Leaders of Modern Finance – Creating Guiding Structures ft. Dave Storer

On this episode of the Leaders of Modern Finance podcast, host Ken Boyd is joined by Dave Storer, Controller and VP at ConstructConnect.

A Siloed Beginning

Dave followed a rather traditional path for most financial leaders. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky before pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, both in accounting and finance. He moved straight into work with one of the Big Four, in his case Ernst & Young. After seven years working for Ernst & Young, Dave moved into a managerial role before an eventual offer of CFO at a different organization. 

This first phase of Dave’s career was foundational to solidifying his fundamental knowledge of the essential accounting basics. By the end of his time at Ernst & Young, Dave felt he had a relatively strong grasp of the substantive elements of business accounting. What he did not realize was that although he was becoming knowledgeable about foundational principles, this knowledge was isolated from a broader understanding of financial systems. Dave knew how to handle the numbers he was given, but he lacked a comprehensive understanding of where those numbers were coming from and how that should affect his treatment of them.

This knowledge gap was put to the test not long after Dave left Ernst & Young, as the 2008 financial crisis hit in the midst of this career transition. The extraordinary challenges the crisis posed, as well as the emotional and mental stress it caused, made Dave think that perhaps he wasn’t ready for the CFO role he had been thrust into. In an attempt to give his career a reset of sorts and provide an opportunity for more growth and development, Dave stepped down from his position as CFO and joined GE as an assistant controller. This new role would not only expand Dave’s knowledge and form him into a more operations-minded leader, but also lay the groundwork for the guiding structures that Dave would later implement at ConstructConnect.

Using Data, Building Structures

GE was a different world than Dave had been used to at his previous organizations. Rather than being purely a financial institution, GE was an operations-focused business in which the finance department supported the development, implementation, and sale of technology and software. It was immediately apparent that Dave would not be able to remain siloed in his role as a financial manager if he was to be successful in this new position.

He was given ample opportunity to learn the operations of the business and was placed on the ground floor of several acquisitions and joint ventures that allowed him to hone his skills in establishing systems and procedures that make these new projects sustainable. During this time, Dave learned two valuable things that would shape his future work at ConstructConnect.

First, he realized the importance of analyzing data beyond its apparent face value. GE was a very analytical organization, and Dave learned to interrogate the financial information he was being given. His exposure to the operations of the business also made him more naturally aware of the qualitative elements of his information, rather than their pure numerical value. As he would later move into several different SaaS organizations, knowing to ask questions about any given data’s source, flow, and impact on operations would become an invaluable skill for producing later success.

Secondly, Dave saw what an asset structural guidance could be. GE had a thorough internal audit system, and standard practices and procedures were constantly being critiqued. There were established systems in place for the growth projects that Dave was assigned, and so the frenzy of setting up a new venture was offset by the knowledge of what future work in that setup would entail. There was an element of grace in beginning an imperfect system, because as long as it could be made to start working initially, guidance was in place to build out a more comprehensive system further down the road.

These two learning curves would allow Dave to build the structures that would bring him later success at ConstructConnect.

Making Guidance Accessible

Dave can recount several times in his career when he was asked to wrangle disparate departments and processes and integrate them into a seamless unit. In each instance, Dave recalls leaning on the relationships that he had with colleagues in various departments to facilitate that integration. With a newfound understanding of data analysis and the value of standard practices, Dave approached similar challenges in a new way at ConstructConnect.

With sufficient time spent analyzing the inflows, outflows, and impact of various data streams, Dave was able to garner a robust understanding of the financial and operational structures that governed his organization. With this understanding, he was able to anticipate many of the common hurdles and variables he and his team would be forced to deal with on a regular basis, and he created an employee handbook with standard operating procedures for a host of diverse situations, both common and unexpected. This handbook was posted on the company website and is now available to every employee.

The guidebook was drafted with feedback and input from all areas of the organization, including the highest levels of leadership and entry-level operational workers. This ensured a robust structure with employee buy-in baked into its implementation. The data used to create it meant that it was more than a simple team-building exercise or morale booster, and was an effective tool for guiding organizational practices.

There’s a level of accountability built into the system as well, since the whole guidebook is available to every employee. Entry-level hires have the ability to know what their leadership is supposed to be doing, and so protections against malpractice and abuse of the system are an inherent part of the guidebook. It streamlines communication as well, since approval of projects or operations can be understood from the guidebook, rather than from a slow process of ping-ponging emails until the right person sends their blessing for a project.

The accessibility, and the successful implementation, of such robust guidance structures at ConstructConnect are a product of decades of experience acquired throughout Dave’s career. His journey along the traditional accounting path gave him the financial fundamentals to build out standard practices for typical operations, and his newfound understanding of data analytics allowed him to build out contingency plans for the unexpected. The vertical integration of the guidebook created buy-in from his team and accountability for his leaders. The guidance structures implemented at Dave’s behest are a holistic, team-centered system that allows for future growth while maintaining a healthy environment for the people who propel that growth.

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