peers who can help us out in the categories “no experience in treasury” and “treasurers with up to two years of treasury experience”.

The Treasurer Test is split up in two different parts:

Technical Treasury Knowledge
The Treasurer Test assesses your technical knowledge level in corporate treasury with questions on risk management, corporate finance, cash management and treasury miscellaneous.

Personality Profile
The Treasurer Test also assesses your personality profile with a test based upon the scientifically acknowledged “Big Five” theory.

Are you the person we are looking for or do you know someone who can make the Treasurer Test in the mentioned categories? Your help is highly appreciated!

How can I participate?

As a launch testee you can make the Treasurer Test for only €1,21- (normal price, €595,-)

Make sure to follow next steps:

  1. Click here for purchasing
  2. Click ‘add to cart’
  3. Fill out the ‘Billing Details’ form
  4. Enter coupon code (Send an email to [email protected] and request a coupon code)
  5. Place order and complete payment

You will receive an invoice and a confirmation via email. In the confirmation mail you can find all relevant information that will guide you into and through the test.

Duration of the Treasurer Test
The Treasurer Test takes about 70 to 90 minutes.

You will receive notice when the Treasurer Test results are completed and when you can download your results. This will happen after all launch testees completed the test.

If you require more information regarding the Treasurer Test, check our blogs here or send an email to [email protected].

Kendra Keydeniers
Community & Partner Manager at treasuryXL

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New Community and Partner Manager for treasuryXL

| 02-05-2019 | by Pieter de Kiewit |

treasuryXL recently celebrated its third birthday. As a partner and sponsor I have been involved from the start and so far, it has been an exciting journey. I am proud we have been able to create a constant flow of relevant content for corporate treasurers and all others interested in treasury. We continue the build-up of a platform where you can find expertise, opinions, events, job openings, product and service offerings. Different treasury topics for a variety of organisations.

Roy has been able to build a foundation in our content flow, our infrastructure and network. His experience as a banker has been valuable and partners appreciated his initiatives. He enjoys his time with treasuryXL but misses the content driven tasks he had as a banker. He will return to financial services. We thank him for his effort and wish him all the best.

We are ambitious and want to make the next step! In order to fulfill our pivot role we have been looking for more relevant skills and entrepreneurial power. I am happy we can present Kendra as the new Community & Partner Manager.

Currently Roy is working together with Kendra. Kendra brings valuable expertise in modern community management, she worked with a very successful tech company. Her focus will be on two major tasks. First, she will help improve the quality of the content and will increase of the relevant audience. Most likely this will be combined with the organisation of relevant events. Second, she will closely cooperate with partners and experts, helping them to achieve their professional and commercial goals. And of course the treasuryXL goals. Her efforts up till now are very promising. We look forward to working with her and wish her lots of success!

Currently you can contact both Roy and Kendra through [email protected] and 06-21303744

Pieter de Kiewit
On behalf of partners and experts of treasuryXL
Pieter de Kiewit

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New update for the community: Treasurer Test

| 02-04-2019 | by  Roy Baaten |

Dear peer goup members, treasurers, financials and friends of the community.
It has been a while since we updated you on the treasurer test.

First of all, we would like to thank everyone who helped us in one way or the other. A special thanks for those who made the test as a peer group member and provided us with very valuable feedback.

From the start we communicated that everyone will receive their report at the same time when the peer group is complete. We nearly completed the senior categories of the peer group but have to invest in finding candidates for the categories “no experience in treasury” and “treasurers with up to two years of treasury experience”. We are working very hard so everyone can receive their report they worked so hard for. We are almost there!

If you are a candidate for the aforementioned categories or know people who qualify and might want to take the test, send an email to [email protected] We appreciate your help.

We will inform you again if we have more news.

Roy Baaten – Community Manager

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Vacature in the spotlight: TREASURY MANAGER

| 23-1-2019 | treasuryXL |

Eindverantwoordelijk voor de tweemans treasury van een zeer dynamische en internationale onderneming. Amsterdam, circa €85K. Funding, cash management, risk, strategie en operatie. Sterke persoonlijkheid met denkkracht en track record.

TAKEN TREASURY MANAGER

De treasurer wacht niet op instructies van de CFO maar neemt zelf zijn verantwoordelijkheid. Hij kent de interne en externe stakeholders, slaat bruggen naar zijn discipline en bepaalt zijn prioriteitenlijst. Hij is niet bang zich te laten gelden indien dit nodig is maar zorgt ook dat treasury als service unit de business verder helpt.
Zonder uitputtend te zijn vallen de volgende deelgebieden in ieder geval onder zijn verantwoordelijkheid: liquidity management, (asset based) funding, trade finance, FX & rentemanagement, reporting en analyse.

IDEALE TREASURY MANAGER

De ideale treasury manager combineert denkkracht (academische opleiding), communicatie (overtuigen en faciliteren) en vakkennis. Hij voelt zich thuis in een kleine organisatie met grote exposures. Als persoon neemt hij verantwoordelijkheid en heeft een goed ontwikkeld gevoel voor verstandig zaken doen.

ONZE OPDRACHTGEVER

Onze opdrachtgever is een Nederlandse handelsonderneming doorspekt met internationale business relaties en vele honderden miljoenen omzet. De medewerkers zijn energiek, assertief en er heerst een ondernemende spirit. Vrijheid en meer verantwoordelijkheid wordt verdiend door het behalen van resultaten.

ARBEIDSVOORWAARDEN EN PROCES

Het basisinkomen voor deze positie zal circa €85K zijn. Voor kandidaten die evident meer brengen is men bereid meer budget vrij te maken.

Wij hebben deze search opdracht enkele maanden eerder opgestart. Door ontwikkelingen is deze on hold gezet en nu opnieuw opgestart.

LOCATION

Amsterdam

Voor meer informatie ga naar de vacature sectie van onze website treasuryXL